Using Story To Teach Adaptation

It was my first time using a story to lead pupils to infer the definition of adaptation. To my surprise, my P6 pupils were quietly listening to me telling a story although I am not a good story teller.

One day a Deer walked to a pond to get a drink. As Deer gazed at his reflection, he thought to himself. “Look at my beautiful antlers! I should be king of all the forest creatures, for no animal has a crown as wonderful as mine.” But then Deer’s gaze fell to his legs, his skinny, bony deer legs.

“That is why I am not king. You can’t be a king if you  have skinny legs like these!”

 Just then Deer heard a twig snap. He looked up to see a hunter with his bow drawn. Deer turned and ran into the woods. The arrow flew right past Deer’s head and sank into a tree trunk. Deer zigzagged through the trees. But he could hear the hunter and the hunter’s dog right behind. Deer came to a huge oak tree and tried to duck under its branches but, plunk, his antlers got stuck in the twigs. Deer pushed forward and he pushed to the right and his pushed to the left, but he couldn’t get loose.

He could hear the hunter and the dog closing in. Finally, with one last yank, he pulled back and with a snap, his antlers broke through the twigs. Deer ran around the oak tree and out into a meadow. He leapt and he leapt on those long deer legs until that hunter and his dog were out of his sight.

A few days later, Deer was walking in that same part of the forest. Then he walked to that pond for a drink. But before he drank he looked at his reflection in the water and said, “Look at my beautiful legs.”

After the story, I asked the pupils which body parts save the deer and then got them to infer these body parts which save them in the environment are the adaptations. I could see that they really enjoyed the story.

Adapted from http://www.naturestory.com/Resources/PDF2watermarkedScienceTeach.pdf

Image from somewhere, can't locate the website.

I realised pupils also love to listen to your own personal story, your encounter.

Early January this year, I went for my routine jog on one of the Saturdays with my husband. This is what we saw.

What is so special about this picture?

My husband who was beside me could not see anything.

Unlike me, being the observant Science teacher, I saw treasure. Zoom in to the tree....

A squirrel camouflaged to the surrounding that only I could see.

So I showed my pupils these 2 pictures and told them the same story that I wrote here. Again, they were so captivated and learnt the concept of camouflage in adaptation.