New Subject: Biodiversity, Meaning LOTS & LOTS of different kinds of animals!

What did I say an ADAPTATION was? --an inherited trait which enables an organism to "fit" into its environment.  It could be camouflage (spell that!) or long legs or sneezing salt, or something much weirder.  Here is an animal that is so crazy I cannot even imagine what all those features are for--the mantis shrimp--Why the Mantis Shrimp Is My New Favorite Animal       


Anyway, here's the real homework:

1.Read the handout from class (one page) 

2. A short research paper: Choose a small animal, like an ant, a frog, a barnacle, a beetle, etc. Research it on the Internet.  These are the questions you should answer:

1. How many different species of [ants,beetles,frogs...] are there in the world?  (Just Google the question, How many species of ant are there in the world?)

2. And where are they found? What types of habitat?

3. Find pictures of 5 of the species.  Copy and paste them onto a Word document.  (Ask your older brother or sister to help.  Or your mom...)

4. Find examples of adaptations that those species have which enable them to fit or survive in their own environment.  For example, of the 10,000 different species of ants, one kind of ant, called a citronella ant is brilliant yellow and emits a strong lemony odor which is expelled from a gland in its head to warn nestmates and drive off enemies.  They are nearly blind and live underground.

Citronella ant