Plants and Animals

•I can identify the things a plant needs to survive and explain why they are needed.

•I can describe the characteristics of the three main types of plants.

•I can describe plant adaptations that help them survive in many environments.

•Plants are multicellular eukaryotes that have cell walls made of cellulose.

•They develop from multicellular embryos.

•Plants carry out photosynthesis using the green pigment, chlorophyll.

•Most plants are autotrophs, but a few are parasites.

•Plants need sunlight, water, minerals, O2 and CO2 and they need to move water and nutrients throughout the plant.

Sunlight

•Plants use the energy from sunlight to carry out photosynthesis.

•Many plants have adaptations that are the result of their need to gather sunlight, like the shape and position of their leaves.

Water and Minerals

•All cells require water, so all plants must obtain and deliver water to cells.

•Cells have adapted structures that limit water loss because water is required for photosynthesis and the survival of the plant.

Water and Minerals

•As cells absorb water, they also absorb minerals.

•Minerals are nutrients required for plant growth.

Gas Exchange

•Plants require O2 for respiration and CO2 for photosynthesis.

•Gases are exchanged through openings in the leaves, called stomata.

•Stomata are not always left open, to help prevent water loss.

Movement

•Although plants do not move, water and minerals must move.

•Water and minerals enter a plant through the roots, but food is made in the leaves.

Movement

•Most plants have specialized tissues that carry water and nutrients up to the leaves and distribute the products of photosynthesis to all cells.

•However, some simpler plants depend on osmosis and diffusion to move materials.

Types of Plants

•Even though there is a wide variety of plants, most plants can be grouped into one of three groups.

Nonvascular Plants•Plants that lack specialized tissues that move water and nutrients are non-vascular.

•Examples of nonvascular plants include mosses, which also called bryophytes.

•The bryophytes can only grow a few cm because they depend on osmosis to move water.

Nonvascular Plants

•Nonvascular plants also depend on water for reproduction.

•The sperm must swim through water to reach the egg.

•They are low growing plants found in moist, shaded areas.

Seedless Vascular Plants•Unlike bryophytes, most plants can grow much taller.

•Plants evolved vascular tissue, which is specialized to conduct water and nutrients through the plant body from roots to leaves.

•Vascular tissue can move fluids throughout the plant, even against gravity.

Seedless Vascular Plants

•Seedless vascular plants include: ferns, club mosses, and horsetails.

•They reproduce using spores instead of seeds.

•The spores also require water for sperm to swim to the egg.

Seedless Vascular Plants

•Vascular plants have roots, leaves, and stems.

•Roots are underground organs that absorb water and minerals.

•Leaves are photosynthetic organs that contain vascular tissue.

Seedless Vascular Plants

•Stems are supporting structures that connect roots and leaves and carry water and nutrients between them.

Seed Plants

•Plants that reproduce using seeds have become the most dominant group of photosynthetic organisms on land.

•Seed plants are divided into two groups: Gymnosperms and angiosperms.

Seed Plants

•Gymnosperms bear their seeds on the surface of cones, like the confers, like pines and spruces.

•Angiosperms bear their seeds in a layer of protective tissue.

•Angiosperms include: grasses, flowers, trees, and shrubs.

Seed Plants

•Seed plants do not require water for fertilization.

•Therefore, seed plants can live just about anywhere.

Seed Plants

•Adaptations that allow seed plant to reproduce without water include:▫Flowers and cones.▫Transfer of sperm by pollination.

▫Embryos are protected by seeds.

Plant Adaptations

•Plants live virtually everywhere and many have special adaptations.

Aquatic Plants

•Aquatic plants grow in mud saturated with water but lacking O2.

•To take in oxygen, aquatic plants have tissues with large air filled spaces through which oxygen can diffuse from the water.

•Aquatic plants also have floating seeds that grow quickly.

Salt Tolerant

•Plants that live in salt water take in more salt than they can use.

•They have specialized cells in their leaves that pump salt out of the plant tissue and onto the leave’s surfaces, and then it is washed away by the rain.

•An example of a salt tolerant plant is the mangrove.

Desert Plants

•Plants that live in the desert must survive extreme heat, sandy soil, and drought.

•When it does rain, rain water sinks through desert soil very fast.

•Hot, dry air quickly removes water from any surfaces, including plants.

•Plant adaptations to survive the desert include:▫Extensive roots that grow deep in the soil or spread away from the plant.

▫A decreased number of leaves to reduce water loss.

▫Thick stems that store water.▫Seeds that will not germinate until there is enough moisture to ensure their survival.

Nutritional Specialists

•Some plants grow in areas that have low concentrations of nutrients and have special adaptations to gain those nutrients.

•Carnivorous plants will trap and digest insects to gain the nutrients they need.

•Most of the carnivorous plants live in environments that are lacking nitrogen.

Nutritional Specialists

•These plants will trap insects in their leaves and release enzymes to digest them.

•The insects are not used for energy, just for nutrients.

•An example of a carnivorous plant is the Venus fly trap.

Nutritional Specialists

•Parasitic plants obtain water and nutrients from a host plant.

•Like all parasites, this harms the host.

•An example of a parasitic plant is mistletoe.

Chemical Defenses

•Insects depend on plants for food.

•Even though plants can’t move, they can defend themselves.

•Plants defend themselves by making chemical compounds that affect animals.

Chemical Defenses

•Some of these chemicals are poisonous.

•Other chemicals act as insect hormones that disrupt insect growth, development, and reproduction.

Introduction to the Animal Kingdom

•I can identify the characteristics of animals.

•I can distinguish between a vertebrate and invertebrate and give examples of each.

•I can identify and explain the essential functions of animals.

•The animal kingdom is the most diverse in appearance.

•Animals are all heterotrophs, meaning they get nutrients and energy from other organisms.

•Animals are multicellular, or composed of many cells.

•All animal cells are eukaryotes and have a nucleus.

•Animal cells do not have a cell wall.

•Over 95 percent of all animals are invertebrates.

•Invertebrates are animals that have no spine or vertebral column.

•They include groups like: sponges, insects, etc.

•The other 5 percent of animals are vertebrates, that do have a backbone.

•Vertebrates include: fish, mammals, reptiles, birds, etc.

•All animals survive and respond to the environment in different ways.

•However, all animals carry out essential functions including: feeding, respiration, circulation, excretion, response, movement, and reproduction.

Feeding

•There are a variety of ways that animals feed.

•Herbivores eat plants.•Carnivores eat meat.•Filter feeders strain tiny floating plants and animals from water.

Respiration

•All animals respire.•This means they take in O2 and give off CO2.

•Some animals rely on diffusion through their skin to respire.

•Other animals evolved complex tissues and organ systems for respiration, like lungs and gills.

Circulation

•Some invertebrates rely on diffusion to transport oxygen, nutrients, and wastes.

•Diffusion works for these animals because they are only a few cells thick.

•Larger animals have to have some kind of circulatory system to move materials.

Excretion

•The primary waste product of cellular metabolism is ammonia.

•Ammonia is a poisonous substance that contains nitrogen.

•A build up of ammonia would kill an organism.

Excretion

•Most animals have an excretory system to eliminate ammonia or convert it into a less toxic substance.

•Excretory systems can be as simple as a group of cells that pump water out of the body or as complex as kidneys.

Response

•Animals respond to events in their environment using specialized cells.

•The cells that respond are nerve cells.•In most animals, nerve cells connect to form the nervous system.

•Some cells gather information, while others decide how to respond.

Movement

•Some animals live their entire lives in a single spot.

•Most animals are motile, meaning they can move.

•All animals have either muscles or muscle like tissues that generate force when stimulated.

Movement

•Muscle contractions allow animals to move around.

•Muscles also help move things, like food and blood.

Reproduction

•Most animals use sexual reproduction to reproduce.

•Animals produce haploid gametes to combine to make offspring.

•Sexual reproduction helps create and maintain genetic diversity.

Reproduction

•Some invertebrates can also reproduce asexually.

•Asexual reproduction produces offspring identical to the parent.

•Asexual reproduction allows animals to increase their numbers rapidly.

Vertebrates: Fish

•I can identify the characteristics of a fish.•I can describe the adaptations of fish.•I can explain how digestion, respiration,

circulation, excretion, and reproduction occur in a fish.

•Fish are aquatic vertebrates that have paired fins, scales, and gills.

•Fins are used for movement, scales for protection, and gills for exchanging gases.

•Fish were the first vertebrates to evolve.

•The first fish found in the fossil record were jawless with large bony plates for armor.

•The evolution of jaws and paired fins were important developments during the rise of fish.

•Jaws can hold muscle and teeth, and they make it possible for vertebrates to nibble on plants and eat other animals.

•Jaws also give fish a way to defend themselves by biting.

•Jawless fish are limited to eating small particles that they filter out of the water.

•Paired fins gave fish more control of body movement.

•Tail fins gave fish greater thrust when swimming, making them faster.

•Adaptations to aquatic life include various modes of feeding, specialized structures of gas exchange, and paired fins for locomotion.

Feeding

•Every mode of feeding is seen in fish.

•There are herbivores, carnivores, parasites, and filter feeders.

•Fish have digestive systems similar to humans.

Feeding

•From the mouth, the food passes through the esophagus to the stomach.

•In the stomach, food is partially broken down.

•The pancreas and liver add enzymes to break down food.

Feeding

•The intestines complete the process of digestion and nutrient absorption.

•Undigested material moves out through the anus.

Respiration

•Most fish exchange gases using gills.

•Gills are made of feathery, threadlike structures called filaments.

•Each filament contains a network of capillaries where gas exchange occurs.

Respiration

•Fish move water over the gills, and pull out oxygen and release carbon dioxide.

•Some fish have actually developed lungs, that help them survive in oxygen poor water or in areas where the water dries up.

Circulation

•Fish have closed circulatory systems with a heart that pumps blood around the body.

•Fish have a single loop for their circulatory system.

Circulation

•Blood is pumped from the heart to the gills, from the gills to the rest of the body, and back to the heart.

•A fish heart only has 2 chambers. One chamber collects blood and the other pumps blood.

Excretion

•Most fish rid themselves of nitrogenous wastes as ammonia.

•Some wastes diffuse through the gills.

•However, most wastes are removed by the kidneys that filter waste from the blood.

Excretion

•Kidneys help fish control the amount of water in their bodies.

•Fish living in salt water tend to lose water by osmosis.

Excretion

•The kidneys of salt water fish concentrate wastes and return as much water to the body as possible.

•However, in fresh water fish, the kidneys remove a lot of water.

Reproduction

•Fish use both internal and external fertilization to reproduce.

•In external fertilization, eggs are fertilized outside of the body.

•For external fertilization, the female releases eggs into the water and the male releases sperm.

Reproduction

•In internal fertilization, eggs are fertilized inside of the female body.

•The eggs may then be released into the water or the female may continue to carry the eggs.

Amphibian Notes

•I can identify the characteristics of an amphibian.

•I can describe the adaptations of amphibians.

•I can explain how digestion, respiration, circulation, excretion, and reproduction occur in an amphibian.

•An amphibian is a vertebrate that lives in water as a larva and on land as an adult.

•Amphibians also breathe with lungs as an adult, and have moist, wet skin that contains mucus glands.

•Finally, amphibians lack scales and claws.

•Amphibians have evolved some, but not all of the adaptations needed to survive on land.

•Amphibians made the transition form water to land.

•Moving to land, they faced several problems:▫They had to breathe air.▫They had to keep from drying out.

▫They had to support themselves against the pull of gravity.

•Amphibian adaptations that allowed them to live part of their lives out of water include:▫Bones in the limbs became stronger for more efficient movement.

▫Lungs and breathing tubes allowed amphibians to breathe air.

▫The sternum, or breastbone, formed a shield to support and protect internal organs.

•At one time, amphibians ruled the land, living in swamps and forests.

•However, amphibians became less dominant when the climate changed.

•Today, there are three orders of amphibians: frogs, toads, salamanders and caecilians.

•To study amphibians, we are going to look at frogs.

Feeding

•As tadpoles, frogs are herbivores or filter feeders.

•Tadpoles feed almost constantly, and they have long intestines that help them break down plant material.

Feeding

•As adult frogs, their digestive tract transforms to accommodate for the diet of carnivores.

•Adult frogs are mostly carnivores.•The digestive tract of the frog has the same organs humans have.

Feeding

•The exception is there is only one opening for all wastes to leave through, called the cloaca.

Respiration

•In the larval stage, gas exchange happens through the skin and gills.

•Lungs replace gills when the larvae becomes an adult.

Respiration

•However, many adults still do some gas exchange through the skin and mouth.

•Some adult salamanders lack lungs and only breathe through their skin.

Circulation

•The circulatory system in frogs forms a double loop.

•The first loop carries blood from the heart to the lungs and skin to pick up oxygen.

Circulation

•The blood then returns to the heart for the second loop where it is pumped to the rest of the body.

•The heart of an adult amphibian has 3 chambers, two that collect blood and one that pumps blood.

Excretion

•Amphibians have kidneys that filter blood to make urine.

•The urine is then passed out of the body through the cloaca.

Reproduction

•Amphibian eggs do not have shells and will dry out if they are not kept moist.

•Therefore, most amphibians lay their eggs in water, then the male fertilizes them externally.

Reproduction

•However, some species use internal fertilization.

•Most amphibians abandon their eggs and do not watch over them.

•Since amphibians lack external protection, they are often prey.

•However, they do have adaptations to protect them.

•Some amphibians use camo, while others have poison in their skin.

•Poisonous amphibians are usually brightly colored.

•Some amphibians that are not toxic have skin patterns that mimic those that are, to confuse predators.

•Unfortunately, amphibian populations are decreasing.

•Scientists think that amphibians are very sensitive to environmental changes, like acid rain, decreasing habitats, and pollution.

Reptile Notes

•I can identify the characteristics of a reptile.

•I can describe the adaptations of reptiles.•I can explain how digestion, respiration,

circulation, excretion, and reproduction occur in reptiles.

•A reptile is a vertebrate that has dry, scaly skin, lungs, and terrestrial eggs with several membranes.

•These adaptations allow reptiles to live their entire lives out of water.

•Reptile skin is dry and covered with thick, protective scales.

•This allows reptiles to prevent water loss in dry environments.

•However, the scaly layer does not grow when the reptile does, so it has to be shed so the reptile can increase in size.

In addition to their skin, reptiles have:

•Well-developed lungs.•A double loop circulatory system

•An excretory system that conserves water.

•Strong limbs.•They use internal fertilization and have shelled eggs.

Body Temperature

•Reptiles are ectotherms.•Ectotherms rely on behaviors to control body temperature.

Body Temperature

•They cannot control their body temperature on their own.

•To warm up, they bask in the sun, and to cool down, they move to the shade or go for a swim or burrow underground.

Feeding

•Some reptiles, like iguanas are herbivores.

•However, most are carnivores.•Like amphibians, reptiles also have a cloaca, where all wastes leave the body after digestion.

Respiration

•The lungs of reptiles are spongy, which provides more area to exchange gases.

•Retiles cannot breathe through their skin like amphibians.

•To exchange gases, most reptiles have two lungs, but some snakes only have one.

Circulation

•Reptiles use double loop for circulation.

•One loop pumps blood from the heart to the lungs and brings it back to the heart.

Circulation

•The other loop pumps blood from the heart to the body and brings it back to the heart.

•Most reptiles have a 3 chambered heart.

•However, crocodiles and alligators have four chambered hearts.

Excretion

•Urine is produced in the kidneys.

•Reptile urine contains either ammonia or uric acid.

•Reptiles that live mainly in water excrete mostly ammonia.

Excretion

•Reptiles that live on land convert ammonia into uric acid.

•Uric acid is less toxic than ammonia, so it does not have to be diluted as much.

Excretion

•That way, reptiles can absorb extra water.

•Their wastes contain very little water to help conserve it in the body.

Reproduction

•All reptiles reproduce using internal fertilization.

•After fertilization, the female body covers the embryos with several membrane layers and a leathery shell.

Reproduction

•Most reptiles lay their eggs, but a few give birth to live young.

•Reptile eggs do not need water.•The protective membranes and shell keep them from drying out.

Bird Notes

•I can identify the characteristics of a bird.•I can describe the adaptations of birds.•I can explain how digestion, respiration,

circulation, excretion, and reproduction occur in birds.

•Birds are very diverse, but they share some common characteristics.

•Birds are reptile like animals.

•They maintain a constant internal temperature.

•They have an outer covering of feathers.

•Their two legs are covered in scales and front limbs that are wings.

•The most important characteristic that separates birds from reptiles and other animals is feathers.

•Feathers are made mostly of protein and develop from pits in the birds’ skin.

•Feathers help a bird fly and keep them warm.

•Based on the fossil record, birds are close relatives to the dinosaurs.

•The success of birds can be attributed to the adaptations that allow them to fly.

•Adaptations that allow them to fly include efficient digestive, respiratory, and circulatory systems.

•Birds also have aerodynamic feathers and wings and strong chest muscles.

Body Temperature Control

•Birds can generate their own heat.

•Endotherms are animals that can generate their own body heat.

•Endotherms have a high metabolism compared to ectotherms.

Body Temperature Control

•Metabolic processes produce heat.

•Feathers act as insulation and keep heat in the body.

Feeding

•Any body heat lost by a bird must be replaced by eating food.

•The more food a bird eats, the more heat energy it can produce.

•Bird beaks and bills are adapted to the type of food they eat.

Feeding

•Since birds lack teeth, they have specialized structures to help digest food.

•The crop is at the end of the esophagus and it stores and moistens food.

•From the crop, food moves to the stomach.

Feeding

•The size of the stomach depends on what a bird eats.

•Birds that eat insects and seeds have a gizzard in their stomach that helps grind food.

•Food moves from the stomach to the intestines and out the cloaca.

Respiration

•Birds are highly efficient at taking in oxygen.

•When birds inhale, the air enters large air sacs in the body cavity and bones.

•The inhaled air then flows through the lungs.

Respiration

•The lungs are lined with small tubes where gas exchange occurs.

•The air sacs and breathing tubes make sure airflows in one direction.

•The one-way flow constantly exposes the lungs to O2 rich air.

Respiration

•This allows birds to maintain their high metabolic rates.

•A high metabolism is required for flying and heat.

Circulation

•Birds have a 4 chambered heart.•They also have two separate circulatory loops.

•Birds have four separate chambers, so blood does not mix.

•One half of the heart receives blood that is oxygen poor.

Circulation

•That blood goes to the lungs.•The other half of the heart receives blood that is oxygen rich.

•That blood goes to the body.

Excretion

•Birds use the kidneys to filter blood.

•They produce uric acid.•Uric acid leaves the bird through the cloaca.

Excretion

•Most of the water in the waste is absorbed.

•The end result is a white paste with crystals in it.

Reproduction

•Bird eggs are similar to reptile eggs.

•They have hard outer shells.•Most birds incubate their eggs until they hatch.

•Chicks use a small tooth on their beaks to make a hole in the shell.

Mammal Notes

•I can identify the characteristics of a mammal.

•I can describe the adaptations of mammals.

•I can explain how digestion, respiration, circulation, excretion, and reproduction occur in mammals.

•All mammals are characterized by two features: hair and mammary glands.

•Mammary glands produce milk to nourish the young.

•All mammals breath air, have a 4 chambered heart and are endotherms that generate their own body heat.

Body Temperature Control

•Mammals produce their heat internally.

•Smaller mammals have a higher metabolic rate than larger mammals because they need to produce more heat.

•Mammals also have external body hair to keep them warm.

Body Temperature Control

•They also have a layer of fat under the skin to trap heat.

•Mammals also have sweat glands that help cool the body.

•Mammals that lack sweat glands often pant to release heat.

Feeding

•The form and function of jaws and teeth are adapted to the food a mammal eats.

•The structure of an herbivores teeth is different than that of a carnivore.

•Mammal teeth allow food to be processed more efficiently.

Feeding

•Their digestive tracts are adapted to break down and absorb the food a mammal eats.

•Carnivores have shorter intestines than herbivores because meat is easier to digest.

Respiration

•All mammals use lungs to breathe.

•The lungs are controlled by 2 sets of muscles.

•The chest muscles and the diaphragm control breathing in mammals.

Circulation

•Mammals have a 4 chambered heart.

•The heart has two completely separate loops.

•One goes to and from the lungs.

•The other loop goes to and from the body.

Excretion

•Mammals have highly developed kidneys.

•The kidneys extract nitrogenous wastes in the form of urea.

•Urea mixes with water and other wasted to form urine.

Excretion

•The kidneys are an important organ for maintaining homeostasis.

•The kidneys get rid of things the body does not want and works to keep the things it does not want.

Reproduction

•Mammals reproduce using internal fertilization.

•Most mammals give birth to live offspring.

•However, a few mammals do lay eggs.

Reproduction

•Young mammals are usually helpless when they are born.

•Therefore, their parents must care for them.