52 WHAT IS BEING ALIVE? 



their particular environments. Some adaptations are protective, 

 as the bark of trees, the spines or thorns on some plants, the shells 

 of turtles, the feathers of birds, the heavy hairy coats of a dog or 

 a cat, the strong teeth of a tiger. The trunk of the elephant, the 

 long neck of the giraffe, the pouch of the kangaroo, the flipper of 

 the whale, or the web on the wing of the bat are all adaptations 

 for various purposes. 



Practical Exercise. Classify the above adaptations according to their 

 specific uses. Make a table giving at least five kinds of adaptations found 

 in plants, and five kinds found in animals. 



Self-Testing Exercise 



An adaptation is a (1) that is (2) to an orgauism 



in some (3). By means of (4), (5) and 



(6) are enabled to (7) in various environments. 



Without adaptations (8) would be impossible. 



Review Summary 



Test your knowledge of the unit by : (1) Answering and rechecking the 

 survey questions; (2) performing the assigned exercises; (3) checking with 

 the teacher your scores on the various tests, and if you do not have a perfect 

 score, try again the parts you missed ; (4) doing as much of the optional work 

 as has been assigned to you ; and finally filling in the following outline as fully 

 as possible for your notebook. 



Functions of living things Nutrition 



Reaction to stimuli Excretion 



water Reproduction 



light Cell unit of structure 

 gravity parts 



chemical substances functions of 



temperatures formation of 



value of Adaptations 



Food taking of living things 



Respiration 



Test on Fundamental Concepts 



Make two columns on your notebook. Head one CORRECT, the other INCORRECT. 

 Place in these columns the numbers of the sentences you think are right and those you think 

 are wrong. Your grade will be the number correct X 4. 



I. Tropisms (1) are reactions to the various stimuli in the environ- 

 ment; (2) are structures which cause reactions to stimuli; (3) make 

 it possible for green plants to live without the sun ; (4) are brought 

 about by food, water, light, heat, chemical substances, and other factors 

 of the environment ; (5) bring the organism into adjustment with its 

 environment. 



