Skip to main content

Life Science · Survival & Environment

Adaptations & Survival in Habitats

Use repeated camouflage data and organism-needs evidence to build a calibrated habitat-survival argument.

Lesson plan

Adaptations & Survival in Habitats

A step-by-step guide to help you teach this lesson.

Plan with confidence

Lesson overview

What students will learn

  • Use repeated evidence to explain how a variation in a characteristic can provide an advantage in a particular habitat.
  • Use organism needs and habitat characteristics to compare which organisms can survive well, less well, or not at all in a specific habitat.

Key science ideas

  • Dark-bark equal viewing trials found dark insects 2, 3, and 2 times and bright insects 7, 8, and 6 times.
  • Lower detection can provide an advantage; it does not guarantee survival.
  • Organisms do not choose inherited traits because they need them.

Lesson at a glance

  • Grade 3
  • 45 min
  • ~10 min prep
  • 3-LS4-2 · 3-LS4-3
  • 3 materials

What’s included

  • Lesson Plan
  • Investigation
  • Teacher Slides
  • Printable Worksheet
  • Teacher Answer Key
  • Interactive Activity
  • Vocabulary