Adaptations

My Pals are Here!
Science
International (2nd Edition)
GRADE 6
© 2020 Marshall Cavendish Education Pte Ltd

UNIT 5
ADAPTATIONS

5.1 What Are Adaptations?
At the end of these sections, you should be able to

answer the following questions:
What are
adaptations?
What are the

adaptations for
movement?

What are adaptations?

• Adaptations are characteristics that
increase a living thing’s chances of survival
in its natural habitat.
What does it mean when living things

are adapted to their habitats?
• It means that they are able to:
 Cope with physical conditions in their
habitat
 Get air, water and food
 Protect themselves from predators
 Reproduce
What are the two different types of adaptations?

Structural adaptations Behavioural adaptations
• Parts of a living thing • Special ways in which a
that help it survive in living thing behaves to
its natural habitat survive in its natural habitat
The body shape of a Penguins huddle together to

dolphin helps it to swim fast. keep warm.

5.2 What Are the Adaptations for Movement?
What are the adaptations for moving on land?

• Strong muscles
A kangaroo’s muscular A cheetah’s muscular

legs allow it to jump legs allow it to run fast.
great distances.

What are the adaptations for moving on land?

• Strong muscles
• Tail
• Special scales
Special scales on the

underside of the snake’s
A kangaroo’s long and A cheetah’s flat tail helps body help it to grip the
strong tail helps it to it to balance when it runs. surface and move its
balance. body forward.

What are the adaptations for moving in water?

• Streamlined body shape
narrow narrow
end end
broad middle
• Modified limbs
Webbed feet Fins Flippers

What are the adaptations for moving in water?

• Swim bladder
 A small bag of air
 Helps the fish to control the depth at which it wants to swim in
the water by varying the amount of air in the swim bladder
swim
bladder

What are the adaptations for moving in air?

• Wings
• Feathers
• Hollow bones wings
• Streamlined body
feathers
streamlined body
hollow bones

Research
Do you know that some inventions are inspired by adaptations

in nature?
Find out about them.

5.3 What Are the Adaptations for Coping With
Extreme Temperatures?
At the end of this section, you should be able to answer

the following question:
What are the

adaptations for coping
with extreme
temperatures?

How would you describe the environment here?
• Very hot and dry in the day

• Little or no water
How do plants and animals cope in an

environment like this?
• Plants and animals have special adaptations

that keep their bodies cool and help them to
conserve water.

What are the adaptations for keeping cool?

• Large ears to help • Hiding in the shade
lose body heat during the day and
coming out only at night
Fennec fox Banded gecko

What are the adaptations for obtaining and

conserving water?
• Drinking large amounts of water at
a time
• Reabsorbing water vapour trapped
in the nostrils
Camel
• Thick and fleshy stems

• Needle-like leaves
• Roots that spread out
Cacti

How would you describe the environment here?
• Very cold
• Food and water not easily available
How do plants and animals cope in an

environment like this?
• Plants and animals have special adaptations that

keep their bodies warm and help them to conserve
energy and water.

What are the adaptations for conserving water

and energy?
• Hibernation during winter to conserve energy
• Needle-like leaves to reduce water loss
Pine trees
What are the adaptations for keeping warm?
• Migrating to a • Closely packed • Thick fur and a

warmer place feathers to keep layer of fat under
to avoid the warm the skin to keep
cold winter warm
Geese Penguins
Polar bear

5.4 What Are the Adaptations for Breathing In Water?

What are the

adaptations for
breathing in water?

What are the adaptations

for breathing in water?
gills
• Moist skin
• Gills
• Air tubes
moist skin
air tube

What are the adaptations

for breathing in water?
air
• Air bubbles bubble
• Special nostrils
• Blowholes
nostril blowhole

5.5 What Are the Adaptations for Obtaining Sunlight?

What are the

adaptations for
obtaining
sunlight?

What are the adaptations of land plants to get

sunlight?
• Strong, woody and upright

stems to hold branches and
leaves up to get sunlight
strong, woody
and upright stems

Money plant
What are the adaptations of climbing onto
another plant
land plants to get sunlight?
• Tendrils or clasping roots to
cling onto supports
• Creeping stems where leaves
are spread out
Pumpkin
plants
creeping
on the
ground

What are the adaptations of aquatic plants to get

sunlight?
• Large waxy leaves to • Air-filled, swollen leaf
keep water from stalks to help plant
weighing leaves down float on water
Water lotus Water hyacinth

5.6 What Are the Adaptations for Catching Prey?
At the end of these sections, you should be able to

answer the following questions:
What are the

adaptations for
catching prey?
What are the

adaptations for
protection against
predators?

What are the adaptations for catching prey?

• Strong jaws
• Sticky tongues
• Strong senses
Predators such as tigers

have strong jaws to hold
their prey in a tight grip.
Predators such as
chameleons have sticky Bats have a sharp
tongues to capture their prey. sense of hearing.

• Using traps or venoms
• Moving fast
A spider traps A scorpion uses A cheetah uses

its prey using its its stinger to its speed to
sticky web. sting its prey outrun and
with its venom. catch its prey.


• Hunting in groups
• Camouflaging
Wolves hunt in groups

to catch larger prey.
Arctic fox in Arctic fox in

winter summer
The Arctic fox changes the colour of its

fur to blend in with its surroundings. The colour of the lion’s fur helps it to
blend in with its surroundings.
5.7 What Are the Adaptations for Protection
Against Predators?
What are the adaptations for

protection against predators?
• Scales, shells and spines

• Poisonous skin
poisonous skin scales

spines shell

5.7 What Are the Adaptations for Protection
Against Predators?
What are the adaptations for protection against

predators?
• Appearing bigger • Mimicry • Camouflaging
Honeybee
Syrphid fly
A leaf insect uses its
A bearded dragon appears A syrphid fly mimics the shape and colour to
bigger, showing its spikes to stripes on a honeybee blend in with its
scare off predators. to scare off predators. surroundings.
5.8 What Are the Adaptations for Reproduction?
At the end of these sections, you should be able

to answer the following questions:
What are the

adaptations for
reproduction?
What happens when

living things cannot
adapt to changes in
their habitats?

What are the adaptations for reproduction?

• Structural adaptations
 Lighting up  Colourful body coverings
The tip of a firefly’s body The male peacock displays its

lights up in the dark to tail feathers to attract mates.
attract mates.

What are the adaptations for reproduction?

• Behavioural adaptations
 Males of some  Some animals produce
species will fight to distinct sounds or mating
win a female mate. calls to attract mates.
Male mallard ducks pecking Toad croaking to attract

and fighting over a female a mate

How are plants adapted to increase their

chances of reproduction?
• Adaptations for pollination • Adaptation for dispersion
 Brightly coloured flowers  Sweet, fleshy fruit
 Sweet nectar
Brightly coloured flowers Sweet, fleshy fruit attract birds

and nectar attract to eat them. These birds help
butterflies to help to disperse the seeds.
pollinate the flowers.

5.9 What Happens When Living Things Cannot Adapt
to Changes in Their Habitat?
What does it mean when living things are extinct?

• Extinction means that there are no more organisms
of that species left on the Earth.
• Examples of extinct animals include: Woolly
mammoth
Saber-toothed tiger Dodo bird

What does it mean when living things are

endangered?
• This means that there are very few of them left
and that they are in danger of extinction.
• Examples of endangered species include:
Sumatran tiger Rafflesia

What are some causes of living things becoming

endangered or extinct?
• Deforestation
• Pollution
• Global warming

What We Have Learnt

Science Glossary
Feather Hollow bone

Outer covering of birds Bone that contains air spaces
Flipper Mating call
Modified limb of an aquatic Sound made by animals to
animal attract a mate
Habitat Migrate
Environment where certain living Move to a distant place
things are found
Mimicry Swim bladder
Looking, sounding, smelling or Bag of air that helps fish to float
acting like another living thing
Streamlined Tendril
Narrow at the ends and broad in Short, thin stem of a climbing
the middle plant

Science Glossary
Structural adaptation Wing

Special part of a living thing that Modified limb of a flying animal
helps it survive in its natural
habitat

Acknowledgements
• Slide 2, octopus – ID 68433724 © Ethan Daniels | Dreamstime.com
• Slides 4 and 35, butterfly on a blue flower © Raskolnikon | 123rf.com
• Slides 4 and 15, camel © Susan Richey-Schmitz | 123rf.com
• Slide 5, dolphin – ID 12280807 © Dream69 | Dreamstime.com
• Slide 5, penguins – ID 96791056 © Willtu | Dreamstime.com
• Slides 6 and 7, kangaroo © Anan Kaewkhammul | 123rf.com
• Slides 6 and 7, cheetah running © Stuart Porter | 123rf.com
• Slide 7, snake © Jay Pierstorff | 123rf.com
• Slide 8, shark – ID 146069908 © Chumphon Whangchom | Dreamstime.com
• Slide 8, duckling © Eric Isselee | 123rf.com
• Slide 8, goldfish – ID 13437017 © Mingwei Chan | Dreamstime.com
• Slide 8, sea turtle – ID 140534499 © Gilney Lima | Dreamstime.com
• Slide 10, eagle – ID 31015407 © Steve Byland | Dreamstime.com
• Slide 13, desert – ID 22590328 © Steve Allen | Dreamstime.com
• Slide 14, fennec fox – ID 60105128 © Siripong Panasonthi | Dreamstime.com
• Slide 14, gecko © Ameng Wu | 123rf.com

Acknowledgements
• Slide 15, cactus – ID 94364384 © Vaeenma | Dreamstime.com
• Slide 16, winter landscape © Sander Meertins | 123rf.com
• Slide 17, pine trees – ID 122930827 © Pavlo Vakhrushev | Dreamstime.com
• Slide 18, migrating geese © anagram1 | 123rf.com
• Slide 18, penguins © Chinnasorn Pangcharoen | 123rf.com
• Slide 18, polar bear © Iakov Filimonov | 123rf.com
• Slide 20, frog © Eric Isselee | 123rf.com
• Slide 20, gills – ID 33260559 © Joannatkaczuk | Dreamstime.com
• Slide 20, fish © Siarhei Nosyreu | 123rf.com
• Slide 20, mosquito larva | ID 26678416 © Meisterphotos | Dreamstime.com
• Slide 21, diving beetle | ID 72152715 © Martin Pelanek | Dreamstime.com
• Slide 21, manatee – ID 111705370 © Jeff Stamer | Dreamstime.com
• Slide 21, dolphin – ID 1681703 © Tom Amon | Dreamstime.com
• Slide 23, trees © Huiping Zhu | 123rf.com
• Slide 24, pumpkin field – ID 126346697 © Billed | Dreamstime.com
• Slide 24, money plant © Chansom Pantip | 123rf.com

Acknowledgements
• Slide 25, lotus © Panotthorn Phuhual | 123rf.com
• Slide 25, water hyacinth – ID 49009384 © Sarayut Watchasit | Dreamstime.com
• Slide 27, tiger © mattiaath | 123rf.com
• Slide 27, chameleon © Cathy Keifer | 123rf.com
• Slide 27, bat © Valerii Kirsanov | 123rf.com
• Slide 28, spider – ID 133349822 © Pavel Sipachev | Dreamstime.com
• Slide 28, scorpion – ID 34450892 © Piyathep | Dreamstime.com
• Slide 28, cheetah – ID 23511442 © Dennis Donohue | Dreamstime.com
• Slide 29, wolves © Dennis Jacobsen | 123rf.com
• Slide 29, Arctic fox in winter – ID 112782134 © Polina Bublik | Dreamstime.com
• Slide 29, Arctic fox in summer © Roksana Bashyrova | 123rf.com
• Slide 29, lion – ID 23199177 © Enrico0759 | Dreamstime.com
• Slide 30, snake © Eric Isselee | 123rf.com
• Slide 30, snake skin © MR.NATTHAPHAT MEEGIRIYA | 123rf.com
• Slide 30, frog © hadot | 123rf.com
• Slide 30, tortoise – ID 30945177 © Lukas Blazek | Dreamstime.com
• Slide 30, hedgehog – ID 41345689 © Freelancer74 | Dreamstime.com
Acknowledgements
• Slide 31, bearded dragon – ID 461861 © Litwinphotography | Dreamstime.com
• Slide 31, bearded dragon with spikes © Ryan Pike | 123rf.com
• Slide 31, honeybee © Eric Isselee | 123rf.com
• Slide 31, syrphid fly – ID 32156119 © Tiberiu Sahlean | Dreamstime.com
• Slide 31, leaf insect – ID 18264924 © Tan Kian Yong | Dreamstime.com
• Slide 33, firefly © Fernando Gregory Milan | 123rf.com
• Slide 33, peacock – ID 67241731 © 江驰关 | Dreamstime.com
• Slide 34, mallard ducks – ID 145765645 © Anthony Baggett | Dreamstime.com
• Slide 34, toad © Nico Smit | 123rf.com
• Slide 35, bird and fruit © Tanya Puntti | 123rf.com
• Slide 36, sabre-toothed tiger © Michael Heywood | 123rf.com
• Slide 36, dodo bird © William Roberts | 123rf.com
• Slide 36, wolly mammoth © Scott Betts | 123rf.com
• Slide 37, tiger – ID 54478 © John Valenti | Dreamstime.com
• Slide 37, rafflesia – ID 121471364 © Ravindran John Smith | Dreamstime.com
• Slide 38, deforestation – ID 147165921 © Travelstrategy l Dreamstime.com

Adaptations

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Adaptations

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

My Pals are Here!

© 2020 Marshall Cavendish Education Pte Ltd

© 2020 Marshall Cavendish Education Pte Ltd

At the end of these sections, you should be able to

What are the

© 2020 Marshall Cavendish Education Pte Ltd

What are adaptations?

What does it mean when living things

What are the two different types of adaptations?

The body shape of a Penguins huddle together to

© 2020 Marshall Cavendish Education Pte Ltd

What are the adaptations for moving on land?

A kangaroo’s muscular A cheetah’s muscular

© 2020 Marshall Cavendish Education Pte Ltd

What are the adaptations for moving on land?

Special scales on the

© 2020 Marshall Cavendish Education Pte Ltd

What are the adaptations for moving in water?

Webbed feet Fins Flippers

What are the adaptations for moving in water?

© 2020 Marshall Cavendish Education Pte Ltd

What are the adaptations for moving in air?

© 2020 Marshall Cavendish Education Pte Ltd

Do you know that some inventions are inspired by adaptations

Find out about them.

© 2020 Marshall Cavendish Education Pte Ltd

At the end of this section, you should be able to answer

What are the

© 2020 Marshall Cavendish Education Pte Ltd

How would you describe the environment here?

• Very hot and dry in the day

How do plants and animals cope in an

• Plants and animals have special adaptations

© 2020 Marshall Cavendish Education Pte Ltd

What are the adaptations for keeping cool?

Fennec fox Banded gecko

© 2020 Marshall Cavendish Education Pte Ltd

What are the adaptations for obtaining and

• Thick and fleshy stems

© 2020 Marshall Cavendish Education Pte Ltd

How would you describe the environment here?

How do plants and animals cope in an

• Plants and animals have special adaptations that

© 2020 Marshall Cavendish Education Pte Ltd

What are the adaptations for conserving water

What are the adaptations for keeping warm?

• Migrating to a • Closely packed • Thick fur and a

© 2020 Marshall Cavendish Education Pte Ltd

At the end of this section, you should be able to answer

What are the

© 2020 Marshall Cavendish Education Pte Ltd

What are the adaptations

© 2020 Marshall Cavendish Education Pte Ltd

What are the adaptations

© 2020 Marshall Cavendish Education Pte Ltd

At the end of this section, you should be able to answer

What are the

© 2020 Marshall Cavendish Education Pte Ltd

What are the adaptations of land plants to get

• Strong, woody and upright

© 2020 Marshall Cavendish Education Pte Ltd

© 2020 Marshall Cavendish Education Pte Ltd

What are the adaptations of aquatic plants to get