Vertebrate Project - Welcome to Mrs. Winesett's Class!



Survey of Vertebrates Project

You will research your vertebrate and present the information in an electronic medium: Powerpoint, Prezi, a YouTube video, etc.

Information that should be included:

1. Full classification from Kingdom ( species

2. Common name

3. Meaning of scientific name &/or common name

4. Picture(s) of vertebrate

5. Body/Appearance-average size & weight

6. Specific habitat

7. Method of feeding & what it eats

8. Method of movement

9. Composition/complexity of skeleton

10. Reproduction & Life Stages

11. Body Systems (respiratory & circulatory)

12. Warm or Cold blooded

13. Adaptations that help it to survive & thrive—see dissection adaptation questions.

14. Predators &/or threats to the species

15. Unique behaviors or niches

16. Close relatives (similarities & differences)

17. What characteristics make this class of animals different from other vertebrates?

You should have pictures or video of the organism living and also reference your dissection when referring to the above information.

References: References should be cited. A credit page should be used if a video is made.

Your final product should be:

✓ Neat & organized

✓ Colorful

✓ Proofread for spelling & grammatical errors

✓ Sound should be audible

✓ Video should be clear.

Oral portion of presentation should be:

✓ Practiced

✓ Not read directly from visual source

Some helpful websites:



Citing Your References: When you write your bibliography, list all of your references. Formats for each type of publication follows (there are different formats for different media):

• Web Site: Author(s) if appropriate. Title of Site or web page. URL of site, date of publication (the earliest copyright year listed).

• Book: Author(s). Title of book. Edition. Location of publisher: Name of Publisher, year of publication.

• Encyclopedia: Title of encyclopedia, volume of encyclopedia used. Location of publisher: Name of Publisher, year of publication, pages where the article is located.

• Magazine or Journal: Author(s). "Title of article." Name of magazine, Volume.issue (date): pages where the article is located.

Author(s) are listed last name first, first name or initials (as cited in the publication).

For example: would be cited as follows:

Col, Jeananda. . 1999.

Another format for Internet sources is as follows:

Last name, First name of author. Title of Page. Name of the publisher ( in our case). Date the page was created (at Enchanted Learning, this is the earliest date on the copyright notice located at the bottom of each page), Date of revision (at Enchanted Learning, we do not keep track of page revisions).

Dissecting Evolution

Why are trees tall? Why do zebras have stripes? Why do cheetahs have long, narrow legs? These questions can all be answered using Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection. In fact, virtually every trait of an organism can be explained using natural selection theory. While learning the anatomy of your vertebrate, you will use Darwin’s theory to explain why the animal and its structures take the form that they do. For the features in the table below, make and record descriptive observations. In each category there are spaces for features unique to your organism. For example, the frog has vomerine teeth. They should be included as a unique adaptation in external anatomy. As you research, you should be able to gather unique characteristics to look for when dissecting. Then infer the adaptive value of the feature. Attempt to describe how the feature makes the vertebrate better adapted for its environment.

External Anatomy

|Structure/Feature |Observations |Adaptive Value |

|Dorsal Color | | |

|Ventral Color | | |

|Location of Eyes | | |

|Location of Ears | | |

|Location of Nostrils | | |

|Shape of head | | |

|Hind Legs/fin(s) | | |

|Front Legs/fin(s) | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

Why does your vertebrate look the way it does? Why is it colored the way it is? Shaped the way it is ? Why are the structures located where they are? Refer to specific structure and use the language of natural selection.

Thoracic Cavity

|Structure/Feature |Observations |Adaptive Value |

|Ribs | | |

|Lungs | | |

|Pericardial membrane | | |

|Number of heart chambers | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

Explain why your vertebrate has the number of chambers in its heart and how it is different than other classes of organisms being studied.

Abdominal Cavity

|Structure/Feature |Observations |Adaptive Value |

|Shape/Texture of stomach | | |

|Size of liver | | |

|Length of small intestine | | |

|Body cavity | | |

|Villi | | |

|Number of blood vessels in mesentary | | |

|Number of eggs or offspring(if pregnant female)| | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

Choose three features from the abdominal cavity and explain why they are the way they are.

Rubric

|Item |Present and accurate |Present but incomplete/inaccurate |Not Present |

| |(3 points) |(1 points) |(0 points) |

|Classification | | | |

|Common Name | | | |

|Meaning of scientific name | | | |

|Pictures of living organisms | | | |

|Pictures of dissection | | | |

|Appearance—including average size | | | |

|and weight | | | |

|Specific Habitat | | | |

|Method of feeding and diet | | | |

|Method of movement | | | |

|Composition/complexity of skeleton | | | |

|Reproduction and Life Stages | | | |

|Description of Respiratory System | | | |

|Description of Circulatory System | | | |

|Warm or Cold Blooded | | | |

|Predators and threats to the | | | |

|species | | | |

|Unique behaviors or niches | | | |

|Close relatives—similarities and | | | |

|differences | | | |

|Unique characteristics of this | | | |

|CLASS of animals | | | |

|External Anatomy Observations and | | | |

|Adaptive Value (Dorsal and Ventral | | | |

|color) | | | |

|External Anatomy Observations and | | | |

|Adaptive Value (Location of Ears, | | | |

|Eyes and Nostrils) | | | |

| | | | |

|Item |Present and accurate |Present but incomplete/inaccurate |Not Present |

| |(3 points) |(1 points) |(0 points) |

|General explanation using language | | | |

|of natural selection. | | | |

|Thoracic Cavity Observations and | | | |

|Adaptive Value (Ribs and Lungs) | | | |

|Thoracic Cavity Observations and | | | |

|Adaptive Value (pericardial | | | |

|membrane and number of heart | | | |

|chambers) | | | |

|Explanation of heart chambers and | | | |

|differences from other classes of | | | |

|organisms | | | |

|Abdominal Cavity Observations and | | | |

|Adaptive Value (Shape/texture of | | | |

|stomach and size of liver) | | | |

|Abdominal Cavity Observations and | | | |

|Adaptive Value (Length of small | | | |

|intestine and body cavity) | | | |

|Abdominal Cavity Observations and | | | |

|Adaptive Value (Villi, number of | | | |

|blood vessels in mesentery, and | | | |

|number of eggs or offspring—if | | | |

|female)) | | | |

|Choose three features from the | | | |

|abdominal cavity and explain. | | | |

|References cited | | | |

|Neat and organized—colorful, | | | |

|proofread, audible and clear video | | | |

| | | | |

|Item |Present and accurate |Present but incomplete/inaccurate |Not Present |

| |(3 points) |(1 points) |(0 points) |

|References scientific support | | | |

|justifying the evolutionary | | | |

|advantage of at least three | | | |

|different characteristics of the | | | |

|organism. | | | |

|Presented in a different format | | | |

|from Powerpoint (extra point) | | | |

|Total | | | |

| | | |/100 |

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