Moorpark College Imaginary Animals Details Questions

SO, DEVELOP THE FOLLOWING HABITS BEGINNING NOW:

• THE BASIC ASSIGNMENT:

Your job is to imagine two animals and describe aspects of the ecological niche each one occupies, and identify some traits (ie., features of its body or behavior) that are adapted to each particular aspects of the niche you describe.

You will write a short paper. Make sure you are applying the ideas and terminology from the Niches and Adaptations mini-lecture. Make sure you are following all requirements, including formatting. Follow all of the specific instructions below.

WRITING THE PAPER:

1. Double-space your paper.
2. Use complete sentences in your paper.
3. Follow the format you see below. Where you see highlightedlabels below, please use these exact words as a section header to organize and label your work exactly as you see here. (You don’t have to highlight your section headers, just as long as you use the section headers. Indent as you see here if possible, but using the section headers is the most important thing, and will figure into your score.)

STEP 1: FOR ANIMAL #1 WRITE THE FOLLOWING:

Write: “NAME OF ANIMAL:”Then, following this header, make up and name an imaginary animal and say a few, very brief things about it. It can be any kind of animal (mammal, fish, bird, insect, etc.), but make it at least reasonably realistic – nosupernatural traits, please. Feel free to base your thoughts on a real animal (just change the name), but DO NOT actually research real animals for this assignment!

Start a new line and write the header “Physical Space:” Then, following this header, describe the physical space of the animal’s niche. (Remember, it’s not just a location — it’s also the kind of space they occupy in that location. In the trees? On the ground? Under dead leaves? Etc.) Use any relevant course terminology from the lectures.

Start a new line and write the header “Trait:” Then, following this header, describe one trait of the animal’s body or behavior and explain how that particular trait is an adaptation to that particular physical space. Please make it clear what the ONE trait is you are identifying, rather than talking about several different traits.

Start a new line and write the header “Diet:” Then, following this header, describe the dietary niche of the animal. (Remember, this means you’re describing what it eats). Use any relevant course terminology from the lectures.

Start a new line and write the header “Trait:” Then, following this header, describe one trait of the animal’s body or behavior and explain how that particular trait is an adaptation to that particular diet. Please make it clear what the ONE trait is you are identifying, rather than talking about several different traits.

Start a new line and write the header “Active Time of Day:” Then, following this header, describe the time of day in which that animal is typically most active. (Please choose — do notsay it’s equally active at all times, as that doesn’t work well for this assignment.) Use any relevant course terminology from the lectures.

Start a new line and write the header “Trait:” Then, following this header, describe one trait of the animal’s body or behavior and explain how that particular trait is an adaptation to being most active at that particular time of day. Please make it clear what the ONE trait is you are identifying, rather than talking about several different traits.

(Confused about the formatting? See this example.)

STEP 2 : REPEAT THE ABOVE FOR ANIMAL #2

Please make the niches and traits different than they were for animal #1.

HINTS ON WRITING A SUCCESSFUL PAPER:

• There are many different kinds of traits you can consider when trying to think of one that might be adapted to the niche. Think about body shape, size, and structure. Think about coloration. Think about the animal’s senses. Think about what it needs to find, get, and digest food. Think about the dangers it faces and how it can avoid or escape them. What are its teeth like? What covers its body? What instinctual behaviors does it follow? When does it follow them? These are just examples. There are lots of possible things to discuss.
• Be sure the traits you name are adaptations to the niche you’ve described, not just reasons the niche is good for that animal. For example, a trait adapted to being nocturnal must be a specific trait that helps out with the animal being active at night and/or being inactive in the day. On the other hand, if you say, “By being nocturnal, the animal avoids daytime predators,”  this just says that it’s a good thing to be active at night, but it doesn’t actually name any trait the animal has that helps it be successful with nighttime activity (In this case, being nocturnal is actually an adaptation to a physical space in which there are daytime predators.)
• Always use relevant terminology from the course (from the study guide or the slides) when possible and appropriate (e.g., “arboreal,” “carnivore,” etc.). 

POST

Adaptations: features of body and behavior that

are suited for survival in a particular niche

Some Aspects of Niches:

Physical SpaceArborealWhat stratum?TerrestrialAquaticSubterraneanAerialAmphibious