Overview
Aquatic macroinvertebrates are the result of countless adaptations over time. The adaptations occur to increase the animals' chances of survival in their ever changing habitat. Some species have adapted to such a narrow range of habitat conditions that they are extremely sensitive to change.

In this activity, students will design their own macroinvertebrate. They will choose the adaptations that their organism will have, for example, will it have wings, what type of legs will it have, what type of mouth? Although in nature these changes would take a very long time to happen, encourage the students to determine where their organism would live based on the adaptations they have made. What type of food would it eat? What would its name be? Through answering all of these questions, the students should develop a general understanding of adaptation and the importance of diversity of organisms in an ecosystem.

Objectives
Students will:

be able to describe adaptations of a macroinvertebrate to the environment be able to describe how the adaptations are beneficial to the macroinvertebrate

Time
One or two 45 minute class periods.

Materials

blackboard index cards paper crayons/colored pencils/markers

Teacher Preparation

Procedure

Ask the students to brainstorm a list of animals that have very obvious special adaptations, i.e., a giraffe, an elephant, and ask the students how they think those characteristics can to be.   Have the students think about the macroinvertebrates observed while sorting the water samples. Did any of those organisms have any special features/adaptations they could think of? Why do they think the macroinvertebrates had those special features? How did that feature help the organism survive?   Group the adaptations identified by the students into categories such as: body shape/form mouth type/feeding behavior camouflage/protective coloration   Have the students determine at least one advantage to each of the adaptations listed in the categories and also an example of each advantage. For example, Body Shape - long, thin legs; Advantage - can walk easily, good mobility; Example - Stonefly.   Create adaptation cards. On an index card, write the category of adaptation, i.e Body Shape/Form, and one adaptation, Long, thin legs. On another index card, write the category of adaptation, i.e., Body Shape/Form, and one adaptation, Long, thin tail. Repeat until all adaptations under all categories have a card and that there are enough cards to give to each student (you may repeat cards). Shuffle the cards and distribute one card from each category to every student along with a piece of paper and crayons.   Ask the students to create a new macroinvertebrate based on the characteristics of the cards that they received. Each student should draw and name the organism, describe/draw the habitat it would live in and what the organism might eat.   Ask the students to create a "species profile" of their new macroinvertebrate including name, body specifications, habitat, behaviors (including feeding). Also have the students include a paragraph about the importance of the specific adaptations possessed by the macroinvertebrates they have created.

Assessment Suggestions

• Macroinvertebrate sketches
• Species profiles
• Why are some species more sensitive to environmental change?