Throughout generations, elephants have grown to help their species be more fit in the environments they are native to. In order to live the savannas of Africa and Asia, elephants have adapted traits to help them thrive in these harsh conditions. The three main features of an elephant that are key to their survival in the savanna are their trunk, tusks, and gigantic ears. An elephant's trunk is a (at most) 7 foot long appendage that contains 40,000 muscles. The trunk can help elephants drink water by sucking up water and spraying it into the elephant's mouth given that elephants aren't able to bend down to reach the water source. In addition, the trunk can spray water onto the elephant's body to keep them cool in the heat or can fling dirt over the elephant's back to protect from the sun and biting insects. To help elephants obtain and eat their food, the trunk can pick up food, gather food, and grab food from higher areas such as tree branches. An elephant's tusks can develop up to 11 feet long to help them dig for water in times of drought, strip bark from trees to eat, lift objects, fight, and defend. The tusks also protect the sensitive trunk. Elephants have large ears that have an extensive supply of blood vessels so they can flap their ears to create air currents across the ears. These air currents reduce excess body heat.
S&EP - SP2: Developing and using models
I constructed physical, mental or conceptual models to represent and understand phenomena when I created a cartoon comic strip to explain the adaptations that elephants developed to survive in the savanna. I used models to explain and predict behaviors of systems, or test a design as I wrote a story line that follows a tour group driving through the savanna to explain elephant adaptations. Along their journey throughout the savanna, this tour group learns about the different parts of the elephants body that helps it survive on a daily basis. I refined/rebuild my model as I learned about more of the different abilities that the trunk, tusks, and ears of the elephant does to help the elephant be more fit for the savanna environment.
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