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How could a lizard's toes help it survive?
Traits, Survival, & Selection Unit | Lesson 2 of 3
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How could a lizard's toes help it survive?

Traits, Survival, & Selection Unit | Lesson 2 of 3
Lesson narration:
English Spanish
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DISCUSS:

How could being a good climber help a lizard survive?

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DISCUSS:

What might be some problems with green anoles and brown anoles living in one place?

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DISCUSS:
Which green anoles do you think the brown anoles are most likely to catch: Excellent Climbers, Good Climbers, or Not-So-Good Climbers? Why?
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DISCUSS:
Do you think most of the green anoles in Generation 3 will be Excellent Climbers, Good Climbers, or Not-So-Good Climbers? Why?
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DISCUSS:

What changed in the green anoles' environment?

What helped some green anoles survive after the change?

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trait


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something you can observe about a living thing, such as a lizard’s toe scales
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variation


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differences in a trait between living things of the same kind, such as the number of scales on a lizard’s toe
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inherit


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to get a trait from parents
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offspring


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babies
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generation


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all the living things born and living at around the same time
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graph


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an image that helps you understand information
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survive


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to stay alive
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natural selection


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a process where certain traits help a living thing survive, so those traits are more likely to be passed to the next generation of offspring
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artificial selection


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the process of humans choosing certain traits of living things so that they are passed to the offspring
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environment


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all the living and nonliving things in a particular place
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adaptation


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a physical trait or behavior that helps a living thing survive in its environment
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species


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one specific kind of living thing that has similar characteristics and can produce offspring with one another
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evidence


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information that can be used to support or reject an idea
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predict


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to guess what will happen based on things you know
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Lesson narration:
English Spanish

Grade 4

Traits, Survival, & Selection

Trait Variation, Survival, & Natural Selection

3-LS4-3, 3-LS3-1, 3-LS4-2

Activity Prep

Print Prep
This lesson was revised on May 31, 2024. Here is a link to the previous version.
In this lesson, students explore how variation in the toe scales of green lizards provides some individuals with an advantage when it comes to climbing and surviving. In the activity, Lizard Island, students participate in a simulation to explore what happens to these green lizards when a new species of brown lizards is introduced to their environment. Students gather evidence to explain how a change to the environment can cause a certain trait to become more common in a population over time through the process of natural selection.
Preview activity
Number of students:

I have a Mystery Pack

Adopt A Lizard worksheet 10 copies
Adopt A Lizard & How Many Lizards - Answer Key teacher-only resource 1 copy
Baby Lizard worksheet 15 copies
How Many Lizards? printout Print 30 copies
Prep Instructions

If you have a smaller group (1 to 15 students), you need to use the Small Group Version of this activity. This version has step-by-step activity instructions on the printout. The step-by-step in the lesson can be used for groups of 16+ students.

Don’t Throw Away Extra Adopt A Lizard Cards

There are three types of lizards in the activity simulation -- Not-So-Good Climbers, Good Climbers, and Excellent Climbers. It’s important that the simulation begins with an equal number of these lizard types. So, if the number of students in your classroom isn’t divisible by 3 (e.g. 28 students), then you will have a few extra Adopt A Lizard Cards printed out. Have students who finish quickly fill out these extra Adopt A Lizard cards.

Prep Baby Lizard Cards

Each student needs a half sheet of the Baby Lizard Cards. Cut each Baby Lizard page in half before class. You'll distribute one to each student in Step 10, Part 2 of the activity.

Exploration

10 mins

Hands-On Activity

35 mins

Wrap-Up

15 mins

Grade 4

Traits, Survival, & Selection

Trait Variation, Survival, & Natural Selection

3-LS4-3, 3-LS3-1, 3-LS4-2

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