Populations, Competition, Predation, Migration, Disease

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Adaptations
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What is an adaptation?

• An adaptation describes how a plant or animal is
  able to survive in various environments
• Well adapted organisms can cope with the
  different aspects of their environment, for
  example, the temperature

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It is always a struggle for plants and animals to
survive

• ANIMALS STRUGGLE
• For food
• For water
• For protection against weather
• Against being eaten by predators
• Against disease
• Against accidents

• PLANTS STRUGGLE
• For water
• For light
• For minerals in the soil
• Against weather
• Against disease
• Against being eaten

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How do adaptations help organisms?

• Well adapted organisms are better at coping with
  extremes of weather
• They are better at competing for food
• They are better at escaping from predators
• They are more likely to survive in their habitat
  and produce offspring

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An arctic habitat

• This sort of habitat can have extremely low
  temperatures
• The ground is covered with white snow for most of
  the year

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How are animals adapted to survive in the Arctic?

• Animals like polar bears will have a thick
  insulating coat
• They usually have a large amount of body fat
• They have a large body size to surface area ratio
• They have a camouflaged coat

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How do these adaptations help?

• A thick fur coat
• Large body size to surface area ratio
• A large amount of body fat
• Camouflage

• Traps heat to keep warm
• Reduces heat loss by radiation
• Acts as a food store and to keep warm
• White fur is good camouflage to hide from prey

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A desert environment

• A desert can have very little rainfall
• There is a lot of sunshine during the day
• There is very little shade
• The temperatures can get very hot
• At night it can become very cold

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How is a camel adapted to survive in the desert?

• Camels can store large amounts of water in the
  fat in their humps
• They have feet with a large surface area to allow
  them to walk on sand
• They also have long eye-lashes to stop sand
  blowing into their eyes

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How do reptiles survive in the desert?

• Most reptiles will find some shade under a rock
  during the hottest part of the day
• When walking on hot sand a lizard will try to
  touch the ground with only a small area
• This lizard keeps swopping feet, and only stands
  on two feet at a time
• This snake keeps a loop of itself off the ground
  as it moves across the sand sideways

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How do plants survive the desert?

• A cactus has a long tap root to reach water deep
  under the ground
• It has a thick, fleshy stem to store water
• It has needle-shaped leaves to prevent water loss
  through the stomata
• The needles help to stop animals from eating it

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How An Adaptation Can Lead to Natural Selection

• The Story of the Peppered Moth
• Two versions of the same species of moth
• Peppered Moth Game
• Evolution of Sickle Cell

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Artificial Selection

• Breeding by man for specific traits. Examples
  breeding for the most meaty cows, breeding for
  the sweetest corn, and the most familiar DOGS!!!