Mississippi Science ZOO.8.6
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.
Enrichment: Use an engineering design process to model biomimicry of ectothermic temperature regulation or chemosensory detection to meet a societal need. *
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 study how lizards move between sun and shade to control body temperature. They set a temperature goal and a material limit, then build, test, and revise a bus shelter model with movable shade.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can explain how a movable shelter shade copies the lizard's behavior. They compare its temperature with an unshaded model and use the readings to improve their design.
Common Misconceptions
- Some students think lizards make heat internally like mammals. Others think a design works because it resembles an animal, without testing whether it lowers the temperature.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: A lizard moves under a rock when it gets too hot. Sketch one change to a bus shelter based on that behavior, and name a measurement that would show whether it works.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Build two cardboard bus shelters, add a movable paper shade to one, and compare thermometer readings outside in sunlight after ten minutes.
Ask: If a lizard avoids midday sun, how should a bus stop shade move as the sun crosses the sky?
Give teams three shelter readings, 31°C, 28°C, and 26°C, with costs of $2, $4, and $8; choose a design under $5 and 29°C.
Show a bus stop photo with a west arrow; have students draw an afternoon shade that leaves room for wheelchairs.
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Printable ZOO.8.6 Worksheet
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Related Standards
- ZOO.5.3
Enrichment: Use an engineering design process to develop a biomimicry of an arthropod’s exoskeleton to meet a human need. *
- ZOO.9.4
Enrichment: Use an engineering design process to model biomimicry of endothermic temperature regulation to meet a sustainable need. *
- ZOO.9.10
Enrichment: Based on an understanding of biomimicry, use an engineering design process to develop a tool based on a bird’s beak/feet to meet a human need. *
- BIO.5.9
Enrichment: Use an engineering design process to investigate and model current technological uses of biomimicry to address solutions to real-world problems. *
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