Chapter 3-Lesson 5 Notes

How Can Behavior Help an Organism Survive?

Behavioral Adaptations

The way in which an organism acts in response to stimulus is called a behavior.

A behavioral adaptation is an action that aids survival.
Examples:

• Escaping danger
• Building protective shelters
• Gathering or capturing food
• Finding a mate
• Reproducing
• Caring for young

Inherited Behavior

Any behavior that an organism is born with, and does not have to learn, is an inherited behavior.

Reflex

An instinct is a type of inherited behavior that helps an organism act in a way that aids in its survival.

A reflex is the simplest type of inherited behavior.  It is a quick, automatic response to a stimulus.

Learned Behavior

Learned behavior is a reaction to stimulus that an organism is not born with.  The organism must learn or be trained to carry out a learned behavior.

Examples:

• A jaguar cub learning to hunt
• A dog that has learned to obey commands
• A Seeing Eye dog that is trained to guide the blind

 Ducklings hatched in an incubator mistakenly follow a human around since they instinctively follow the first moving object they see.  Under normal conditions, imprinting guarantees that ducklings will follow their mother and subsequently learn necessary survival skills.

Chapter 3-Lesson 4 Notes

How Do Organisms Respond to the Environment?

Stimulus and Response

A stimulus is a change in the environment of an organism that causes a response

A response is a reaction of an organism to a change in the environment

All organisms have stimulus and response reactions.

The ability of an organism to respond to a stimulus is a basic life process.

An example of stimulus/response is when you are playing catch:
         Stimulus: The ball is thrown towards you
         Response: You put your hands up to catch, or deflect, the ball

Plants respond to stimuli by growing towards the light source.

Gathering Information About the Environment

An organism must be able to gather information about its environment before it can respond to any changes.

Organisms such as sharks, bats, snakes, flies, moths, and squid all have unique sensory organs that enable them to detect information such as nearby sources of food, a possible mate, or danger.

Physiological Adaptations

Physiological Adaptations are adaptations that involves a body part's job of controlling a life process.

Physiological adaptations enable an organism's body parts to do a job in response to a stimulus.

A person's ability to sweat to cool off is an example of physiological adaptation.

Plants have physiological adaptations that enable them to respond to daylight and darkness.

Shivering is a physiological adaptation in response to cold that helps increase body temperature through muscle contractions.