Adaptationism

Adaptationism is a big, fancy word that describes a way that scientists study how animals and plants change over time to better survive in their environment.

Let's think about animals for a moment. Some animals have really long necks while others have really short necks. For example, giraffes' necks are really long and helps them reach high up into the trees to eat leaves. But, lions have short necks and use their strength to tackle their prey on the ground. Scientists that use adaptationism want to figure out why certain animals have certain features that help them survive better in their environment.

Adaptationism uses a lot of scientific tools and techniques to understand how animals change over time. Scientists like to study things like genetics, behavior, and physical features of animals and plants to figure out how they adapt to changes in their environment. Studying these adaptations can help scientists figure out how animals and plants evolve and how they might change in the future.

So, adaptationism is all about trying to understand how different animals and plants adapt and change over time to better survive in their environment. It's like when you put on your coat when it's cold outside, you're adapting to the cold weather. Animals and plants do something similar, but on a much larger scale!