Thursday, May 14th

Life Science:  Gather up all your student fill in note handouts from the presentations, we have two more tomorrow and then you will be turning in your packet of notes for active audience participation and classwork credit!

If you did not do the Healthy Kids Survey in class the link is still available on the blog underneath this post.  Please use the student code, thanks!



Collab Science:  Tonight think about the adaptations the Polar Bear has to the Artic environment.  As global warming heats up the planet and continues to rapidly melt the sea ice Polar Bears are encountering a lot of pressures from the environment.

Write a 5-8 sentence paragraph to explain how the Polar Bear has evolved from today and a couple thousand years to survive.  What has changed about their body structures and why?  Have they adapted new behaviors?  What will they look like.  Draw and color of your animal evolved and what the Polar bear has become!

Here's a list of adaptations:

Period 3:  Polar bear Adaptations:
layer of blubber
thick oily fur coat
small ears to prevent water infusing into ear drums
White fur to camouflage, skin is actually black
big sized paws to walk on snow
big claws, strong claws to grip snow
massive body size, retains heat
tails are small
Mostly carnivorous, can eat vegetation, plant material
dense fleece
waterproof hair
fur is clear, meaning white, reflects UV radiation
nostrils adapted for swimming
pretty good swimmers, but many are drowning from exhaustion
sharp teeth for eating meat
small webbing between toes to help with swimming
dog paddle style swimming
muscular hump above arms to help them catch prey



Period 4:  Polar Bear Adaptations:

How have they adapted to the Artic?

Thick blubber to keep warm

Diet is very fatty

Claws are adapted to the snow, grip, has fricition

Thick warm and dense fur/hair

Waterproof hair, oily

White fur (transparent), helps them blend in with the snow

Skin is black, helps absorb more heat

Massive body size, helps to retain heat

Good Swimmers, 6 mph, up to 100 miles

Strong, muscular body

Nostrils close for underwater swimming

Hibernate to avoid bad weather

Small ears and tail, ears don’t allow water build up on ear drum

Very sharp teeth for meat eating

Small webbing between toes for swimming

Swim dog-paddle style

Live and make homes under the snow