Many animals have special parts that help them to do something.  For example, an elephant has a trunk to help it clean itself, eat, drink and pick up things.  Other animals have certain behaviours that help them.  For example a bear hibernates during the cold winter months.

These things are called “adaptations”.  An adaptation is a way an animal has changed in order to help it survive in its environment.

The example of an elephant’s trunk is called a physical adaptation, it is a change in the animals body.  The example of the hibernating bear is a behavioural adaptation, it is a change in the way the animal acts.

Adaptations do not happen quickly, they happen over many generations (hundreds of years).

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Below are some pictures of animals with adaptations.  Click on the picture of each animal, then as a group, answer the questions about each of the animals.  Record your answers on the worksheet.

Your next task is to make a list of animals, and think of the adaptations that those animals have.  Make your list on your worksheet.