Adaptations, Variation, and Survival TCAP Lesson 8Vocabulary Foldable XII

Adaptation

Any characteristic that promotes an organism’s survival in a certain environment

Structural Adaptation

Are inherited traits of body structure or physical appearance

Behavioral Adaptations

Helpful inherited behaviors

Hibernation

The behavior of going into a completely inactive state during winter

Gene

Tiny structures that determine an organism’s characteristics

Mutation

Any change in an organism’s genes (are random)

Natural Selection

The process by which organisms that are best suited to a particular environment survive and reproduce

Evolution

Process by which a species gradually changes

Extinction

The permanent dying out of a species or larger group of organisms

Variations

Differences that exist naturally among the members of a species

Adaptations, Variations, and Survival Notes TCAP Lesson 8 p.27

Adaptations, Variations, and Survival Notes TCAP Lesson 8 p.27 Organisms have many types of

adaptations

Some, such as body color that allows an organism to blend into its environment, are structural

Others are physiological, such as the ability of an animal to tolerate a certain poison

Some are behavioral, the ability to build nests out of rocks, which some types of penguins do

Structural Adaptations

Are inherited traits of body structure or physical appearance

Examples: polar bear can survive in tundra because fur and blubber (fat) keeps it warm

Reptiles have scales on their skin, good for desert helps keep water from escaping through the reptile’s skin

Birds have beaks of a particular shape to help find food

Sea urchins have sharp spines that scare away predators (defense)

Behavioral Adaptation

Animals are born knowing how to act, or behave, in certain ways.

Some mammals and many amphibians and reptiles hibernate in response to cold weather and short supplies of food

Natural Selection

Nature “selects” these organisms for survival

The fittest individuals live to pass on their traits to the next generation

By passing useful traits from generation to generation, a species can adapt to a changing environment and survive

Evolution and Extinction

To survive a changing environment, a species must change

The species does not choose to change

Instead, some organisms change spontaneously, most often through a mutation

If the change tends to help those members survive, the species may gradually come to include only members that have the new trait

Variations

Because individual members of a species show variations, some are better suited than others to survive in their environment (example peppered moth)

Discuss the Industrial Revolution

Adaptation, Variations, and Survival HW TCAP Lesson 8 p.26

1. A certain plant species has evolved to contain a bad-tasting chemical. Which of these is the MOST LIKELY outcome of this adaptations?

a. Animals are less likely to eat the plant

b. The plant is able to live in many different environments

c. The chemical aids in photosynthesis

d. Animals are more likely to eat the plant

Adaptation, Variations, and Survival HW TCAP Lesson 8 p.262. The Burmese python, like other snakes, has a loosely hinged jaw. Which of these best describes

an advantage of this adaptations?

a. This type of jaw allows the snake to scoop up water from ponds and rivers

b. This type of jaw allows the snake to climb and live in trees

c. This type of jaw provides no advantage

d. This type of jaw can be stretched wide, allowing the python to

swallow animals that are larger than its head

Adaptation, Variations, and Survival HW TCAP Lesson 8 p.26

3. Which structural adaptation BEST allows a tiger to hunt prey in tall grass?

a. powerful jaws

b. striped fur

c. long, sharp claws

d. large teeth