Plants have adaptations to help defend themselves, and to help them survive.

The photographs below show two plants.

Describe and explain one way in which the nettle is adapted for defence and protection.

The witch hazel produces an oil with antiseptic properties.

Which of these statements correctly describes an antiseptic?

Which type of adaptation is the production of an antiseptic oil?

Animals have also become adapted in many different ways to reduce the risk of being eaten by predators.

State and explain two of these adaptations.

The photograph below shows a bee.

Bees collect nectar and pollen from flowers.

As they do this, they become covered in pollen.

When they move to another flower, some of the pollen is transferred to this other flower.

Suggest what the bees and the plants each gain from their relationship.

Bee populations are rapidly declining around the world due to habitat loss, pollution, and the use of pesticides, among other factors.

In the USA, there was a honey bee decline from about 6 million hives in 1947 to 2.4 million hives in 2008.

Calculate the percentage decrease in bee hive numbers from 1947 to 2008.

Suggest why conserving bees is important.

The Dead Sea is the most saline lake on Earth, with a salt concentration over 10 times higher than that of sea water.

It is such a harsh environment that only microorganisms from the Archaea domain are able to survive.

What term is used to describe organisms that can survive in severe conditions such as very high concentrations of salt solution?

Salt concentration is an example of an abiotic factor that affects the growth of organisms.

State two other abiotic factors.

Give two biotic factors that affect the growth of organisms.

Animals in a habitat compete with each other.

Great tits and blue tits are two bird species that compete with each other.

What is meant by the term habitat?

Give two factors for which great tits and blue tits may compete.

The graph shows changes in the populations of the two bird species in a woodland between 2006 and 2022.

Describe the changes in the population of great tits between 2014 and 2018.

Suggest an explanation for changes in the population of great tits between 2014 and 2018.

Squirrels feed on the leaves of oak trees.

Red-tailed hawks feed on the squirrels.

What do we call animals, like the red-tailed hawk, that eat other animals, such as the squirrel?

The graph below shows how the numbers of squirrels and red-tailed hawks change over a period of time.

What happens to the number of red-tailed hawks after the number of squirrels decreases?

Suggest a reason for your answer.

Organisms have adaptations that enable them to survive and thrive in their environment.

These adaptations may be structural, behavioural or functional.

For each example, state whether the adaptation is structural, behavioural, or functional.

Swallows undertake a 6000 mile migration between the UK and South Africa twice a year in search of food.

Animals that live in the arctic have a thick layer of fur that protects them from extremely cold temperatures.

When humans exercise, there is an increase in heart rate to supply more blood to the muscles.

A scientist is studying a plant.

This plant:

• grows attached to other types of plants
• has brightly coloured flowers
• produces large quantities of pollen
• produces thousands of very small, light seeds

Describe how these adaptations help the plants to survive and compete.

A healthy garden will support several species of ladybird.

The photograph below shows a ladybird.

Ladybirds are natural predators of greenflies, as represented in the food chain below.

oak tree  →  greenfly  →  ladybird  →  blue tit

Many of the ladybirds in the garden died.

Explain what is likely to happen to the number of greenflies in the garden.

Give two factors that may limit the number of ladybirds.

Population and community are terms used to describe the organisms in an area.

Describe the difference between the terms 'population' and 'community'.

The photograph below shows loggers cutting down trees in a forest.

Describe the effects of cutting down trees on the biotic and abiotic factors of the forest ecosystem.

Animals and plants have adaptations that allow them to survive in the conditions in which they normally live.

Give three adaptations of animals or plants that live in dry deserts, and explain how these adaptations help them survive.