Name: Fabrizio, Daphne, Aaaron, Jamileth Date: 10/18/2023 Class: Biology

PROJECT OVERVIEW
Animals in the Neighborhood
Have you ever noticed what a great diversity of animals there are around you? If you stop to
observe, you’ll probably see rabbits, squirrels, mice, spiders, insects, fish, frogs, snails, and all
kinds of birds. In this project, you will take the time to observe because you are going to make
a survey of animals in your neighborhood. You’ll also research the body systems of two of the
animals you observe.
First, you will work with a partner or small group to conduct a survey of animals in your
neighborhood. Second, you will classify and group each of the animals you observe. Third, you
will choose two animals and learn about their digestive, respiratory, circulatory, and excretory
systems. Finally, you will make a poster to display the information you’ve found.

Project Rules
• Conduct a survey of animals in your neighborhood. This might include animals in and
around your house, in a park, in or by a stream or pond, and on the school grounds.
• List the animals you observe in the table on Project Worksheet 1. Classify each animal
according to its biological classification. Do research to find out about an adaptation each
animal has for feeding. Also, identify each animal as a herbivore, carnivore, or omnivore.
• You may list a pet as one of your animals, though your emphasis should be on wild
animals in your area.
• After you have completed your survey of animals in the neighborhood, choose two of the
animals for further research. Get your teacher’s approval for the animals you choose
before beginning research. Then, use research materials at the school, the library, or online
to find details about the animals’ digestive, respiratory, circulatory, and excretory systems.
• With your partner or group, create a poster that shows details of the two animals you
researched. Your poster should include illustrations of each animal, with labels showing
important parts of each body system you researched.

Suggested Materials
• Encyclopedias, biology textbooks, field guides, and the Internet
• Poster board, markers, and colored pencils; other materials approved by your teacher
Name: Fabrizio, Daphne, Aaaron, Jamileth Date: 10/18/2023 Class: Biology

Project Hints
• As you conduct your survey of animals, try to be outside in the early morning or in the
evening just before dark. Some animals hide during the day or are nocturnal.
• Always make your observations of animals with at least one other student or an adult.
• Try to find animals to observe that most people don’t see every day. You might look for
animals in a wooded area or by a stream or pond.
• Try to list many different kinds of animals. See if you can observe at least one mammal,
bird, reptile, amphibian, fish, and arthropod.
• To research feeding adaptations, first search for the diet an animal eats. For instance, a
bird that eats mostly seeds will have a different kind of beak than a bird that eats insects.
• A good biology textbook will likely have most of the information you need about the body
systems of different kinds of animals. You may not be able to find details about a specific
animal. Instead, look for information about the group to which the animal belongs, such as
birds or fish.
• Your poster should have good illustrations. Look for labeled illustrations in textbooks or
online that show structures inside the type of animal you are researching. You can draw
your own illustrations using those as models. You can also use illustrations downloaded
from the Internet or copied from a textbook. If you use downloaded or copied illustrations,
you will probably have to delete some labels and add your own. You should write in small
print the source of any downloaded or copied illustration used on your poster.

Project Timeline
Task Due Date
1. Complete survey of local animals 18/10/2023
2. Complete research of feeding adaptations 18/10/2023
3. Complete research on systems of two animals 18/10/2023
4. Complete your poster 18/10/2023
Name: Fabrizio, Daphne, Aaaron, Jamileth Date: 10/18/2023 Class: Biology

PROJECT WORKSHEET 1
Conducting a Survey of Animals
What animals do you see every day in and around your neighborhood? What animals do you
think might be there that you don’t see? Conduct a survey of animals that live near your home
and in the surrounding area. This might include a park, a stream or pond, and the school
grounds.
In the table below, list the animals you observe and where you observe them. Also, classify
each animal as a mammal, bird, fish, reptile, mollusk, worm, arthropod, or amphibian. Your list
may include one pet. Then, through research, try to identify an adaptation each animal has for
obtaining food. Once you’ve identified a feeding adaptation, determine whether the animal is a
carnivore, herbivore, or omnivore. Two rows of the table have been completed as examples.
You may want to continue this table on another sheet of paper.
Animal Location Classification Adaptation to Carnivore,
Observed Obtain Food Herbivore, or
Omnivore?
Squirrel neighbor’s yard Mammal teeth herbivore

House fly school cafeteria Arthropod spongy, sucking omnivore

mouthparts

pigeon In my harden Bird ability to adapt herbivore

to his
environment.

rabbit In the forest mammal It has a herbivore

digestive system
that allows the
ingestion of
dog In the street mammal alarge amounts
strong jaw Omnivore
of food and
rapid transit of
food
cat In the home mammal sharp claws Carnivore

hen In the farm bird pick herbivore

Name: Fabrizio, Daphne, Aaron, Jamileth Date: 10/18/2023 Class: Biology

PROJECT WORKSHEET 2
A Closer Look
Choose two of the animals you observed while conducting your survey to study in detail. For
each of these animals, use research sources to find out about these four systems: digestive,
respiratory, circulatory, and excretory. Then, record the information you find on a separate
sheet of paper. An example has been done for you.
Animal: House fly Classification: Arthropod
Digestive system: The digestive system is a tube that opens at the mouth and ends at the anus.
Respiratory system: The respiratory system is a network of branching tracheal tubes
throughout the body. Air enters and leaves the tubes through small openings called spiracles on
the outside of the body.
Circulatory system: A house fly’s circulatory system is an open system with a heart that
pumps blood through the body.
Excretory system: The excretory system includes saclike organs called Malpighian tubules
that extract wastes from blood and add them to the digestive tube from the mouth to the anus.
Source of information: Biology (Pearson, 2008) by Kenneth Miller and Joseph Levine
1. Animal: hen______________________Classification: bird______________________
Digestive system: It consists of a beak, oral cavity and pharynx, esophagus, crop,
proventriculus, gizzard, small intestine, large intestine, cloaca.
Respiratory system: Air flows through the lungs unidirectionally through a
bronchial system that is made up of primary bronchi, secondary bronchi and, finally,
tertiary bronchi called parabronchi, which are the functional units of gas exchange.
Circulatory system: It is closed, double and complete, the heart consists of four
chambers, two atria and two ventricles and its functioning is similar to that of
mammals.
Excretory system: It is made up of: the kidneys, the ureters and the cloaca.
Source of information: Wikipedia
2. Animal: Cat_________________ Classification: mammal_________________________
Digestive system: It consists of a mouth, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, small and
large intestine, rectum and anus.
Respiratory system: It is made up of 3 main functions: the first is gas exchange, that
is, respiration; The second is vocalization, which is the production of sounds such as
meows and purrs that arise from the larynx; and the third is temperature regulation
Circulatory system: The circulatory system is made up of the heart, veins and
arteries, as well as small blood vessels.
Excretory system: It made of two kidneys, two ureters, a bladder and a urethra.
Source of information: Wikipedia
Name: Fabrizio, Daphne, Aaron, Jamileth Date: 10/18/2023 Class: Biology

SCORING RUBRIC
Animals in the Neighborhood
In evaluating how well you complete the Chapter Project, your teacher will judge
your work in four categories. In each, a score of 4 is the best rating.
4 3 2 1
Participating in a Student takes a lead in Student participates in all Student participates in Student plays a minor role
Survey of Animals conducting a survey of aspects of conducting a most aspects of in conducting a survey of
animals in the survey of animals in the conducting a survey of animals in the
neighborhood. neighborhood. animals in the neighborhood.
neighborhood.
Classifying Animals Student correctly Student correctly Student correctly Student correctly
classifies and groups 10 classifies and groups 7-9 classifies and groups 5-6 classifies and groups
or more animals observed animals observed in the animals observed in the fewer than 5 animals
in the neighborhood. neighborhood. neighborhood. observed in the
neighborhood.
Researching the Student finds accurate Student finds accurate Student finds some Student finds mostly
Systems of Animals and interesting information about the accurate information inaccurate and/or
information about the body systems of two about the body systems of incomplete information
body systems of two animals. two animals. about the body systems of
animals. two animals.
Creating and Poster is logically Poster is organized, has Poster is organized, has Poster is not well
Explaining Poster organized, has appropriate and adequate illustrations, and organized, has inadequate
appropriate and informative illustrations, includes mostly accurate illustration, and includes
informative illustrations, and includes accurate information about the inaccurate information
and includes accurate and information about the systems of two animals. about the systems of one
interesting information systems of two animals. or two animals.
about the systems of two
animals.