Animal Research Project- Alternative Assignment- Virtual School

Animal Research Project

• Pick an animal- Any animal you want!  
• Research information about this animal and complete a virtual presentation that answers each of the topics below. 
• The information researched will be completed virtually- NO POWERPOINT only virtual presentations like:
  • https://prezi.com
  • https://www.emaze.com
  • http://www.flipsnack.com 
  • You can create a blog/web page on your animal (tumbler.com or weebly.com) 
  • You can also create a video presentation of your animal (you can use iMovie or movie maker), once complete upload to youtube then email me the link. 
• You will submit this assignment via brain honey- The assignment is worth 2 grades...attach the link to the "comments" section in brain honey of the two assignments you'd like to replace.  NO EMAIL SUBMISSIONS! 

Topics to Research and Include in Your Report/Rubric: 
As you complete your virtual report, try to answer as many of the following questions as you can- 

1- Introduction (8 pts)

• Animals common name / picture of the animal.
• What does its name mean? 
• Does the animal have special names for a baby, a male, a female, or a group?  
• Animal's scientific name; this should consist of a capitalized genus name and a lower-case species name. For example, the platypus is Ornithorhynchus anatinus.

 
2- Anatomy/Appearance (7 pts)

• What does your animal look like? How big is it? What shape is its body? What does an average one weigh? Does it have horns, antlers, fur, crests or claws? Describe the teeth, head, neck, tail, etc. How many legs does it have? Are its legs long or short? How many eyes and how many body parts does it have? Does it molt as it grows? 
• Include a picture- preferably related to your animal’s anatomy.

3- Locomotion (7 pts)

• Can your animal move? If so, how does your animal move (does it walk, fly, jump, burrow, etc.)? Is it slow-moving or fast-moving? Why is this important to its survival? For example, most fast-moving animals are fast so that they can catch dinner (like the cheetah) or avoid becoming dinner (like the deer).
• Include a picture- preferably related to your animal’s locomotion.

4- Diet (7 pts)

• What does your animal eat and how does it get its food? Is it an herbivore (plant eater), carnivore (meat eater), omnivore (eating meat and plants), or something else? Is there something unusual in the way your animal eats? (For example, the flamingo sieves its food from mud while its head is upside down under the water.) Where is your animal in the food web (is it a top predator, like the grizzly bear, is it at the base of the food web, like krill, or is it somewhere in the middle)?
• Include a picture- preferably related to your animal’s diet.

5- Habitat and Range (7 pts)

• What type of biome does this animal prefer (does it live in the desert, swamp, tundra, deep sea, coral reef, tropical rainforest, pond, or other habitat)? Where in the world does it live? List the continent(s), country/countries, and/or smaller areas that it lives in.
• Include a picture- preferably related to your animal’s habitat and range.

6- Adaptations (7 pts)

• What are the obvious adaptations of your animal to its environment? For example, the giraffe's neck is an adaptation for obtaining leaves that are high off the ground. It also has tough lips to avoid thorns on its main food source.
• Include a picture- preferably related to your animal’s adaptations.

7- Life Cycle/Reproduction (7 pts)

• Give information on the animal's life cycle and reproduction. For example, in the case of insects, list and describe each stage in the process of their metamorphosis. For a species of shark, describe whether it bears live young or lays eggs.
  • Include a picture- preferably related to your animal’s anatomy.

8- Behavior (7 pts)

• Describe interesting features of your animal's behavior. For example: Is there evidence of herding or is it a solitary animal? Does it burrow underground? Does it hibernate, estivate, or migrate in cold weather? Is it nocturnal (most active at night)?
  • Include a picture- preferably related to your animal’s behavior.

9- Defense/Offense (7 pts)

• How does it defend itself (and/or attack other animals)? Does it use teeth, fangs, claws, armor, horns, antlers, pincers, poison, a stinger, muscles, a strong smell, and/or something else?
  • Include a picture- preferably related to your animal’s defense/offense.

10- Enemies (7 pts)

• What animals eat or otherwise kill your animal? For example, for caterpillars, birds eat caterpillars, but wasps also lay their eggs in the caterpillars (and this eventually kills the wasp's unwilling host).
  • Include a picture- preferably related to your animal’s enemies.

11- Species Survival Status (7 pts)

• Is this animal species in danger of extinction? If so, why? Has it lost habitat, lost a food source, or has it been over hunted?

12- Something Special (7 pts)

• Is there anything special about this animal? This can often be the best part of the report, taking you off on interesting topics. For example, are there legends about the animal?
• Include a picture- preferably related to your animal’s special trait.

13- Classification (8 pts)

• How is this animal classified and what animals is it closely related to? In the Linnean system of classification, organisms are classified into a Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and species. For example, elk are classified as follows: Kingdom Animalia, Phylum Chordata, Class Mammalia (mammals), Order Artiodactyla, Suborder Ruminantia (ruminants), Family Cervidae (the deer family), Genus Cervus, species C. elaphus (species names are often italicized and written in lower-case; the C. here refers to the genus Cervus).

 
14- References (7 pts)

• List at least 5 references for your presentation.