Help! The following critters have been stolen from the local zoo: walrus, poison dart frog, cheetah, llama, crocodile, toucan, tuatara, King Cobra, marbled salamander, and racoon.  

The zookeeper has hired you as "detectives" to find and return these animals to their correct animal areas at the zoo. 
 
 
 

Once you find these animals, you must be able to identify their physical characteristics, adaptative mechanisms, and protective mechanisms so you can put each animal into its correct classification group (mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish). 

Once all animals are grouped according to their classification, you will be able to determine which zoo area each animal should be returned to. Zoo areas include: Fantasy Fish Land, Awesome Amphibians, Beautiful Bird Bungalow, Magnificent Mammals, and Rockin' Reptiles. 

You are required to present this information on a poster to your class.

You will also need to answer questions about each animal on the worksheet provided. 
 
 
 

• 5 or more physical characteristics (what the animal looks like)
• 3-5 adaptation mechanisms (ways an animal adapts to its environment)
• 2-5 protective mechanisms (ways an animal protects itself)
• Provide a picture of the animal if possible

5. Based on the information you retrieved, you should now identify each animal in its correct classification group. (Which animals are birds, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, or fish?)

6. On decorated posters, list each animal across the top. Under the animal's name, list characteristics, adaptation mechanisms, and protective mechanisms you found. Share with the class. 

7. Discuss worksheet questions/answers orally with other groups in the class. Identify similarities and differences between groups. 

 Resources (These sites will help you in your search)
http://www.yahooligans.com/Science_and_Nature/Living_Things/Animals/  
http://www.lii.org/search/file/animals 
http://.tqjunior.thinkquest.org/3500/walrus.html 
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu 
 
 

Your grade will be based on the following rubric. 

	Beginning  1	Developing  2	Accomplished  3	Exemplary  4	Score
Team Work and Presentation	Seldom worked as a team/poor presentation	Worked as a team some of the time/acceptable presentation	Worked as a team most of the time/good presentation	Worked as a team all of the time/excellent presentation
Worksheet	Little effort to answer questions	Some of the questions are answered	Most of the questions are answered correctly	All of the questions answered thoroughly and correctly
Animal characteristics	Only one or two physical characteristics stated on poster for each animal	Only two or three physical characteristics stated on poster for each animal	Only three or four physical characteristics stated on poster for each animal	Five or more physical characteristis stated on poster for each animal
Adaptative Mechanisms	Little effort to list adaptative mechanisms of animals	Some effort made to list adaptative mechanisms of animals	Satisfactory effort made to list adaptative mechanisms of animals (listed 1 or 2 per animal)	Total effort made to list adaptative mechanisms of animals (listed 3-5 per animal)
Protective Mechanisms	Little effort to list protective mechanisms of animals	Some effort made to list protective mechanisms of animals	Satisfactory effort made to list protective mechanisms of animals (listed 1 or 2 per animal)	Total effort made to list protective mechanisms of animals (listed 2-5 per animal accurately)

Upon completion of this quest, students will have accomplished a great task of classifying 10 unusual animals according to their characteristics, adaptation mechanisms, and protective mechanisms. Based on information found, students should be able to use this information to determine which classification group many other animals belong to. 

Teacher's Helper(grade 4-5)    August/September 2002

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Last updated on August 15, 1999. Based on a template from The WebQuest Page