As a Science Instructional Staff Developer in Florida, one thing I discovered is the terminology needs to be more clear (for teachers AND students), when it comes to adaptations/survival mechanisms among organisms.

I created this flowchart to clarify the vocabulary and to help students determine if a characteristic is a physical/structural/inherited adaptation (they need to know those terms interchangeably) or if it is a learned behavioral adaptation vs. an instinct/innate behavioral adaptation (those should be used interchangeably as well). Just remember, we are NOT using the word “trait”, per the test specs/content limitations (please use the word “characteristic” instead of “trait”).

This resources is aligned to the NGSSS (Next Generation Sunshine State Standards).

The flowchart has 2 per page, so they are small enough for students to glue in their journals and to limit the amount of copies needed. Please reach out to me if you would like a full page flowchart.