1. Adaptations
Year 10 Biology

2. An adaptation is a genetically controlled structural, behavioural or functional feature that enhances the survival of an organism in particular environmental conditions.

3. Adaptations relate to a specific way of life and in a particular set of environmental conditions.
In another set of environmental conditions and a different way of life, the same feature may be maladaptive

4. When an organism does not adjust adequately or appropriately to an environment, that feature is said to be maladaptive.

5. For example, freshwater fish extract dissolved oxygen from the water in which they live using their gills.
Gills provide an efficient structure for extracting oxygen from water. However, if removed from the water, the fish gills are maladaptive.

6. Adaptations relate to a specific way of life in a particular set of environmental conditions. e.g. Gills on a freshwater fish are useless when the fish is removed from its watery environment.

7. There are three types of adaptations…
Behavioural adaptations include activities that help an animal survive.  Behavioural adaptations can be learned or instinctive (a behaviour an animal is born with).
For example:
Social behaviour - some animals live by themselves, while other live in groups. 
Behaviour for protection -  An animal's behaviour sometimes helps to protect the animal.  For instance the opossum plays dead.  A rabbit freezes when it thinks it has been seen. 

8. There are three types of adaptations…
Structural adaptations are the result of the evolutionary process, which stems from the mutation of genes over time. It involves some  part of an animal's body, such as the size or shape of the teeth, the  animal's body covering, or the way the animal moves.  
For example:
The duck has webbed feet for propelling it through the water and strong wings to take to flight quickly.. 
The Bill on a bird: The longer beak helps the bird catch more food. Because the bird can  catch more food, it is healthier than the other birds, lives longer and  breeds more.
The  leaves of the carnivorous pitcher plant form cups, or pitchers, that  fill with water, drowning insects that they then digest.

9. There are three types of adaptations…
Functional adaptations are the internal systematic responses to external stimuli in order to help an organism maintain homeostasis (in simpler terms, how the organism works on the inside).
For example:
the ability of desert dwellers to survive without drinking water by re-absorbing much of the water from their faeces and producing small amounts of very concentrated urine. 
the surge of adrenaline you experience when you are afraid, as adrenaline can provide you the strength to escape certain deadly situations

10. The 3 types of adaptations:
Behavioural adaptations – the behaviours that an organism exhibits to increase its chance of survival.
Structural adaptations – the physical features of an organism.
Functional (Physiological) adaptations – the internal functions of an organism.

11. Polar Bear

12. Cactus

13. Tolerance Range
Tolerance range in terms of temperature for a fish species. Notice that, as water temperature moves closer to the tolerance limits, fewer fish are found. This is the so-called zone of physiological stress. What happens beyond the tolerance limits?

14. The particular environmental conditions in which a particular species can successfully live and reproduce define its tolerance range. Every organism has a tolerance range for environmental factors such as temperature, desiccation, oxygen concentration, light intensity and ultraviolet exposure.

15. Think…
How do humans extend their tolerance range?