TN Aquarium Virtual Field Trip

Welcome to the TN Aquarium Virtual Field Trip:

Various species live in the fresh and salt water aquatic biomes.

Today we are going to look deeper into a few particular organisms and the environments that they inhabit. Also we will be looking at some of the adaptations that allow them to live in these environments.

**Please proceed on to the TASK portion of the WebQuest.

Standards:

TN 5.0 Life Science: Diversity and Adaptation Among Living Things: The student will understand that living things have characteristics that enable them to survive in their environment.

TN.2.0. Life Science: Interactions Between Living Things and Their Environment: The student will investigate how living things interact with one another and with non-living elements of their environment.

5.2.1. Investigate the relationships among organisms in a specific ecosystem. 58
Suggested Titles for Tennessee Science State Standard 5.2.1.                    

5.2.2. Recognize that organisms are able to change their environment. 62
Suggested Titles for Tennessee Science State Standard 5.2.2.

5.5.1. Realize that plants and animals can be grouped according to similarities and differences in their characteristics. 2116
Suggested Titles for Tennessee Science State Standard 5.5.1.

5.5.2. Determine that adaptations help organisms to survive in their environments. 129
Suggested Titles for Tennessee Science State Standard 5.5.2.

**Reference:

"State Standards - Perma-Bound Books." State Standards - Perma-Bound Books. Accessed

      January 1, 2015. http://www.perma-bound.com/State-Standards.

Task:

Your task will be to pick three of the six exhibits that are listed and answer all of the questions that go with each section. Be sure to read all the available material and watch the videos to help you observe each animal to best answer the questions.

Exhibit one: American Alligators

Exhibit two: River Giants

Exhibit three: Sting Ray Bay  

Exhibit four: Butterfly Garden

Exhibit five: Boneless Beauties

Exhibit six: Secret Reef

Proceed to "process" for your materials...

American Alligator Questions:

1. The American alligator is a well adapted predator. Observe the alligator and describe some of the adaptations that help it survive.

2. Why do the American alligators need webbed feet?

3. What type of habitat does the American alligator live in and why do you think that is?

4. Would the American Alligator eat berries? What adaptation does the alligator have that clues in that it is a carnivore?

5. What other biome do you believe that the alligator could survive in? Why?

AMERICAN ALLIGATOR RESOURCES:

[video:https://youtu.be/sh5V0TmIUPw align:center]

River Giants Questions:

1. Does the Alligator Gar live in fresh or salt water? What leads you to belive that answer?

2. Should people be afraid of the Alligator Gar when swimming? Use details from the test to support your answer.

3. What is the maximum lenght that an Alligator Gar can grow up to?

4. What adaptations do you see on the River Giants that allow them to survive in this type of aquatic biome?

5. How deep or shallow do you believe that these animals tend to stay in the river? How can you tell from the video?

6. Is the Alligator Gar an herbivore or a carnivore?

7. What continent could you find the Alligator Gar in?

RIVER GIANTS RESOURCES:

[video:https://youtu.be/8T0E-pZVK48 align:center]

North America is home to a number of large fish species. The largest that lives its entire life in freshwater is the alligator gar. Despite their vicious appearance and carnivorous diet, they tend to prey upon other smaller fishes and are harmless to humans. Though some claim to have been attacked by them, no reported events have been verified. 

Sting Ray Bay Questions:

1. What do you notice when observing the multiple sting rays in the video?

2. Why do you think that the woman in the video asks the kids to only touch with two fingers when petting the sting rays?

3. What type of biome do you believe a sting ray would live in? Explain your answer.

4. Do you see any adaptations that they have to survive in their area? Please list each one and explain their purpose.

5. How do the sting rays move through the water?

STING RAY BAY RESOURCES:

[video:https://youtu.be/iRvJnUWMVPs align:center]

Butterfly Garden Questions:

1. After observing the environment in the video, I would like for you to name three different butterfly adaptations that involve color.

2. What reasons the plants are important to butterflies based on the information given in the video?

3.  Butterflies are very colorful. One butterfly, the blue morpho, has a bright blue pattern with wings open and a brown pattern with wings closed. Why do you think this is helpful for this butterfly to have two different colors?

4. What three phrases are used to describe the butterflies wings?

5. What is one thing you wonder about the butterlfies behavior after watching the video clip?

BUTTERFLY GARDEN RESOURCES:

[video:https://youtu.be/HS4m4GPF3eY align:center]

**Butterflies make use of the color, shape, pattern and motion of their wings to create some of the most effective and dazzling visual displays in nature. The butterfly’s wings are its identity badge, its locomotion and its protection. (TN Aquarium Signs, n.d.)

Boneless Beauties Questions:

1. Did the jellyfish look the way you thought they would? Have you ever had the chance to see one in person? If so, please share details about your thoughts on the jellyfish.

2. What does it mean that a jellyfish is an invertabrate?

3. From your observations, how does a jellyfish generate locomotion?

4. In which ocean are Moon Jellies located?

5. What adaptatoin does a jellyfish have to protect itself from predators?

BONELESS BEAUTIES RESOURCES:

[video:https://youtu.be/rlJelY_sXL4 align:center]

Secret Reef Questions:

1. Coral reefs cover less than 0.2% of our oceans, but they contain 25% of the world’s marine fish species.  Why do you think this is?

2. Where in the ocean do you think that the Coral Reef could be located? What leads you to believe this?

3. Sketch a picture of coral reef and write a breif description of one purpose it would have in this aquatic ecosystem.

4. Name one way that the fish use the coral reef to provide food for them to eat.

5. What other organisms were mentioned in the video that live off of the coral reef?

SECRET REEF RESOURCES:

[video:https://youtu.be/nDSoXv5Z8hY align:center]

** (n.d.). Retrieved January 2, 2016, from http://www.youtube.com/

(Self Posted- Christina Proia)

Follow-up:
Name a biome not represented at the Tennessee Aquarium.  Describe how you would build an exhibit to represent that biome, including the abiotic and biotic features. 

*Be sure to consider climate, sunlight, producers, decomposers, and predator-prey interactions.

**Use your Science Notebook to refer back for voabulary meanings that are mentioned in this assignment's requirements.

Adaptation in plants and animals refers to the way they can adjust or change to be able to live where and how they do. Many plants and animals can only live in certain places. People have made adaptations so they can live for periods of time almost anywhere.

About Education shares a really good description of the interactions between an organisim and its particular environment. They shared that it is important to start with the "understaning individual animals, and in turn populations of animals, is to understand the relationship they have with their environment. The environment in which an animal lives is referred to as its habitat" (About Education, 2015). Secondly it is vital that students understand that "a habitat includes both biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) components of the animals environment. Abiotic components of an animal's environment include a huge range of characteristics, examples of which are:" (About Education, 2015)

• temperature
• humidity
• oxygen
• wind
• soil composition
• day length
• elevation

"Biotic components of an animal's environment include such things as:" (About Education, 2015)

• plant matter
• predators
• parasites
• competitors
• individuals of the same species

** Reference:

How Animals Are Shaped by Their Environment. (2015). Retrieved January 1, 2016, from

     http://animals.about.com/od/zoologybasics/a/animalsenvironment.htm

References:

How Animals Are Shaped by Their Environment. (2015). Retrieved January 1, 2016, from

     http://animals.about.com/od/zoologybasics/a/animalsenvironment.htm

(n.d.). Retrieved January 2, 2016, from http://www.youtube.com/

RubiStar Home. (n.d.). Retrieved January12, 2016, from http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php

"State Standards - Perma-Bound Books." State Standards - Perma-Bound Books. Accessed

      January 1, 2015. http://www.perma-bound.com/State-Standards.

"Teacher Resources." Teacher Resources. Accessed January 1, 2015.

       http://www.tnaqua.org/teachers/teacher-resources/.