How do we respond to our world?

Key Concept

Change

Related Concept

Consequence

Global Context

Scientific and technical innovation

Content

Scientific innovations designed to enhance our ability to perceive and respond to change in our surroundings have consequences on our survival

Factual Question:

How do organisms perceive and respond to change in their surroundings?

Conceptual Question:

How does survival depend on organisms' ability to perceive and respond to change in their surroundings?

How do species become adapted, over the long term, to conditions in their environment?

Debatable Question:

To what extent should we continue to develop products that impact the way people or other living things perceive and respond to their surroundings?

To what extent is the use of sense-enhancing technology a responsible and ethical choice?

Now share and compare your thoughts and ideas with your partner, or with the whole class.

Learner Profile

Thinker

Objectives

Find out the system and mechanism that allows organisms to respond to their surroundings.

Explorethe scientific innovations that have altered our ability to respond and adapt to our surroundings.

Take actionby producing a mini-document about scientific innovations that enhance our perception of and response to stimuli.

Reflection

In this Unit, we have learned how humans and other organisms are able to perceive and respond to changes in their environment. We have inquired into the human nervous system and sense organs, and how they function to support our survival. We have also explored the process of natural selection, and its relationship to perceiving and responding to stimuli, as well as the development of adaptations within a species. We have grown as ’thinkers’ by practising criticaland creative-thinking skills, and we have practised our scientific skills by using a ’thought experiment’ to model a complex, long-term process.

Reflection Factual Question:

How do organisms perceive and respond to change in their surroundings?

Reflection Conceptual Question:

How does survival depend on organisms’ ability to perceive and respond to change in their surroundings? How do species become adapted, over the long term, to conditions in their environment?

Reflection Debatable Question:

To what extent should we continue to develop products that impact the way people or other living things perceive and respond to their surroundings? To what extent is the use of sense-enhancing technology a responsible and ethical choice?

Skills (ATL)

Critical thinking skills

Creative thinking skills

Assessment

Criterion A: Knowing and understanding

Criterion D: Reflecting on the impacts of science.

Links to Other Subject

Links to individuals and Societies. The topics, activities and discussion in the chapter have required you to test hypotheses and interpret increasingly complex information, two skills that are also a key component of Individuals , and societies. In addition, in Individuals and societies, you also explore the concept of causality (cause and consequence), which is related to the 4 scientific concept s of change and consequence In this unit.

Introduction

The survival of living things depends on their ability to modify their behaviours according to the conditions in their surroundings. In humans, sometimes these modified behaviours come from conscious, active decisions, but usually they are the result of automatic, uncontrollable responses.

In this unit, we will explore how living things are able to perceive and respond to the conditions that are in their surroundings. We will consider how the ability to perceive and respond to the environment impacts not only the immediate survival of individuals but also the long-term evolution of species. We will also inquire into how responding, or not responding, to environmental conditions can give rise to new species. Finally, we will consider people’s ability to perceive conditions in the environment, and how scientific innovations have changed those abilities.

How do you perceive and respond to change in their surroundings?

Of course, we use our eyes, ears, skin, nose, and mouth our sense organs in order to sense the things that are all around us. In other words, we use our senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste to perceive the things we come in contact with. In addition to our sense organs, we also use our brain and spinal cord, which make up the central nervous system, to process and understand what the stimulus is and how to respond.

But how does this actually happen?

What is it about our eyes, ears, skin, nose, and mouth that makes it possible for us to be aware of what is around us and then for us to take action or make decisions as a result?

To safely cross the street, we use many of our senses: we see and hear the cars passing by so we know when is a good time to cross, and we see and feel the street under our feet so we don’t trip on something. What senses do we use when we are eating something?

Learn more about Sense Organs

Super Senses