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GCSE - Biology > 8. Adaptation and Environment > Flashcards

8. Adaptation and Environment Flashcards

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1
Q

How is the flea adapted?

A
  • Sharp mouthparts -> Helps break the host’s skin and suck blood
  • Flattened body -> Not easily brushed off
  • Hard body -> Protection against animals
  • Long hind legs -> Helps jump between hosts
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2
Q

How is the tapeworm adapted?

A

1) Suckers and hooks -> Help attach tapeworm to intestine wall
2) Long, flattened body -> Fits inside intestine + large SA for food absorption
3) Many segments -> Produce lots of eggs
4) Thick outer cuticle -> Stops tapeworm being digested
5) No gut -> Tapeworm absorbs digested food

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3
Q

How are organisms adapted to extreme environments?

A

Desert animals - large Surface Area : Volume to lose heat
Arctic animals - small Surface Area : Volume to lose less heat
Thermophilic bacteria - Hot springs, sulphur for respiration, survive in low pH conditions
Acidophile - Hot acidic springs, low respiration rate, live in volcanic vents

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4
Q

What is malaria?

A

A life-threatening disease caused by the single-celled malaria parasite.

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5
Q

What type of organism is the malaria parasite?

A

Single-celled

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6
Q

In which organisms does malaria’s life cycle take place?

A

Partly in animals and partly in mosquitos.

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7
Q

Do mosquitos cause malaria?

A

No, they just pass on the parasite when they bite animals to feed.

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8
Q

How many forms does the malaria parasite have and why?

A

4 - each one is adapted for living in a different place in the animal or mosquito.

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9
Q

What are the 4 forms of the malaria parasite?

A

1) Gametocytes
2) Sporozoites
3) Merozoites
4) Schizonts

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10
Q

Describe the life cycle of the malaria parasite.

A

1) Gametocytes
- Mosquito sucks up blood containing gametocytes
- Gametocytes reproduce sexually
- Gametocytes go to salivary glands + become sporozoites

2) Sporozoites
- Mosquito bites animal + transfers sporozoites to blood
- Sporozoites pass through blood to liver, where they enter liver cells
- Inside cells, sporozoites rapidly divide asexually to produce merozoites

3) Merozoites
- Many merozoites released into blood
- Merozoites invade RBCs
- EITHER 4a or 4b happens

4a) Schizonts
- Merozoite grows + its nucleus divides asexually, producing a cell with many nuclei (schizont)
- Each schizont divides -> Produces many merozoites
- RBC bursts, releasing merozoites and toxins (triggering fever attacks)
- Merozoites each invade a RBC and cycle repeats
(- Infected RBCs usually burst at the same time, resulting in cycles of fever attacks)

4b) Gametocytes Again
- Some merozoites enter sexual reproduction -> Produce gametocytmes
- RBCs containing gametocytes are sucked up by mosquito -> Cycle repeats

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11
Q

How is the malaria parasite adapted?

A
  • Merozoites have sticky protein molecules on surface to help them catch a RBC to invade.
  • In animals, the parasites are adapted to live inside cells, making it hard for the immune system to detect and destroy them.
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12
Q

How can the 4 forms of malaria be remembered?

A

GAMEs and SPORts or MERingues and SCHnapps

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13
Q

What are adaptations?

A

Characteristics that allow organisms to live in certain environmental conditions.

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14
Q

What are the 3 types of adaptation?

A
  • Structural
  • Behavioural
  • Functional
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15
Q

What are structural adaptations?

A

Features of an organism’s body structure (e.g. shape or colour)

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16
Q

Give an example of a structural adaptation.

A
  • Polar bears have white fur for camouflage.
  • Whales have a thick layer of blubber for warmth.
  • Camels have a large SA:V ratio.
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17
Q

What are behavioural adaptations?

A

The ways in which organisms behave.

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18
Q

Give an example of a behavioural adaptation.

A

Swallows migrate to warmer climates in the winter to avoid the problems of living in cold conditions.

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19
Q

What are functional adaptations?

A

Things that go on inside an organism’s body that can be related to processes like reproduction and metabolism.

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20
Q

Give an example of a functional adaptation.

A
  • Brown bears lower their metabolism while they hibernate to conserve energy.
  • Desert animals produce very little sweat and small amounts of concentrated urine to conserve water.
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21
Q

What are extremophiles?

A

Microorganisms which are adapted to live in very extreme conditions like hot volcanic vents, salty lakes or at high pressure on the sea bed.

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21
Q

Where do fleas live and how do they feed?

A
  • Live in the fur of mammals

* Feed by sucking blood from the host

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22
Q

Where do tapeworms live and how do they feed?

A
  • Live in the intestines of mammals and other animals

* Feed by absorbing digested food

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23
Q

What do plants compete for?

A
  • Light
  • Space
  • Water
  • Minerals
24
Q

What do animals compete for?

A
  • Space
  • Food
  • Water
  • Mates
25
Q

Who do organisms compete with?

A

Other species as well as their own species.

26
Q

Give an example of competition between species.

A

Red and grey squirrels live in the same habitat and eat the same food. The competition means that the red squirrel population is in decline.

27
Q

Give some examples of living factors which affect the environment.

A

A change in:

1) The number or types of competitions

28
Q

Give some examples of non-living factors which affect the environment.

A

A change in:

1) Average temperature
2) Availability of nutrients
3) Amount of light
4) Average rainfall
5) Availability of oxygen and CO2
6) Availability of nesting sites, shelter and habitats

29
Q

What are communities?

A

Groups of populations of different species that interact with each other.

30
Q

How can environmental changes affect populations?

A
  • Population sizes can increase or decrease

* Distribution of populations can change

31
Q

Give a reason why a population size may increase.

A

Number of prey may increase -> more food available -> more predators survive and reproduce -> their numbers increase too.

32
Q

Give some reasons why a population size may decrease.

A

E.g. Number of bees is the US is decreasing and it could be because:

1) Pesticides -> May have negative effect on bees
2) Less food -> Not many nectar-rich plants
3) More disease -> Bees killed by pathogens

34
Q

Give a reason why a population’s distribution may change.

A

Change in temperature may affect where an organism lives.

35
Q

What are the two ways that environmental change can be measured?

A
  • Living indicators

* Non-living indicators

36
Q

What are living indicators?

A

Organisms that are very sensitive to changes in their environment, which can be studied to see the effect of human activity.

37
Q

How can air pollution be measured using a living indicator?

A

Lichen are very sensitive to sulphur dioxide. The number and type of lichen in an area show how clean the air is.

38
Q

What happens when raw sewage is released into a river?

A
  1. Bacteria increases.
  2. Bacteria uses up the oxygen.
  3. Mayfly larvae are sensitive to oxygen.
  4. So, if you find mayfly larvae, the river must be clean.
39
Q

What do invertebrates tell us about a river?

A
  1. Some species prefer clean conditions (e.g. mayfly larvae), so they show that the water is clean.
  2. Other species are adapted to live in polluted areas (e.g. rat-tailed maggots), so they show that the water is polluted.
40
Q

What are non-living indicators?

A

Factors such as oxygen levels, temperature and rainfall.

41
Q

What are the four pieces of equipment that scientists use to measure non-living indicators?

A
  1. Satellites -> Temperature of sea surface
  2. Automatic weather stations -> Atmospheric temperature
  3. Rain gauges -> Rainfall
  4. Dissolved oxygen meters -> Concentration of dissolved oxygen in water
42
Q

What are the advantages and disadvantages of looking at living indicators?

A

ADV
• Quick, cheap and easy
• Long term because organisms change over a long time
DIS
• Results can be affected by other factors

43
Q

What are the advantages and disadvantages of looking at non-living indicators?

A 
ADV
• Reliable, numerical data that is easy to compare
• Exact pollutants can be identified 
DIS 
• Expensive
• Trained workers needed
• Only gives a snapshot of conditions
44
Q

What is a habitat?

A

The place where an organism lives (e.g. A playing field)

45
Q

What is the distribution of an organism?

A

Where an organism is found (e.g. In a part of a playing field)

46
Q

Where an organism is found is affected by…

A

…environmental factors

47
Q

What are the two ways to study the distribution of an organism?

A
  • Measure how common an organism is in two sample areas and compare them, e.g. using quadrats
  • Study how distribution changes across an area, e.g. by placing quadrats along a transect

These both give quantitive data.

48
Q

What is a quadrat?

A

A square frame enclosing a known area

49
Q

How can a quadrat be used to compare two sample areas?

A
  1. Place the quadrat at a RANDOM point in the first area (using coordinates and a random number generator)
  2. Count all of the organisms (of a species) in the quadrat
  3. Repeat 1 and 2 many times
  4. Work out the mean amount of organisms per quadrat
  5. Repeat 1 to 4 in another sample area
  6. Compare the two areas
50
Q

How do you work out the population size of an organism in an area?

A
  1. Find the mean number of organisms per m2

2. Multiply the mean by the total area

51
Q

How do you use a transect to study the distribution of organisms along a line?

A
  1. Mark out a line
  2. Collect data by:
    a) Simply counting the organisms along that line
    b) Placing a quadrat at intervals along the line
52
Q

When collecting environmental need to think about…

A

1) Reproducibility and repeatability

2) Validity

53
Q

How can you make your experiment more reproducible?

A

Use large sample sizes

e.g. Use as many quadrats and transacts as possible. Bigger sample are more representative of the whole population.

54
Q

What does repeatable mean?

A

That the experiment can be repeated in the same area by the same person, with the same equipment and method, and the results will be the same.

55
Q

What does reproducible mean?

A

That the experiment can be repeated by another person, or using different equipment and method, and the results will be the same.

56
Q

When can an experiment’s results be considered valid?

A

When they:
• Are repeatable
• Are reproducible
• Answer the original question (while controlling all variables)

57
Q

How can you ensure that a result is valid?

A
  • You just make sure it answers the original question (i.e. Make sure all variables are controlled, except the independent variable).
  • Also, make sure it is reproducible and repeatable.
  • Use random sampling.
58
Q

Why must all variable be controlled when comparing the distribution of organisms?

A

It makes it clear whether the link is correlation or causation.

GCSE - Biology (11 decks)

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