Teacher preparation:

Overarching learning goal: Through participating in this activity students will understand that animals have evolved physical features that help them survive in their habitat, and that this means that similar animals in different habitats have developed different adaptations according to the needs of their habitat. Students then learn that climate change may alter habitats and that this may affect the animals that live in those habitats.

Teacher content information: Climate change is expected to impact animals in a variety of ways, including by altering, damaging or destroying habitats. While some animals will be able to move to new habitats others will be forced to adapt or face extinction. Unfortunately adapting is not an easy task: many animal adaptations have evolved over hundreds of years.

Imagine you are a possum living in a tropical rainforest in northern Queensland. At the moment you live in an environment that is shaded, damp and relatively cool. You can cope with changes such as moderate temperature rises and storm events because you live in a sheltered environment. However, climate change is expected to cause temperatures to rise and storms to increase in frequency and intensity. A big storm could damage the rainforest and in combination with rising temperatures, the rainforest will become hotter and drier. Suddenly you - the little possum - is hotter than you've ever been and you're finding it harder to find shade and water. What do you do? For more details on this story, click here.

The IPCC

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change. It was created to:

provide policymakers (governments) with regular scientific updates about climate change;
highlight the impact climate change will have on the planet in the future; and,
offer some ideas about how to tackle the challenges of climate change's potential effects on the planet.

In 2021-22, the IPCC released their sixth assessment report. This is the most up-to-date physical understanding of the climate system and climate change.

The report makes a number of important points:

It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land.
Global surface temperature will continue to increase until at least mid-century under all emissions scenarios considered. Global warming of 1.5°C and 2°C will be exceeded during the 21st century unless deep reductions in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions occur in the coming decades (B1). The report describes five possible climate futures, where #1 is not great and #5 is extremely bad. If we want to keep global warming at less than two degrees, which the IPCC says is the best-case scenario, we need to reduce our CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions significantly and start right away.

'Net zero' or 'carbon neutral' are terms that refer to achieving an overall balance between greenhouse gas emissions produced and greenhouse gas emissions taken out of the atmosphere. Getting to net zero means we can still produce some emissions, so long as we're doing something else to reduce the greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere at the same time, kind of like balancing a set of scales (more info).

Psychological safety. The IPCC Report sets a hard challenge. While this real-world issue is essential for students to understand, there is no doubt it can make them feel sad or anxious about the future is becoming darker and scarier by the day.

So, reassure students that we can have a hopeful and optimistic outlook on this report, rather than one of doom and gloom. Explain that optimism involves looking objectively at a situation and making a conscious decision to focus on the good (more info), and that hope is the belief that you can make an impact (more info). Explain to students that you are going to look ahead, identify what needs to be improved, and then work on the skills and confidence so that they can go out and do it.

If you're interested in learning more about how to approach challenging topics around climate change and sustainability in your classroom through a Hope and Optimism lens, consider our PD course.

Student and classroom organisation:

Step 1.

Begin this activity by asking students to share what they know about animal adaptations:

What does 'adaptation' mean? (Suggested answer: Animal adaptations are the physical features that animals have so they can live in their local habitat.)
Why do animals need to adapt to their local environment? (Suggested answer: Not all habitats are the same: some are very hot, some are very cold, some are wet etc. Animals need different physical features to help them survive in these different habitats.)
What are some examples of animal adaptations? (Suggested answer: Animals that live in trees - like possums or monkeys - have tails that can help them live in trees. Animals that live in cold climates often have lots of fur or blubber to keep them warm. Giraffes have long necks to reach the tall trees. Ant-eaters have long noses to get into ant nests. Birds have different shaped beaks for eating different types of food - insects, fruit, seeds etc.)
What do you think happens when animals are forced into a new habitat or when the habitat changes? Are they able to grow new features to help them adapt? (Suggested answer: Adaptations generally take some time to develop, so if the changes are great then the animal may struggle or be unable to live in that habitat.)

Record students suggestions on the board.

Step 2.

Explain to students that in the next part of this activity they will be acting as ecologists who are in charge of helping local animals adapt to habitat changes. They will be looking at one local animal (it can be local to your region or state) and investigating this animal in detail, looking at its habitat, its food and its adaptations.

The problem is that because of climate change, the habitat of this animal is changing. We don't know if it will be hotter or colder, or wetter or drier. It's up to the ecologists to research a range of potential adaptations for this animal, based on an unknown future climate. In order to do this the ecologists must look at similar animals that live in different parts of Australia and the world, and find out what adaptations they have to survive in different habitats.

Break the class into small groups and ask them to follow the instructions on the student worksheet.

Assessment/Reflection

1. Ask groups to share their presentations with the class, and ask groups to assess presentations using the Peer Assessment Rubric (also available on the student worksheet).

2. Ask students to create an image of their local animal with some of its new adaptations. Students can either draw their animal by hand or use Photoshop or another online photo editing tool.

Extension/Homework

Ask students to investigate the actual predicted impacts of climate change on their local animal (using the Cool Australia Climate Change Toolbox) and clarify which adaptations would be most suitable for their local animal.

Animal adaptations and climate change

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