Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

	Part A: How Do Animals Live In Different Places?
30 minutes	Part B: Adapting To Extreme Environments
30 minutes	Part C: Designing A Dream Car For Extreme Environments
10 minutes	Reflection

Part A: How Do Animals Live In Different Places?

Step 1.

Display the following image (also available on the Student Worksheet) and invite students to work in pairs/groups around what they SEE, THINK and WONDER about this image. Students can record their ideas on the Student Worksheet.

Once complete, engage students in a class discussion around their thoughts:

What do you SEE in this picture?
What does this picture make you THINK about?
What does this picture make you WONDER about? What questions do you have about this picture?
What do humans need to survive in a place like this?

Through your discussion, lead students to the idea that when humans live in an extreme environment (like the one in this picture) they need to have good clothing, shelter, and heating to survive.

Continue your discussion by asking students: What do humans need when living in a really hot place?

Step 2.

Display the following image (also available on the Student Worksheet) and again invite students to work in pairs/groups around what they SEE, THINK and WONDER about this image. Students can record their ideas on the Student Worksheet.

Once complete, again engage your students in a class discussion around their thoughts:

What do you SEE in this picture?
What does this picture make you THINK about?
What does this picture make you WONDER about? What questions do you have about this picture?
What might animals need to survive in a place like this?

Through your discussion, lead students to the idea that when animals - like the polar bear - live in very cold places they may need:

Fur, scales, feathers and other types of skin coverings to conserve heat
Hibernation
Thick layers of fat to stay warm

Continue your discussion by inviting students to suggest what animals might need when living in a really hot place, for example:

Fur, scales, feathers and other types of skin coverings to repel heat
Skin that can absorb water or fat
Animals may sleep all day and come out in the cooler nights

As students offer their thoughts, pose the following questions:

What things that humans use in these harsh environments can animals also use?
What other things might animals use?
Why do you think animals have to grow the features they need to survive in extreme environments?

Explain to students that in this lesson, they will be exploring some of the adaptations animals have to help them live in different places.

Step 3.

Provide students with the following definition of ‘adaptation’:

Step 4.

Now, explain to students that they will work in groups to investigate some examples of adaptations in animals. Break the class into groups of four or more students (where possible) and give half the groups a copy of both the Behavioural Adaptations Factsheet and the other groups a copy of the Physical Adaptations Factsheet. Each group needs to split in two with one half of the group taking the Behavioural Adaptations Factsheet and the other half taking the Physical Adaptations Factsheet.

Students need to spend 5-10 minutes reading through their factsheet and summarising key points from the factsheet. Students then answer the questions on the Student Worksheet.

The groups can then come back together and share what they found out about physical and behavioural adaptations.

Before moving onto the next activity, check student understanding by asking: "Please put thumbs up, thumbs down, or sideways to let me know if this clear, and it's perfectly fine if you don't understand or are unsure - I just need to know." Clarify any questions or concerns students have.

Part B: Adapting To Extreme Environments

Step 1.

Explain to students that they will now work in groups to investigate an animal that lives in an extreme environment and will conduct research online or in the library to find out how this animal survives in its extreme environment.

Invite students to split into smaller groups or pairs, but this time to partner up with someone different, so that each new group is made up of someone who looked at physical adaptations and someone who looked at behavioural adaptations in the previous activity.

You could invite students to select their own animal or you could assign groups with one of the following animals:

Cold environments - polar bear, emperor penguin, leopard seal
Hot environments - thorny devil, camel, chuckwalla, fennec fox, kangaroo, sand grouse
Deep sea - viperfish

Groups can then conduct research online or in the library to find the answers to the following questions (also available on the Student Worksheet):

What animal are we investigating?
Where does this animal live? What is the main habitat of this animal?
In what ways is the environment that this animal lives in extreme?
What physical adaptations does this animal have to help it live in this environment?
Does this animal have any behavioural adaptations to help it live in this environment? What are they?
What is the most interesting or surprising thing you found out about this animal?
What more would you like to know about this animal?

Step 2.

Once complete, invite students to share what they found out with other students. You could either do this as a class or team groups up with other groups who investigated a different animal. The aim here is for students to understand that animals have a range of adaptations that help them live in different environments. Advise students to pay close attention to these adaptations because they will be using these later in the lesson. Encourage students to take notes about the adaptations of the animals being presented.

Part C: Designing A Dream Car For Extreme Environments

Step 1.

Now, explain to students they are going to design a car that is adapted to an extreme environment. The car they design will need to incorporate some of the adaptations the animals living in extreme environments have. Students will need to make sure the adaptations they choose are suited to the extreme environment they have chosen.

Explain to students that the car they design will be a dream car. Students will need to create a painting or drawing of their dream car which can then be submitted to the Toyota Dream Car Art Contest.

Spend a few moments discussing the process of submitting their artworks and the prizes that might be won.

You could also work with students to view some of the previous year’s finalists to Toyota Dream Car Art Contest. Alternatively, show students the example of previous Dream Car finalist, Celia Cheah's Dream Car. Celia's work is an example of a Dream Car that is inspired by the physical adaptations of a crab.

As you view these artworks, invite students to consider:

What do you notice about these cars?
What are the best things about these cars?
Have any of these artworks incorporated animal features? If so, what environments might these features be suited to?

Step 2.

You can now invite students to dream up some ideas for their own car. A good way to help students focus their ideas might be to invite students to think about and answer the following:

Which type of environment is most interesting to them? For example, are they most interested in very hot places, or the Arctic or Antarctic, or deep-sea habitats?
Which sorts of animal adaptations could be incorporated into the design of a car? For example, could your car have water pouches for collecting and carrying water (like a sand grouse) or have extra insulation in places where warmth is required? (E.g. where the driver sits)
Will your car just be a car to get the passengers from place to place or will your car have a special purpose? Can your special purpose be linked to the adaptations you want to incorporate? (E.g. delivering water or keeping passengers warm)

Some other more general things to think about when dreaming up ideas for a dream car could include:

Will your dream car only drive on roads, or can it float, swim, sail, balance, bounce and/or burrow?
How big is your dream car?
What will your car be made from?
What does your dream car use for fuel?
Will your car help people, animals or the environment in any way? How?

Remind students to dream big!

Students could come up with a range of ideas and record these on the back of the Student Worksheet. They could then team up with one or two classmates to share their ideas, and to get some feedback. When providing feedback, students could consider the following question about each other’s designs:

Are the adaptations incorporated into this dream car suited to the environment where the car is?

When providing feedback, remind students to be kind, helpful and specific:

Students can then amend their ideas to incorporate any relevant feedback.

Part D: Creating a Dream Car and Entering the Contest

Step 1.

Explain to students that they are now going to create an artwork that describes their dream car. Once complete, this artwork will be submitted to the Toyota Dream Car Art Contest.

Explain the following contest rules for creating your dream car:

You must create your dream car artwork by yourself (no working with a friend or in a group).
Your dream car must be hand-created using things like pencils, pens/markers, crayons, paints, etc. It can’t be made using collage or a computer/digital device.
It must be drawn on an A3 piece of paper (or smaller). You might like to use this Toyota Dream Car Drawing Template.
Find the contest entry information here (including dates, prizes and full terms and conditions).

Step 2.

Invite each student to create a draft version of their dream car. Give students a set amount of time to create their draft and emphasise that perfection is not important at this stage: instead, it is more important to have fun and to create the car of your dreams that will help you do the job of your dreams!

Encourage students to think about what mediums and techniques might be best suited to their car design, the adaptations they are incorporating and to the environment they want to portray in their artwork. Encourage students to experiment with different colouring or painting techniques and mediums, such as:

Techniques - pointillism, hatching, perspective or shading.
Mediums – pencils, marker pens, acrylic paints, watercolour paints or pencils, crayons, pastels, etc.

Step 3.

Once students have created their drafts, invite them to share them with a classmate and to offer feedback. Again remind students to be kind, helpful and specific when providing feedback.

Step 4.

Once feedback has been provided, invite students to create the final draft of their dream car on A3 paper, incorporating feedback where necessary.

Step 5.

As part of their entry, students are required to write a statement in response to the following: “Please explain the idea behind ‘Your Dream Car’ artwork”.

Ask students to create a draft version of their response, ensuring that they focus on being clear and brief and that they have explained what their car will do and how it will do it.

Again, invite students to share their statements with another student to seek feedback, and to check spelling and grammar.

Finally, scan or take a clear photograph of each entry and submit all entries using the online entry form.

Important! Students (or yourself) will need to hang onto their artworks after entering in order to be eligible to win prizes and have their artwork showcased.

Reflection

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

What did I used to think about animals living in extreme environments?
What do I now think?
Which of the animals that I heard about today is my favourite and why?
What was hardest for me in this lesson?
How did I overcome this challenge?
What part of my dream car do I like the most and why? What are its best features?

Extension

You could also watch the following clip with students, and invite students to reflect on what they see with the questions below:

What is Biomimicry? - https://youtu.be/FBUpnG1G4yQ

What is this clip about?
What is interesting about this clip?
What does this clip make you think about?
How does this clip relate to your dream car?

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

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

Toyota Dream Car Art Contest - Dream Car Adaptations

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