Organisms and Their Environments

1
Organisms and Their Environments
Characteristics of Organisms and Behaviors

• Life Science

2
Organisms are born with certain characteristics
that allow them to survive. These
characteristics are called instincts.
3
Instincts

• An instinct is an inborn precise form of
  behavior.
• All animals have basic instincts developed over
  centuries of survival.
• An instinct is simply an inherited behavior
  pattern.
• A duck knowing how to swim across the lake
  without being taught how is an example of an
  inherited behavior.

4
Acquired
Organisms can acquire characteristics as they
grow and develop. These are a result of learning.

• Learning is a change of behavior resulting from
  specific experiences.
• Unlike instinctive behaviors, learned behaviors
  are shaped by experience.
• A dog learning to roll over on command is an
  example of a learned behavior.

5
Plants and animals act in distinctive ways in
order to survive in an ecosystem.
The ways they act is called their behavior.
6
A behavior is a response to a change in the
environment.
7
Examples of Behaviors

• How an animal
• eats
• sleeps
• communicates
• reproduces
• How a plant
• reproduces
• gets food

8
An organisms patterns of behavior are related
to

• the organisms that are present
• the availability of food and other resources
• the physical characteristics of the environment

Important When the environment changes, some
plants and animals survive and reproduce, while
others die or move to new locations.
9
Organisms may compete for space and food if there
are too many organisms in the environment.
Example of Behavior Pattern
10
Some organisms depend on other organisms for food.
Example of Behavior Pattern
11
All organisms need food, shelter, water, air, and
space in order to survive.
Example of Behavior Pattern
12
The temperature and amount of rainfall in an
environment can affect how an organism reacts to
its environment.
Example of Behavior Pattern
13
Organisms thrive in the favorable conditions of
their home environments.
Example of Behavior Pattern
Because of this, an animal must search for the
environment that fits its structure and lifestyle.
14
As availability of food increases, numbers of a
species will increase. The living space will
then decrease and available food decrease as more
animals consume more food.
Example of Behavior Pattern
And then...
15
Eventually the population size will begin to die
off, thereby having fewer organisms to consume
the prey, and at that point, the prey numbers
will increase.
Example of Behavior Pattern