7th Grade
Unit 4:
Inherited and Adaptive Traits for
Survival
Lesson 1:
Asexual and Sexual
Reproduction
Vocabulary of Instruction:
Adaptation
•Changes in an
organism's
physiological
structure or
function or
habits that
allow it to
survive in
new
surroundings.
•
•
•
Powerful muscles in the kangaroo’s legs enable •
it to jump as far as 30 feet in one leap. Over
short distances, the species can move as fast
as 35 miles per hour.
•
They have sensitive and dexterous
forepaws which help locate prey in mud or
under stones.
They have relatively large, broad cheek
teeth, apparently for purposes of crushing
the shells of crabs and mollusks.
•
•
The red panda uses a “panda’s thumb”—
an extension of the wrist bone—to grasp
fruit and branches.
The hump serves as a reservoir for energy-rich
fat, which the camel can metabolize for energy
when food is scarce.
Can go for months without drinking water. And
can consume 30 gallons of water at one sitting!
Long eyelashes, ears lined with hair and nostrils
that can be pinched shut all help shield them
from the blowing sand of its dry environment.
Asexual Reproduction:
• Reproduction of a
plant or animal
without fusion of
male and female
gametes. It
includes vegetative
propagation
(cuttings, bulbs,
rhizomes), cell and
tissue culture.
Example of Asexual Reproduction
Plant Cutting
Corm or bulb
Plantlet
Plantlet on a runner
Examples of Asexual Reproduction
Plant Cutting
Plant Cutting
Plantlet on a runner
Rhizome or Rootstocks
Diversity
•Is the number
of different
species of
plants and
animals, and
other
organisms in
an ecosystem.
Gamete Production
•An
important
part of the
sexual life
cycle of all
diploid
creatures.
Genetic Variation
• Variations of
genomes
between
members of
species, or
between groups
of species
thriving in
different parts
of the world as a
result of genetic
mutation.
Germination
•Is when a
seed stops
lying
dormant in
the soil and
sprouts to
grow into a
new plant.
Mutations
• Act of
mutating;
change,
alteration;
state of having
inheritable
traits that
differ from
those of the
normal
parent.
Offspring
• Are the product
of reproduction,
new organism(s)
produced by one or
more parents.
Pollination
•Is when
pollen
(male)
lands on a
female
part of a
flower
(stigma).
Sexual Reproduction
• Is how a
biological
species
creates new
generations
when it
involves
both male
and female
parents.
How Can I Grow This Plant?
Sexual reproduction:
Apples grow from a seed.
Sexual reproduction:
Watermelons grow from a seed.
Asexual reproduction: Strawberries grow
from plantlets attached to runners.
Asexual reproduction Bananas
grow from rhizomes below the
ground.
Survival of the Fittest
• A natural process
resulting in the
evolution of the
organisms that are
best adapted to the
environment.
Uniformity
•Homogeneity, state
of being uniform,
identical, the same,
equal, consistent.