biology B1 (2)

Adaptation

• different kinds of animals live in different places
• they live, grow and reproduce in places where conditions are suitable
• each organism's habitat must provide it with everything it needs
• animals have special features called adaptations to enable them to survive in different environments

• the arctic fox is adapted to live in cold conditions while the fennec fox lives in the Sahara desert
• the arctic fox has thicker fur then the fennec fox
• the fur trap the air, which is a poor conductor of heart, close to the skin
• the reduces the loss of heart, close to the skin
• this is called insulation
• the fennec fox has bigger ears then the arctic fox
• the ears are supplied with a very good blood supply with many blood vessels near the surface of the skin
• this increases the surface area through which heat is lost by radiation
• the arctic fox's coat is white while the fennec fox's coat is brown
• both animals are camouflaged to blend in with their surroundings
• this enables them to hide from their prey, while hunting

• cold conditions: thick fur- to trap air, thick fat layer- to reduce heat loss, big body (small surface area to volume ratio) to reduce heat loss, small ears, able to live on both land and sea- swim from one ice-shelf to another, eat meat or fish- vegetation almost non-existent
• hot conditions: thin fur or thick hair- traps little air and protects from sunburn, humps contains fatty tissue to use when food is scarce, large surface area to volume ratio (small body)- to loss heat, small ears lined with fur- to keep out dust from ear canals, acute hearing, can survive without water for long periods of time- little water supply, can take in large amounts of water in small amounts of time- to rehydrate quickly as little water

Adaptations in plants

• there are some places that plants simply can't grow, for example in deep oceans where light cannot penetrate or the very cold areas in the antarctic
• almost everywhere else, including very hot dry areas of the world plants can be found growing successfully

• carbon dioxide is taken into the leaf from the air through small pores in the leaf called the stomata
• the pores also allow oxygen produced by photosynthesis to move out of the leaf
• water is absorbed through the roots and moves through the xylem vessels
• some of the water is used in photosynthesis and some lost through the leaves by diffusion
• the water will evaporate from the spongy mesophyll cells in the leaf into the space below the stomata
• as the humidity builds up in the space it will move by diffusion through the stomata out of the leaf down a concentration inside the leaf, to an area of lower water concentration outside the leaf
• light is absorbed by the chlorophyll molecules in the leaf and used to convert water and carbon dioxide into glucose
• the rate at which the plant loses water varies in different conditions
• the…