Competition

Todat we will be following on from the adaptations we looked at and talking about competition.  Asnwer the following questions in our books:

1. What is competition between organisms? - http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Competition
2. Plants compete for which resources?  - http://www.saburchill.com/ans02/chapters/chap019.html
3. Do organisms like plants or animals always compete for the same resources? - http://www.biotopics.co.uk/newgcse/Competition.html
4. When does competition occur between organisms (what conditions need to happen?)? - http://www.biotopics.co.uk/newgcse/Competition.html
5. When individuals are in competition, which ones are the most likely to survive? - http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/aqa/evolution/evolutionrev2.shtml
6. Explain what happens when an organism becomes adapted to a new environment (scroll down to 'competitive speciation' - http://redpath-museum.mcgill.ca/Qbp/2.About%20Biodiversity/processes.htm 
7. Try this game, making sure you take careful notice of how your animals are competing for different resources! - http://science.discovery.com/interactives/literacy/darwin/darwin.html 

Once youre finished, try http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/natures-most-amazing-events/animal-arcade/lion.html

Adaptations

We're looking at adaptations that plants and animals have to help them survive and reproduce.  We completed a practical looking at how size can help animals in different environments.  We concluded that (although some of our groups didn't work because of different water temperatures) smaller animals have a greater surface area:volume ratio and so cool down more quickly.
With plants, we defined transpiration, xylem and stomata.  You should all be able to use these in describing how plants are adapted to certain environments.  With the celery experiment we found that water moves up through the roots and xylem, then out through the stomata in the leaves.  Plants in warm conditions can lose too much water, so either have sunken stomata or less of them (or close the ones they do have).  Plants also have other adaptations to help them in hot environments, such as waxy outer layers to prevent water loss, thin leaves and stems that can store water (like a cactus).
This page from bitesize has some good information about adaptations ion hot and cold climates if you skip to the next page down the  bottom - http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/aqa/evolution/organismsrev2.shtml

If you have time, try some of the exam style questions from the textbook on the kerboodle website, page 92-3.

Adaptations and Survival

Today we will be looking at how plants and animals are adapted to survive in different conditions.  Answer the following questions in your books, using the links to help you:

1. What thingss do plants need to survive and reproduce successfully? - http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/requirements-for-healthy-plant-growth/69.html
2. How do animals take in energy from the environment? Think of one example of an animal being adapted to do this better: - http://www.mhhe.com/biosci/genbio/virtual_labs/BL_02/BL_02.html
3. Explain what 'heterotroph' means - http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Heterotroph
4. Explain what an epiphyte is and how it is adapted to survive in it's habitat. - http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/adaptations/Epiphyte
5. Outline the adaptations that antarctic fish have that help them survive. - http://www.anta.canterbury.ac.nz/resources/adapt.html
6. What is an extremophile? Name one extremophile organism and where it lives. - http://www.theguardians.com/Microbiology/gm_mbm04.htm

Once you're finished, try this - http://users.netrover.com/~kingskids/quiz_science/animals/quiz1.html or this - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/evolution/evolution-action.html . one more - http://www.ecokids.ca/pub/eco_info/topics/climate/adaptations/index.cfm

Test

To revise for the test on Friday (tomorrow), make sure you know what recreational drugs are (things that people use non-medically for their own reasons).  You should also use the bitesize link below to test yourself on subjects covered so far.  Everyone should check the auxins/tropisms link below, and people that wanted to take the textbook from class can log onto kerboodle and click on 'my bookshelf' at bottom left to find it.
Good luck!

Auxins and tropisms

This link is really relevant and helpful for the plant hormone topic we loooked at the other day.  Auxins are the plant hormones that help shoots grow towrads light as well as helping shoots grow upwards. Read the introduction and then use the tabs to watch the animations about the different effects that auxins can have.

http://bcs.whfreeman.com/thelifewire/content/chp38/3802001.html

Try the quiz on the last page to check your understanding of what has been covered.

Drugs

We will be looking at drugs more next week, but I thought I'd summarise what we've done so far so people can have a look over the weekend and next week before the test on Friday.

• You will need to remember that there are different kinds of drugs (such as stimulants, depressants, hallucinogens, etc.) which act on the body differently. 
• Some are legal (paracetamol) while some aren't (Cocaine), others are legal over certain ages (alcohol).
• Statins are important to remember.  They decrease levels of cholesterol in the blood and help stop heart attacks.
• A double blind test is often used to test medicinal drugs before they can be sold.  This is where the doctors and the patients don't know whether they are using the new drug, the current one or a placebo.

Like the post below, you need to use the bitesize website to revise these points by doing the activities and test sections.  You could also try to log onto kerboodle (login information below, use the test student login if your name doesn't work as it will probably work at home even if it didn't work in the library) and use the textbook from 'my bookshelf' to complete some exam style questions.

This post will be some notes about what we've covered so far in class this term - there won't be questions but you'll need to use gcse bitesize to revise and test yourself about these so that you're ok with everything - http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/aqa/human/
Firstly, we looked at the nervour system and reflexes at the start of term.  We did this in the library and not everyone completed the work in class, so make sure you understand this diagram and can explain how the body senses stimuli (being touched, sound, light etc.) and sends messages through the sensoory neurons to the relay neurons which pass a message to the motor neurons.  The motor neurons' job is to make the body do something to respond to the stimulus, like putting arms over the head to protect from a loud sound, closing the pupil to avoid a bright light or releasing a hormone to cause a change in the body during stressful situations.
Make sure you can explain these reflexes as follows:
Stimulus - receptor - sensory neurone - relay neurone - motor neurone - effector - response

E.g. :

Bright light - eye - sensroy neurone - relay neurone - motor neurone - muscles around pupil - pupil gets smaller

Diagram of the neurones involved in a reflex action, in this case a pin.

The most recent part of the course looked at hormones.  THese are chemicals that cause thigns to happen in the body.  There are many different types of hormones formany different jobs, but some do more than one. Ovulation is a good example of something caused by hormones (the release of an agg from an ovary). 

Hormones can also help control things and keep them constant, called HOMEOSTASIS.  This is where the body uses hormones as well as other things to keep many things in the body within certain limits - such as blood sugar, temperature and water balance.  You will need to be able to explain at least one of these systems.
MAke sure that this section all makes sense, we have to move quickly to cover drugs before the test in late November - I'll give exact dates in class.  Email me or ask in class if you are unsure about anything.