Adaptations for Survival Station Lab - New TEKS 8.13C

This modular, student-led activity is fully aligned with TEKS 2021 standard 8.13C and keeps your middle schoolers engaged while exploring adaptations for survival. With everything included, you’ll save a ton of prep time while giving your students the opportunity to direct their own learning.

In this interactive lab, students will describe how variations of traits within a population lead to structural, behavioral, and physiological adaptations that influence the likelihood of survival and reproductive success over generations. Designed for both in-class and virtual learning, this lesson makes life science both meaningful and engaging.

Differentiated, Modular, and Student-Centered

Each station lab includes nine differentiated activities, giving students multiple ways to connect with the content. Teachers facilitate while students work independently or in small groups, creating a student-centered learning environment.

All signage, task cards, and resources are included. The Explore It! station may require a few simple classroom materials you already have on hand.

The Stations

Input Stations – Build Understanding

• Explore It! – Hands-on demo or digital drag-and-drop in PowerPoint/Google Slides

• Watch It! – Short video with comprehension prompts

• Read It! – Differentiated passages (English & Spanish) with vocabulary and comprehension practice

• Research It! – Facts, visuals, and graphs with guided questions

Output Stations – Show Understanding

• Organize It! – Printable or digital card sorts/manipulatives

• Illustrate It! – Student-created sketches or diagrams showing adaptations

• Write It! – Open-ended short-answer prompts

• Assess It! – Task cards + vocabulary-in-context writing activity

Bonus Station – Challenge It!
Extension activities like crosswords, games, and mini-projects for early finishers and advanced learners

Virtual & In-Class Flexibility

This station lab is fully compatible with Google Slides and PowerPoint, making it simple to integrate into both physical and digital classrooms.

Why Teachers Love It

• Differentiated for diverse learners

• Multimodal design to engage all learning styles

• Flexible for print or digital instruction

• Minimal prep required

This resource is also part of the Adaptations for Survival 5E Lesson Plan, which expands into editable presentations, interactive notebooks, student-choice projects, assessments, and more.

This is a finished product; it will be updated with corrections as needed. Future improvements and new features will be sold as a separate product.