Webster's Salamander | What's Wild

In this episode of What's Wild, we're heading west to discover one of South Carolina's rarest amphibians. Found only in a few isolated areas, the Webster's Salamander is considered an endangered species and plays a vital role within its ecosystem. Check out what wildlife management is doing to help protect the species! 

Standards

• 2.L.5 The student will demonstrate an understanding of how the structures of animals help them survive and grow in their environments.
  • 2.L.5A There are many different groups of animals. One way to group animals is by using their physical characteristics. Animals have basic needs that provide for energy, growth, reproduction, and protection. Animals have predictable characteristics at ...
    • 2.L.5A.1 Obtain and communicate information to classify animals (such as mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, fish, or insects) based on their physical characteristics.
    • 2.L.5A.3 Construct explanations using observations and measurements of an animal as it grows and changes to describe the stages of development of the animal.
  • 2.L.5B Animals (including humans) require air, water, food, and shelter to survive in environments where these needs can be met. There are distinct environments in the world that support different types of animals. Environments can change slowly or qui...
    • 2.L.5B.1 Obtain and communicate information to describe and compare how animals interact with other animals and plants in the environment.
    • 2.L.5B.2 Develop and use models to exemplify characteristics of animals that help them survive in distinct environments (such as salt and freshwater, deserts, forests, wetlands, or polar lands).
• 3.L.5 The student will demonstrate an understanding of how the characteristics and changes in environments and habitats affect the diversity of organisms.
  • 3.L.5A The characteristics of an environment (including physical characteristics, temperature, availability of resources, or the kinds and numbers of organisms present) influence the diversity of organisms that live there. Organisms can survive only in...
    • 3.L.5A.1 Analyze and interpret data about the characteristics of environments (including salt and fresh water, deserts, grasslands, forests, rain forests, and polar lands) to describe how the environment supports a variety of organisms.
  • 3.L.5B When the environment or habitat changes, some plants and animals survive and reproduce, some move to new locations, and some die. Fossils can be used to infer characteristics of environments from long ago.
    • 3.L.5B.1 Obtain and communicate information to explain how changes in habitats (such as those that occur naturally or those caused by organisms) can be beneficial or harmful to the organisms that live there.
• 4.L.5 The student will demonstrate an understanding of how the structural characteristics and traits of plants and animals allow them to survive, grow, and reproduce.
  • 4.L.5A Scientists have identified and classified many types of plants and animals. Each plant or animal has a unique pattern of growth and development called a life cycle. Some characteristics (traits) that organisms have are inherited and some result ...
    • 4.L.5A.3 Develop and use models to compare the stages of growth and development in various animals.
• Life Science: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
  • 5.L.4 The student will demonstrate an understanding of relationships among biotic and abiotic factors within terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
    • 5.L.4A Ecosystems are complex, interactive systems that include both the living components (biotic factors) and physical components (abiotic factors) of the environment. Ecosystems can be classified as either terrestrial (such as forests, wetlands, and...
      • 5.L.4A.1 Analyze and interpret data to summarize the abiotic factors (including quantity of light and water, range of temperature, salinity, and soil composition) of different terrestrial ecosystems and aquatic ecosystems.
      • 5.L.4A.2 Obtain and communicate information to describe and compare the biotic factors (including individual organisms, populations, and communities) of different terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
• H.B.6 The student will demonstrate an understanding that ecosystems are complex, interactive systems that include both biological communities and physical components of the environment.
• 7-LS2-4 Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.