Lecture on Level 3 Biology: Plants and Animals

Introduction

• Speaker: Emma Campbell, Biology teacher at Wellington Girls College
• Focus: Level 3 Biology standard on plants and animals
• Format: Overview, past exam questions, framework for understanding

Key Concepts

Response to External Environment

• Main Idea: How plants and animals respond to external stimuli and adaptive advantages
• Categories:
  • Biotics: Interaction with living environment (intra- and interspecific)
  • Abiotic: Interaction with non-living environment

Understanding Levels

• Understanding: Describe responses, identify key terms
• In-depth Understanding: Explain internal processes within organisms
• Comprehensive Understanding: Link to adaptive advantage, survival, and reproduction

Abiotic Responses

Plant Orientation

• Nastic Responses: Non-directional movement (e.g., Venus flytraps) due to turgor pressure
• Tropisms: Growth towards/away from stimuli, often involving auxin
  • Geotropism: Response to gravity in roots and shoots

Exam Example: Manuka Seedling

• Responses: Positive geotropism (roots), negative geotropism (shoots)
• Interaction with Environment: Release of chemicals into soil, allelopathy, and exploitation

Animal Orientation

Movement in Space

• Taxis: Directional movement towards/away from stimuli
• Kinesis: Change in movement rate or direction, non-directional

Long-Distance Movement

• Homing: Returning home over unfamiliar territory
• Migration: Mass two-way movement with preparation, triggers, and navigation methods

Exam Example: City Shearwater

• Migration: Individual not flock-based, high energy cost, adaptive advantages outweigh costs

Temporal Orientation

Photoperiodism in Plants

• Phytochrome System: Conversion between phytochrome red and phytochrome far-red
• Impact on Flowering: Short day, long day, and neutral plants

Biological Rhythms in Animals

• Actograms: Visualizing daily rhythms, endogenous/internal control, and environmental cues

Exam Example: Tree Weta

• Graph Analysis: Endogenous rhythm, effect of phase shifts, and adaptive advantages

Intra-Specific Relationships

Competition and Cooperation

• Territories: Defending land for resources
• Hierarchies: Ranking within groups to reduce competition
• Group Formations: Cooperative behaviors for resource access and predator avoidance

Reproductive Strategies

• Courtship and Pair Bonding: Monogamy, polygyny, polyandry relationships
• Parental Care: Energy investment in offspring (K-strategy vs R-strategy)

Exam Example: Bat-Eared Fox

• Monogamy and Parental Care: Shared raising costs, genetic diversity concerns

Interspecific Relationships

Types

• Mutualism: Both benefit
• Commensalism: One benefits, one unaffected
• Exploitation: Predation, one harmed
• Competition: Both expend energy

Strategies in Exploitation

• Predator/Prey Adaptations: Mimicry and avoidance tactics

Conclusion

• Advice for Exam Preparation:
  • Past Exam Questions: Practice extracting and applying provided information
  • Structured Planning: Allocate time to plan answers effectively

Next Session

• Topic: More on Level 3 Biology papers
• Time: Tomorrow night

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These notes summarize the key points from the lecture on plant and animal responses, providing an understanding framework useful for Biology level 3 exams.