4+-+What+makes+an+organism+fit?

An organism is considered fit because of the ideal genes for its enviroment; adaptations are also factored into making an organism fit in its enviroment. To be fit is considered to be a "master" in ones enviroment.

A. Certain species were put in an enviroment that they have adapted to over time. Moving that species to another enviroment that they are not fitted for causes the species to either change to accomodate or die off. For this concept map it is shown that a camel in it's natural enviroment and a polar bear moved to a desert location shows that the polar bear was not fitted to survive in such a place. Since the polar bear was not fitted for a desert region it had died off.



B. The camel was well adapted to the desert enviroment because over many years the camel's ancestors found or were born with thin to help the survival of that species. While the polar bear was fit for a colder region. Since the camel could store fat in a hump and not all over it's body it could keep it self cool in the extreme heat; on the other hand the polar stored its fat everywhere in it's body to keep heat in for the extreme cold. This function was not suited for the extreme heat of the desert. Also the camel is covered in hair which keeps the sand out of its ears and other places that could cause harm, along with it's two sets of eye lashes to keep the sand out of the eyes in case of a sandstorm. While the polar bear is more equipped to retain heat and has a more dense coat to be water proof. It is shown that a polar is not suited for a desert area and the comparison shows that the camel is more fit in a desert enviroment. This however does not mean the polar bear isn't a fit animal, it is fit when it is in a cold enviroment.

C. Furthermore the camel is able to live off of plants and water while the polar bear eats other animals of fatty oils, seals, to survive. Without the natural food source the polar bear would try to adapt but would not be likely to succeed. The polar bear vs. the camel are on completely different playing fields because of what their natural instinicts are to finding food and scavaging to lasting a while without food or water and surviving off the land.

D. This model could possibly change if a polar bear was kept in a desert enviroment long enough for adaptations to help the survival, but then this type of desert polar bear might become a new species. For such adaptations to take place a long period of time is needed so research and other discoveries may be far off, thus this concept map is relatively scientificly new even though this concept has been founded many years ago.

By: JaTahyia Stevens Maria Greiner

Sources: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/ocr_gateway_pre_2011/enviroment/3_adapt_to_fit1.shtml [] []