How Do Animals Adapt to the Weather?
Cindy Fry, Sandy Kelnhofer, Barbara Quintasket
Paschal Sherman Indian School, Omak, Washington

Summary
Students discover how animals adapt to the weather.

Grade level
Second Grade

Time required
Four 60 - minute class periods

Materials
Salish – English Animal Cards
Reference materials on animals of the Colville Reservation
Internet access
Mural making materials – butcher paper, markers, etc.

Goals
By completing this lesson, students will

1. gain an understanding of the concept of adaptation,
2. become knowledgeable about how animals adapt to seasons on Colville Reservation,
3. learn about the cultural significance of animals to the Colville people,
4. gain experience in using research skills and
5. learn the Okanogan Salish names for animals.

Science standards addressed
National Science Standards

• Changes in Earth and sky
• Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
• Organisms and environments
• Science as a human endeavor
• Evolution and equilibrium

American Indian Science Standards

• Various forms of scientific and technological work currently engaged in by American Indian men and woman and in what ways their fields require the process of problem identification, design and solution
• Local challenges in medicine and environmental protection and how traditional Indian knowledge, practices and philosophies have been and continue to be called upon for solutions
• Changes in Earth’s surface, weather fluctuations and movements of celestial objects and how they affected historical American Indian community locations, annual migrations, and agricultural and ceremonial cycles.

Teacher tips
Invite a tribal biologist to visit your classroom and request that they bring furs, skins, track casts, skulls, etc., in order to conduct a concrete discussion with your students about animal adaptations.

Background information
Birds, animals, and people all adapt to weather conditions. On the Colville Reservation during the winter months, many animals and birds protect their bodies from the cold by growing more feathers or fur. Food is less plentiful, which forces some birds to migrate to warmer climates. Animals eat more in the fall to produce layers of fat and grow thicker fur to insulate them during the winter. Other animals make do with the food they find. Deer change their diet in winter when grass is not available, eating mostly bark and twigs. The fur of some animals changes color from brown to white as a protection from predators. In summer, birds and animals need more water and less food, cooler shelters. They wear lighter feathers and less fur.

Procedure
Engagement

1. Invite an elder to talk about the indigenous animals of the Colville Reservation and to teach students the Salish names of the animals.
2. Allow small groups of children to play a memory card game using the animal cards.

Exploration

1. Ask students what traits a black bear has that helps it to survive (claws, teeth, etc.). Continue the discussion with other animal examples. Introduce the word adaptations.
2. Ask a tribal biologist to visit your classroom with a collection of animal artifacts. Encourage students to examine the collection of furs, skulls, track casts, etc., and ask them to predict what animal belongs to each artifact, and what adaptations they can observe.

Explanation
With the assistance of the biologist, facilitate a discussion about how animals of the Colville Reservation adapt to seasonal changes. Make a chart of student responses.

Elaboration

1. Have partners select an animal from the local area to research. After deciding on two questions about how animals adapt to weather conditions, they should collect data from various sources and create a fact sheet that answers the questions.
2. Ask each student to draw and cut out two pictures of their animal, one for summer and one for winter, to be added to the class mural.

Evaluation
Create the class mural in two sections, summer and winter. As they add their animals to the mural, ask each student to give the Salish name and explain the adaptations their animal has for seasons. Write the Salish names on the mural.

Vocabulary
adaptation