4­2.1 Classify organisms into major groups (including plants or animals, flowering or nonflowering plants, and vertebrates [fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals] or invertebrates) according to their physical characteristics. 1) Organisms can be divided into major groups based on their physical characteristics a) Plants­ organisms that are made of many parts and make their own food i) Plants can be divided into two groups: (1) Flowering Plants ● Grow from seeds ● Examples: grasses, roses, oak trees, fruit trees, tomato plants, bean plants (2) Nonflowering Plants ● Produce cones or spores ● Examples: (i) Produce Cones: pine trees, spruce trees, cedar trees (ii) Produce Spores: ferns, mosses, lichens b) Animals­ organisms made of many parts but ​
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make their own food; get their energy from eating plants or other animals i) Classified by whether or not they have a backbone (1) Vertebrates­ animals with a backbone ● Physical Characteristics of Vertebrates (i) Protective skin covering (ii) An inside skeleton (iii) Muscles (iv) Blood that circulates through blood vessels (v) Lungs or gills for breathing ● Divided into Five Groups (i) Fish 1. Breathe with gills 2. (most) have scales and fins 3. Example: salmon (ii) Amphibians 1. First part of life they breathe with gills, then as adults they breathe with lungs 2. Have smooth, moist skin 3. Example: frog, salamander (iii) Reptiles 1. Breathe with lungs 2. Have scales or plates 3. Example: turtle, snake, crocodile (iv) Bird 1. Breathe with lungs 2. Have feathers, a beak, two wings, and two feet 3. Example: eagle, peacock (v) Mammal 1. Breathe with lungs 2. Have fur or hair 3. Examples: human, dog, rabbit (2) Invertebrates­ animals without a backbone ● Some have fluid­filled bodies (example: jellyfish or worm) ● Others have a hard outer shell (example: insect or crab) ● More examples: spiders, shrimp, crawfish, sponges, snails 4­2.2 Explain how the characteristics of distinct environments (including swamps, rivers and streams, tropical rain forests, deserts, and the polar regions) influence the variety of organisms in each. 1) Characteristics of a distinct environment (the surroundings where an organism lives) influences the organisms found there. Examples of distinct environments include: a) Swamps i) Temperature: warm­hot ii) Water: abundance of water iii) Plant Life: cypress trees, ferns, water lilies (1) Thick plant growth (ferns and reeds) (2) Small bushes and trees do not thrive because of lack of sunlight (3) Tall trees reach for sunlight (4) Standing water causes the trunks of trees to spread out to provide support iv) Animal Life­ alligators, ducks, turtles, frogs, egrets b) Rivers and Streams i) Temperature: found in warm or cold areas (varies) ii) Water: water environment (1) Speed of water flow determines types of plants and animals iii) Plant Life: bushes/trees on banks, water plants iv) Animal Life­ fish, crayfish, snakes, insects c) Tropical Rainforests i) Temperature: hot, humid ii) Water: abundance of water iii) Plant Life: abundant trees, vines, lush growth iv) Animal Life­ birds, frogs, monkeys d) Deserts
i) Temperature: day is very hot, nights are very cold ii) Water: dry iii) Plant Life: cactus iv) Animal Life­ lizards, scorpions, rabbits (1) Have ways to conserve moisture, are able to go long periods without water, or can withstand the extreme temperature changes e) Polar Regions i) Temperature: cold (1) Amount of daylight varies throughout the year ii) Water: frozen, not much precipitation iii) Plant Life: lichen, moss iv) Animal Life­ seals, polar bears, penguins, arctic foxes (1) Adapted to these conditions by having extra fat or thick fur for insulation 4­2.3 Explain how humans and other animals use their senses and sensory organs to detect signals from the environment and how their behaviors are influenced by these signals. 1) Animals have sensory organs that allow them to detect changes in their environment. The animal then responds to the changes with certain behaviors. a) Senses tell animals what they need to know about their environment. Animals do not all have the same sense organs that humans have. i) Sight (1) Sensory organ: eyes (2) Signals detected: color, shape, size, space/distance, light, movement (3) Examples of behavior: locate food or shelter, recognize objects or organisms ii) Hearing (1) Sensory organ: ears (2) Signals detected: vibrations or sounds (3) Examples of behavior: locate food, sense danger to escape enemies, communicate iii) Taste (1) Sensory organ: taste buds on tongues (2) Signals detected: flavors (ex. salty, sweet, bitter, sour) (3) Examples of behavior: judge which foods are okay to eat iv) Touch (1) Sensory organ: skin (2) Signals detected: shape, size, temperature, texture, pain, vibrations, pressure (3) Examples of behavior: identify food, react to dangerous situations, care for each other v) Smell (1) Sensory organ: nose (2) Signals detected: odors (3) Examples of behavior: avoid danger, find food, recognize other organisms b) Different senses than humans: i) echolocation in bats ii) night vision of some snakes iii) electric senses of rays and sharks iv) magnetic senses of migratory birds, butterflies, and some whales 4­2.4 Distinguish between the characteristics of an organism that are inherited and those that are acquired over time. 1) Physical Characteristics a) Inherited characteristics­ passed from parents i) Examples:
(Organisms)
● eye color ● type of sensory organs (Plants) ● type of fruit ● type of leaf ● color of flower b) Acquired characteristics­ changes over time i) Examples: (Organisms) ● weight ● hair length (Plants) ● number of leaves ● length of roots ● thickness of trunk 2) Behavioral Characteristics a) Behavior­ a response to a change in the environment i) Example: leaves grow toward the light b) Types of behavior: (1) Instinct­ you are born knowing how to do it Examples: (a) Duck knows how to swim without being taught (b) Different birds build different types of nests without being taught (c) Migration (d) Hibernation (2) Learned behavior​
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shaped by experience Examples: (a) Bear learns to catch a fish (b) Dog is taught to roll over (c) Baby bird is taught to fly 4­2.5 Explain how an organism’s patterns of behavior are related to its environment (including the kinds and the number of other organisms present, the availability of food, and other resources, and the physical characteristics of the environment). 1) To survive within an ecosystem, plants and animals act in distinctive ways called behaviors. a) An organism's behavior is related to: i) other organisms that are present (1) example of behavior: compete for space, food, resources ii) the availability of food and other resources (1) example of behavior: eating patterns may change iii) the physical characteristics present (1) example of behavior: hibernate when temperature is too cold 4­2.6 Explain how organisms cause changes in their environment. 1) Organisms cause changes to their environment a) Examples of human behaviors: i) polluting the air, but working to cut down emissions from cars and factories ii) dumping toxic substances into waterways iii) cutting down trees to use the logs for building homes, but replacing the cut trees by planting new trees b) Examples of other organisms changing the environment: i) herd animals might overgraze land leading to erosion, but they can also fertilize the fields on which they graze and new plants can grow ii) beavers build dams which block the flow of water; but create pond environments in which new plants and animals can survive iii) kudzu has overgrown many other plants and trees in their environment