Organisms have features called adaptations that help them to survive in the conditions where they normally live. Adaptations can be structural, behavioural or functional.
- Structural adaptations are body features. A polar bear has thick fur and a layer of fat to keep warm, and a camel has a hump that stores fat.
- Behavioural adaptations are the ways an organism acts. Some animals travel to warmer places in winter, which is called migration, and desert animals may stay in burrows during the heat of the day.
- Functional adaptations are to do with processes inside the body. A desert animal may make very concentrated urine to save water.
Some organisms live in extremely harsh environments, such as at high temperature, high pressure or high salt concentration. These organisms are called extremophiles. Bacteria living in deep sea vents are extremophiles. When you are given information about an organism, link each feature to the way it helps the organism survive in its habitat.