Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

40 minutes	Part B: Understanding Adaptation and Islands
60 minutes	Part C: Model Species
10 minutes	Reflection

Part A: Activating Prior Knowledge

Differentiation:

Where students have completed the previous lesson:
- Step 1.
- Invite students to return to their Lord Howe Island Library Padlet and to remind themselves of what they already know about the island.
- Step 2.
- You can then invite them to hone in on any information about Lord Howe Island’s plants and animals, and pose the question: what interesting information do you have so far? Invite students to share their ideas with the class.
- Step 3.
- Explain to students that in this lesson they will be investigating the plants and animals of Lord Howe Island in detail, and they will get the chance to think about what plants and animals might be found on their own island.
Where students haven’t completed the previous lesson:
- Step 1.
- Display a map of Australia on the board and direct students to Lord Howe Island. Invite students to share what they already know about this island.
- Step 2.
- Digitally distribute the Lord Howe Island - Overview Factsheet to students and invite them to work in pairs to read through the factsheet and to make note of any interesting details about the plants and animals on Lord Howe Island. They can record their ideas in the workbooks.
- Step 3.
- Invite students to share what they recorded with the class and explain that they will be looking at some of these plants and animals in more detail over the course of the lesson.

Part B: Understanding Adaptation and Islands

Step 1.

Explain to students that they are now going to look at why the plants and animals of Lord Howe Island might be particularly interesting for scientists. Before they do this, it would be useful to refresh student understanding of adaptation.

Pose the following questions and invite students to share their ideas through a class discussion (suggested answers included):

What is adaptation?
Suggested answer: Adaptation is a characteristic that helps an organism live in its environment.
What are structural adaptations? What is an example of a structural adaptation?
Suggested answers: Structural adaptations are the physical features of an organism. Some examples of structural adaptations include:
- The fur of a kangaroo (the fur keeps the roo warm)
- The big ears of an elephant (the blood vessels in the ears help the elephant to regulate its body temperature)
- The tail of a fish (the tail helps the fish move through the water)
  Some feathers of a bird help to keep the bird warm while others are long and stiff to aid in flying
What are behavioural adaptations? What is an example of a behavioural adaptation? Suggested answers: Behavioural adaptations are the things organisms do to survive. Some examples include:
- Animals moving from place to place with the seasons (migration).
- Animals can put their bodies into torpor during hibernation.
- Animals being active at night (nocturnal)

Step 2.

You can then explain to students that understanding adaptation is essential when trying to understand why the plants and animals on Lord Howe Island might be so interesting to scientists.

Check student understanding by saying "Please put thumbs up, thumbs down, or sideways to let me know if this is clear, and it's perfectly fine if you don't understand or are unsure - I just need to know." This last phrase is essential if you want students to respond honestly. You can also have students quickly answer on a sticky note that they place on their desks. You can then quickly circulate to check responses. Further information about adaptations can be found on the Adaptation Factsheet.

Explain to students that they are now going to work in pairs to participate in a simple demonstration that helps to show how adaptation can work on an island. Explain that Charles Darwin came up with his famous theory of evolution when looking at the differences between the same type (genus) or birds living on different islands within the Galapagos group of islands. He noticed that even though the birds were the same genus (finches) they had differences in beak shape and size and he wondered why.

Bird beak demonstration

Place the following equipment on a table and invite students to gather around. Explain the following:
- The marbles in the first bowl represent the food source on Glass Island.
- The salt in the second bowl represents the food source on Pepper Island.
- The tweezers represent the beak of a bird who is visiting both islands; this bird is called Tweezy.
- Your finger and thumb represent the beak of another bird who is visiting both islands; this bird is called Thumby.
Invite students to take turns to pick up one marble and one grain of salt with their fingers. Then do the same with the tweezers.
Which type of food does Tweezy find easier to collect? Which type of food does Thumby find easier to collect? What does this tell us about the types of beaks birds on Pepper Island might have and the types of beaks birds on Glass Island might have? (Answers: Birds on Glass Island would have larger, stronger beaks to be able to pick up and carry the marbles. Birds on Pepper Island would have smaller, finer beaks that are able to select one grain of salt at a time.)

Once complete, you can then explain to students that this is what Charles Darwin noticed with the birds on the Galapagos Islands; that different birds had adapted to the different food sources on their islands by evolving different shaped beaks.

Explain to students that the differences you might expect to see on species living on an island refer to all organisms, including birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects and plants. The other thing about islands is that because they are often cut off from the rest of the world, there is no intermingling or breeding between plants and animals on the islands and plants and animals in other places. This means that over time, the plants and animals on the island can develop more and more adaptations that are specific to the conditions of the island they are on and that aren’t seen anywhere else. This is why the plants and animals on islands are so interesting to scientists!

So what does this mean for Lord Howe Island?

Step 3.

Explain to students that they will now focus on one of the most interesting species on Lord Howe Island; the Lord Howe Island stick insect. They will be looking at the features of this insect and the adaptations it has evolved to live on Lord Howe Island.

Invite students to work in pairs or small groups to undertake research into the Lord Howe Island stick insect. Through their research they need to answer the following questions (also available on the Student Worksheet):

What is the scientific name of this species?
What does it look like? How would you describe its physical appearance?
Where is it found?
What does it eat?
Does this species have any physical or behavioural adaptations that you can find information about?
Think about where this species lives - can you speculate which of its physical characteristics might help it survive in that location?
Think about the size of this species - what is happening with the other animal species on the island that means this species can grow so large and survive?
Find a picture of a stick insect from somewhere else, like mainland Australia or America. Compare the pair. Write a short paragraph explaining the differences. Why do you think the Lord Howe Island stick insect developed particular adaptations, and the other stick insect developed differently? (Hint: How did their specific adaptations help them survive their particular environments?)

Some resources to get students started could include:

San Diego Zoo - Lord Howe Island Stick Insect - https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/lord-howe-island-stick-insect
The Animal Facts - Lord Howe Island Stick Insect - https://www.theanimalfacts.com/insects-spiders/lord-howe-island-stick-insect/
The Conversation - Australian endangered species: Lord Howe Island stick insect - https://theconversation.com/australian-endangered-species-lord-howe-island-stick-insect-11789

Extension: Students requiring extension could conduct research into another Lord Howe Island species, such as the Lord Howe Island Woodhen. They could conduct research in order to answer these same questions.

Part C: Model Species

Step 1.

Explain to students that they will now create a diorama of the Lord Howe Island stick insect. Within the diorama students should attempt to include:

A model of the stick insect
The food of the stick insect
Information about the location of the stick insect
Information about any adaptations

Depending on time, age and ability students could work independently or in pairs/small groups. This activity would work well for mixed ability groups.

The diorama should be in a box - students can source or create one. They will need arts and crafts materials.

Step 2.

Once they have created their diorama, they need to create a short film of their insect that includes a narrator discussing the results of their research into the stick insect. Alternatively, students could take a series of photos of their insects, print them and add labels to each image.

Students can also share their work through a gallery walk. A gallery walk enables students to provide feedback on their peers’ work. Display students’ work around the classroom and place a piece of blank paper next to each work to collect votes on. Invite students to move around the room viewing each others’ work, then vote for their three favourite posters. As an extension, students could also record one thing they like about the posters displayed, one thing they wonder about, and one thing that may improve the work.

Extension:

Students requiring extension could work independently to imagine what adaptations the stick insect might have if it had evolved underwater or underground. They could create a labelled drawing to communicate their ideas
Where students have created a Lord Howe Island Library Padlet, they can upload their work to their Padlet.

Reflection

Invite students to work independently to complete the following (also available on the Student Worksheet):

What information presented in this lesson did you find interesting or surprising?
What is still unclear to you? What questions do you have about this lesson?
What connections can you make from what you looked at in this lesson to the unique animals (e.g. kangaroo and koala) we have living in Australia? (Hint: Australia is a large island)

Extension For Students Who Are Completing The Full Unit

Invite students to access their own island. Students should spend some time thinking about the natural geographical features of the island and how these features might influence the types of animals that live on the island. Students should invent at least one unique species for their island and describe the following:

The name of this species
What it looks like
Where it is found
What it eats
What adaptations it has to help it live in its environment.

Students should add this information to their folder.

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching practice today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

Lord Howe Island - Animal Adaptations

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