Fourth graders at Washington Discovery Academy are working to design the “perfect” animal that could thrive in any environment. It’s part of an effort to learn about how animals adapt to different places and climates. A group of five students gave an update on the project to the Plymouth School Board last week.
In order to design their animals, the fourth graders studied different biomes and the various adaptations of the animals that live there. They explored camouflage by making paper butterflies that blend in to various places around the classroom and challenging younger students to find them. They also used models of different types of bird beaks to figure out which ones were best at picking up different items.
Then, students took adaptations from one animal from each of the five biomes to design their new super-animals. Students presented one of those creations to the Plymouth School Board last week, a terrifying-looking creature called the Lionbact Deercat. It has the white feathers and wings of a snowy owl, the humps of a camel, the antlers of a white-tailed deer, the razor-sharp teeth of a bobcat, and the long fingers of a lion tamarin.
The new animal drew several questions from School Board President Todd Samuelson. However, there was no clear consensus about how big the Lionbact Deercat would get or whether it could be domesticated, if it existed.
The students will now be making models of each of their animals. They’ll present them to the other students at Washington Discovery Academy, as a way to teach them about animal adaptations and traits. Pictures of the finished models will also be posted to the Washington Discovery Academy Facebook page.
