Adaptations (some ideas from Anabel Mifsud, ACU Education student)

Middle

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Literacy

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Critical and creative thinking

1. In order to survive, plants and animals are often required to adapt. These adaptions can be as simple as migrating to better suited climates, or they can be genetic- meaning something in their genes changes over many generations in order to better prepare the species for survival.

One such example can be seen in our own very Australian native, the wombat!

The Conversation 14 March 2016

Common wombat

Scientific Name: Vombatus ursinus

The common wombat has short, slightly rounded ears, a large, hairless nose and coarse, thick fur. The pouch opens to the rear as an adaptation to ensure it does not fill with soil while the animal is digging. The rump is protected by bony plate and acts as a defensive shield if the wombat is chased down its burrow by a predator. Wombats are big, solid animals and adults may weigh in at over 30 kg. (Source: Reptile Park)

The wombat is unique in the animal kingdom in that it produces cubic poo, and lots of it – around 80 to 100 cubes per night.

WOMBATS POO SQUARES!
https://youtu.be/m52Rdp_b5dQ

The wombat is highly territorial so uses its cube-shaped poo to mark its territory, preventing conflict. Wombats have been found to differentiate between various poos and show avoidance behaviour when presented with poo produced by predators and other male wombats. The hormonal content of poo can also be examined, for example so that males can tell when females are most fertile.

Wombats deposit poo outside their burrows and on the tops of rocks and logs, where they are more easily found by other wombats. The distinctive shape is an advantage as the flat sides of the cubes ensure they do not roll off their precarious locations.


Wombat poo is cubic, not because the wombat has a square-shaped anus, but because it has a very long and slow digestive process, typically 14 to 18 days, which allows the digestive matter to become extremely dry and compacted. The wombat also has a very long digestive tract, allowing it to absorb the most nutrients and water from its food. The first part of their large intestine contains horizontal ridges that probably mould the poo into cubes, whereas the last part of the large intestine is relatively smooth, allowing the cubic shape to be maintained. The highly compacted nature of the poo means that the rectum is unable to contour the poo into the more usual tubular shape.

So, the wombat, with is nocturnal way of life, poor eyesight but excellent sense of smell, uses poo as its main way of telling who lives where and if there are any strangers in the area (thus avoiding conflict), and as a way of increasing its reproductive success. It produces cubic poo as a result of its diet and long digestion. And, the cubic poo is the perfect shape for sitting on top of rocks and logs as it doesn’t roll away. (Source: The Conversation 14 March 2016)



2. Using the following links, as well as your own research, create an A3 poster focusing on the adaptations of 1 native Australian animal.

Be sure to include the following:
   
- Name of animal
  
- What the adaptation is
  
- Reason for adaptation
  
- Benefit of adaptation
   
- appropriate pictures/illustrations/diagrams

• Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae)

• Thorny Devils - Bush Heritage Australia

• Female Kangaroo (Macropodidae sp.)

• Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae)

• Gould's goanna (Varanus gouldii)

• Pellucid hawk moths (Cephonodes hylas)

• Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus)

• Purple copper butterfly (Paralucia spinifera)

• Echidna (Tachyglossidae)

Other Resource:

Australian Geographic

When is an animal not an 'animal'?

Middle  Secondary

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Critical and creative thinking

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Ethical Understanding

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Literacy

Philosophy

Cooperative Learning Activity

1. In groups of 3 - 4 students, you are to read the following article from The Conversation 15 January 2014 and note down the ideas given here; and, answer the following questions.

• What is animal research ethics?

• What is the definition of an animal according to Zoologists?

• What is the definition of an animal according to NSW Animal Research Act?

• What is the definition of an animal according to  National Health & Medical Research Council?

• Why is there a difference between these definitions?

2.

As a class, discuss the following question:

"Should the definition of an animal always be the Zoologists' definition?" Why? Why not?

3. As children are given a limited view of "animals", your group is to create a picture book featuring the Tardigrades showing younger children the scope of the Animal Kingdom.

Use the following resources to give you some ideas about Tardigrades:

YouTube: How To Find Water Bears
https://youtu.be/ZuxwisK-8f8

YouTube: Water Bears Aren't As Cute As The Internet Thinks
https://youtu.be/EMTRNNaXVmg