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Course: Middle school biology - NGSS > Unit 2
Lesson 4: Organism growth and the environmentOrganism growth and the environment
All living organisms, from plants to animals, are shaped by their genes and the environment. Genetic factors determine inherited traits, while environmental factors, like sunlight and nutrition, influence growth and development. Together, these elements create the unique growth patterns we see in all life forms. Created by Khan Academy.
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- It is a living organism with a chloroplast and cell wall as organelles. Plants are normally green due to photosynthesis however this can change due to the plants genes.(7 votes)
- Fun Fact: You can eat Dandelions, but make sure to eat them only if your sure they haven't been sprayed with pesticides, I.E. not next to a road or establishment. And when made into tea, can help with allergies. There's even Dandelion Wine!(26 votes)
- Cool i should do that!(2 votes)
- I have noticed dandelions in a more warmer area, why is this? (It's not necessarily tropical, but it's comparatively closer to the center of Earth)(11 votes)
- They grow better in warmer climates like some trees do well in cold climates but it can't be too warm otherwise they don't grow too well. some plants just grow in warmer or colder climates, and the teacher said that Dandelions grow better in certain climates depending on how warm it is, how much sun it gets and how much water it gets. We have had lots of cloudy days and lots of water so dandelions in the yard died and new plants grew in their place.(13 votes)
- If plants only have one parent, why do they need another plant's pollen?(9 votes)
- So…plants can produce asexually but in most cases it is better if the plant or any creature , for that matter , don’t , as if the parent that is producing asexually has some problems , like diseases, and is creating a replica of themselves the offspring also has the same issues , decreasing it chances of survival, but if plants or animals produce sexually the offspring the mix in chromosomes would result in something better ( in most cases) .(8 votes)
- Dandelions dont need brains, they have curious 5year olds that want to wave around the fun pom pom plant.(10 votes)
- this isn't really relevant but why is her art so good😭(14 votes)
- yr just not a human thats whu(0 votes)
- Ik this isn't related but her art is so good- I could never-(4 votes)
- Mind you she's using a mouse cursor to draw this stuff..(8 votes)
- plants are so much like us. for example if you git a cut the blued would turn in to a scab same as with plants🌱(4 votes)
- no it would not turn in to a scab on a plant(7 votes)
- what would happen if somehow, a dog and a dandilion made a child(3 votes)
- It's not possible because plants need female plants and it goes inside to make a ovule which fertilizes into a seed but animals don't have that.(if that's did that would actually be really funny lol)(1 vote)
- Is the color orange named after the fruit orange because oranges are orange or the fruit orange is named after the color orange because the color orange has the same color of oranges?(4 votes)
- Is orange orange because orange is orange or is orange orange because orange is orange?(3 votes)
Video transcript
- [Instructor] Hey, have you ever seen this kind of plant before? It's called a dandelion. If you live in a tropical
climate, it might be unfamiliar, but if you live in a more temperate zone, you'll probably recognize it
as it's a very common plant. Dandelions make yellow flowers
that develop into balls of these fluffy white seed
heads that fly off the plant. This can happen by a gust of wind, by animals spreading them, or even by someone blowing on the plant. When this happens, it
seeds fly into the air and land on new spots on the ground. From there, the seeds can
grow into new dandelions, starting the whole cycle over. But why do dandelions do this? Why do they turn into puff balls? Why are they yellow? If they don't have brains, how do they seem to know
when to release their seeds? These are all complicated questions. But to begin answering them, we can talk about what influences
the growth and development of dandelions and in
turn all living things. So what determines how
a dandelion will grow? Its genes and its environment. Let's take a moment to
review what genes are. Genes make up the hereditary material inside an organism cells. Genes provide the information about what traits an organism has. So the reason that our
dandelion has yellow pedals and develops fluffy white seed heads lies within its genes. Any influence genes have on
the way an organism grows is called a genetic factor. So if one dandelion has
more seeds than another as a result of which version
of a certain gene it has, we can say that the
difference in seed number is due to a genetic factor. The other major influence
on how a dandelion grows is its environment. But what makes up an
organism's environment? The environment is the set of conditions an organism is exposed to during its life. For a dandelion, this
includes temperature, how much light and water it gets, and which nutrients
are present in the soil where it grows. Any influence the environment
has on an organism's growth is called an environmental factor. So if one dandelion plant
is exposed to more sunlight than another and grows
bigger, as a result, we can say that the difference is due to an environmental factor. But plants aren't the
only living organisms that are motivated by these factors. Animals are also influenced by
their genes and environment. For example, let's look at dogs. Dogs come in many different
shapes, sizes, colors, and each have their own unique features. We can see this when
looking at different breeds, like pugs which are
small with squishy faces, and golden retrievers, which are large with
flowing locks of golden fur. These traits are largely determined by which genes each breed of dog has, or in other words, by genetic factors. But dogs are also influenced
by environmental factors too. For instance, how much
food they get as they grow helps determine their size, and what they learn from other dogs, and from people help
determine their behaviors. Like when you teach your dog a new trick. And now you know how
organisms are influenced by genetics and their environment when it comes to growth and development. Let's do a quick review of
what you've learned today. First, there are two main factors that influence an organism's growth, these are genetic and
environmental factors. Genetic factors are the
genes the organism gets from its parent or parents. While environmental
factors are the conditions and organism is exposed to as it grows. These factors show that
all living organisms have a couple things in common
even dogs and dandelions. So while our interactions
with them may differ like how you can't
teach a dandelion to sit like you can with a dog, both organisms experience
growth and development through their own unique
genes and environments.