Structures and Functions: How Organisms Are Built to Survive! 🧠🦉

Hi Science Stars! 🌟

Today, we explore how living things have special structures (body parts) that help them survive, grow, and reproduce in their environments. These parts have specific functions, or jobs, that are super important!

1. Vocabulary:

Structure: Parts of organisms that have specific functions.

Adaptation: Characteristic of an organism that helps it survive in its ecosystem.

 2. Structure of animals

Animal structures help them survive, grow and reproduce. 

Some structures are internal, such as the lungs, brain or heart. 

Other structures are external, such as the skin, eyes and claws.

3. Structure of plants:     
Plants also have different parts, such as roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruits. These structures help them survive.

4. Adaptation of animals:
When the environment changes, some animals die, others move to another location, and some develop 
adaptations over generations that help them survive in their new home.
 Suppose an animal is born with a new characteristic. If this characteristic helps the animal 
survive, the animal is likely to reproduce and pass on the characteristic to its offspring. 
And so on throughout the generations.

There are several types of adaptation:
4.1   Behavioral adaptation: changes in the behavior of organisms that help them
survive and reproduce.
-          Birds that migrate to seek a warmer climate
-          Bears that hibernate for several months
    4.2   Physical adaptation: characteristics that allow living beings to survive and adapt to their 
environment.
-          The lungs of mammals allow them to breathe on land.
-          Fish have gills to breathe in water.
-          Long neck of a giraffe to reach food in tall trees.
-          Falcons have hooked beaks to hunt their prey.
-          Wolves developed strong chewing muscles.
-          Anteaters use their tail as a coat.
-          Spots of a cheetah and stripes of a tiger for camouflage








5. Adaptation of plants:
Plants adapt to their environment in various ways, such as modifying their shape, their leaves, or developing 
special structures.


Examples: 
- Cacti have few leaves, or spines to store and retain water
- Cactus roots close to the ground to absorb water before evaporation
- Tall plants in the rainforest to reach sunlight
- In the mountains, thick bark to protect yourself from the cold
- Wide leaves that capture sunlight
- Plants without roots in water