Mississippi Science ZOO.8.4
The Standard
- ZOO.8
- Students will understand the structure and function of phylum Chordata, classes Amphibia and Reptilia, and how they demonstrate the characteristics of living things.
Define what it means to be ectothermic and identify ways in which reptiles regulate their body temperature.
2026 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science · Phylum Chordata, Classes Amphibia, and Reptilia
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students explain that ectothermic animals get most of their body heat from their surroundings. They identify how reptiles warm up by basking and cool down by moving into shade or a cool burrow.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Given a sunny rock and a shaded patch, a student can choose where a lizard should go to warm up or cool down. They can explain how each move changes its body temperature.
Common Misconceptions
- Some students think ectothermic means a reptile is always cold or cannot control its body temperature. Others think basking makes the reptile produce heat inside its body.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: A lizard is cool at sunrise and too hot at noon. Define ectothermic, then name where it could move at each time and explain why.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Put thermometers under a desk lamp and a paper shade, then move a toy lizard between the spots to model warming and cooling.
Ask students to explain in writing why a lizard basks at dawn but hides under a rock at midday.
Give pairs cards showing basking, sitting on a warm rock, entering shade, and entering a cool burrow to sort by warming or cooling.
Use an hourly weather forecast and a schoolyard photo to mark where a lizard could bask in the morning and cool off later.
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Printable ZOO.8.4 Worksheet
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Related Standards
- ZOO.8.9
Identify the amniotic egg as the major derived characteristic of reptiles.
- ZOO.9.3
Define the term endothermic and describe how birds regulate body temperature in extreme environments.
- HAP.3.2
Investigate specific mechanisms (e.g., feedback and temperature regulation) through which the skin maintains homeostasis.
- ZOO.8.3
Describe adaptations that have led to reptiles living on land successfully.
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