Response To Stimuli (A Level Only)

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Survival & Response

  • Responding to changes in the environment aids survival by allowing organisms to find food, avoid predators and stay in suitable conditions.
  • A stimulus is detected by receptor cells, e.g. light is detected by photoreceptor cells in the eye, and changes in blood glucose are detected by β cells in the pancreas.
  • Information from receptors is processed by a coordinator, which may be part of the nervous system (e.g. brain or spinal cord) or the hormonal system (e.g. pancreas or pituitary gland).
  • An effector responds appropriately to the environmental change; effectors are either muscles, which allow movement, or glands, which secrete chemicals.
  • Signals between receptors, coordinators and effectors involve nervous communication (electrical impulses in neurones) or hormonal communication (chemicals in the blood).

Growth Factors in Flowering Plants

  • Plants survive by responding to changes in their environment, including directional stimuli.
  • A tropism is a directional growth response, e.g. a plant growing towards light.
  • Phototropism is a growth response to light; gravitropism is a growth response to gravity.
  • Tropisms can be positive (growth towards a stimulus) or negative (growth away from a stimulus).
  • Plant growth responses are controlled by growth factors (not hormones) released by plant cells; these act similarly to hormones in animals.
  • Growth factors are specific, produced in growing parts of plants (e.g. tips of roots and shoots), and move to other tissues to regulate growth.
  • Indoleacetic acid (IAA) is synthesised at the tips of roots and shoots but mainly affects growth in the region adjacent to the tip.

Indoleacetic Acid (IAA)

  • IAA is a plant growth factor belonging to a group called auxins.
  • IAA is synthesised in the growing tips of roots and shoots and moves by diffusion, active transport, and over longer distances via the phloem.
  • IAA controls cell elongation; the concentration of IAA determines the rate of elongation, and an uneven concentration causes uneven growth.
  • In roots, IAA inhibits cell elongation; in shoots, IAA causes cell elongation.
  • Gravitropism in roots: IAA moves to the lower side, setting up a gradient; amyloplasts gather at the bottom due to density; IAA inhibits elongation on the lower side, so the root bends towards gravity (positive gravitropism).
  • Phototropism in shoots: IAA moves to the shaded side; IAA causes elongation on the shaded side, so the shoot bends towards light (positive phototropism).
  • In roots, IAA moves to the shaded side and inhibits elongation there, causing the root to bend away from light (negative phototropism).

Investigating the Effect of IAA on Root Growth

  • Seedlings of the same age and species are used; root tips are cut into 1 cm sections and marked at 2 mm intervals.
  • Root tips are placed in test tubes of water to keep tissue alive, then divided into three groups.
  • Group A: root tips removed and placed on agar; illuminated equally on all sides. Expected: roots grow evenly because no IAA is produced, so no inhibition of elongation.
  • Group B: intact root tips on agar, covered with a light-proof container. Expected: roots grow less than Group A but evenly, because IAA inhibits elongation equally on both sides.
  • Group C: intact root tips on agar with directional light. Expected: root bends away from light because greater IAA concentration on shaded side inhibits elongation there, so illuminated side grows faster (negative phototropism).
  • Control variables include moisture, temperature, and light intensity; control treatments ensure results are due to IAA and not other factors.

Taxes & Kineses

  • Taxes and kineses are simple, innate responses that enable mobile organisms to stay in a favourable environment, responding to stimuli such as light, temperature, and humidity.
  • Kineses are non-directional responses involving random movement; the rate of movement or turning changes with stimulus intensity.
  • Example: flatworms show photokinesis; in bright light they move faster and change direction more often, increasing chance of leaving unfavourable conditions.
  • Taxes are directional responses involving movement towards or away from a stimulus.
  • Example: Euglena show positive phototaxis, swimming towards light using a flagellum to carry out photosynthesis.
  • Moths moving towards light show positive phototaxis; a mosquito moving away from an aerosol spray is negative chemotaxis.
  • Key difference: kineses are non-directional and random; taxes are directional and involve movement towards or away from a stimulus.

Reflex Arcs

  • Simple reflexes allow rapid, automatic responses to protect an organism from harm, e.g. pupil reflex prevents bright light damaging the retina; coughing reflex prevents obstructions entering airways.
  • Reflex arcs do not involve conscious parts of the brain, so reflexes are faster than other nervous responses.
  • The pathway of a reflex arc is: receptor → sensory neurone → relay neurone → motor neurone → effector.
  • Sensory neurones carry impulses from receptors to the central nervous system (CNS).
  • Relay neurones connect sensory and motor neurones and are found within the CNS.
  • Motor neurones carry impulses from the CNS to effectors.
  • Synapses ensure impulses travel unidirectionally because neurotransmitters are released from the presynaptic neurone and bind to receptors on the postsynaptic membrane only.

Required Practical: Investigating Animal Movement

  • Environmental factors influencing animal movement can be investigated using a choice chamber or maze.
  • Investigating moisture preference in woodlice: set up a choice chamber with one moist side (distilled water) and one dry side (drying agent).
  • Place a gauze platform to keep woodlice away from water and drying agent; place 10 woodlice in the centre.
  • Allow woodlice to move freely for 10 minutes, then record numbers in each section; repeat at least twice more.
  • Control variables include light intensity, temperature, and surface texture; use same individuals and clean chamber to avoid chemical traces.
  • Handle woodlice carefully with a soft paintbrush to minimise stress; return them to original location afterwards.
  • Observe movement to determine whether taxis or kinesis is shown; a variation can use light as the independent variable by covering half the chamber.

The Pacinian Corpuscle

  • Receptors are cells that detect stimuli and are specific, each type detecting a different stimulus.
  • Pacinian corpuscles are receptors found deep in the skin that respond to changes in pressure.
  • Structure: many layers of membrane (lamellae) separated by gel, surrounding the ending of a sensory neurone.
  • When stimulated by pressure, a generator potential is established: a change in potential difference across the membrane.
  • The size of the generator potential depends on the size of the stimulus; if large enough, it can initiate an action potential.

Pacinian Corpuscles: Generator Potential

  • Pressure distorts the layers of membrane, causing stretch-mediated sodium channels in the axon membrane to open.
  • Sodium ions enter the axon via facilitated diffusion.
  • The influx of positively charged sodium ions makes the inside of the axon more positive, establishing a generator potential.
  • Generator potentials only occur at the site of a stimulus, differ in size depending on stimulus size, and can lead to an action potential.
  • If the generator potential is large enough, an action potential is triggered; the membrane potential during an action potential is identical regardless of stimulus intensity once threshold is reached.

Investigating Touch and Temperature Receptors

  • Temperature receptors: use a thermometer from a 45°C water bath and one from iced water; touch different spots on the back of the hand and record temperature and whether warmth or only touch is felt.
  • Results show temperature receptors detect temperature only when it deviates significantly from body temperature; near body temperature, only touch is felt.
  • Limitations: results are subjective and only one subject is used; repeating with more subjects improves reliability.
  • Habituation of touch receptors: response to a stimulus decreases after repeated or prolonged exposure, e.g. becoming unaware of clothing.
  • Method: apply a standardised stimulus (e.g. cotton bud) to the same spot at regular intervals or steady pressure; record time when stimulus is no longer felt; after rest, sensitivity returns.
  • Resolution of touch receptors: the ability to distinguish two points of contact; areas with many receptors (fingers, soles) have high resolution, while back of hands and legs have lower resolution.
  • Method: use blunt scissors or paperclip at measured distances; randomly apply one or two points; find minimum distance at which two points are correctly identified.

The Human Retina

  • The retina contains rod cells (sensitive to light intensity only, distributed across entire retina) and cone cells (sensitive to different wavelengths, concentrated in the fovea).
  • Light causes breakdown of optical pigments in rods and cones, producing a generator potential; if large enough, a nerve impulse is sent along a bipolar neurone to the optic nerve.
  • Rod cells are very sensitive to light because multiple rods connect to a single bipolar cell, allowing spatial summation of weak generator potentials.
  • Cone cells are less sensitive to light because each cone connects to its own bipolar neurone, so a higher generator potential is needed to trigger an impulse.
  • Cone cells are sensitive to different wavelengths; stimulation of red-, blue-, and green-sensitive cones in different combinations generates colour images.
  • Visual acuity is the ability to distinguish two separate points; rods have low acuity because many rods synapse with one bipolar cell, so the brain cannot determine which rod generated which impulse.
  • Cones have high acuity because each cone synapses with a single bipolar cell, allowing separate impulses to be interpreted as separate points.

Myogenic Stimulation of the Heart

  • Heart muscle contraction is myogenic, meaning the heart beats at a baseline rate without input from the nervous system.
  • The sinoatrial node (SAN) is a group of cells in the wall of the right atrium, often called the pacemaker; it initiates a wave of depolarisation across the atria, causing them to contract.
  • The wave of depolarisation reaches non-conducting tissue between atria and ventricles, then passes to the atrioventricular node (AVN); this delay allows atria to empty into ventricles before ventricular contraction.
  • Electrical activity passes from the bundle of His to the Purkyne tissue, causing ventricles to contract from the base upwards.
  • The wave of depolarisation spreads in a coordinated manner from the SAN.

Heart Rate

  • Heart rate is controlled by the cardioregulatory centre in the medulla of the brain, connected to the SAN by nerves of the autonomic nervous system.
  • The autonomic nervous system controls unconscious activities and has two branches: sympathetic ('fight or flight') and parasympathetic ('rest and digest').
  • Chemoreceptors detect carbon dioxide concentration (and blood pH); pressure receptors detect blood pressure.
  • Low blood CO₂ or high blood pressure: impulses to medulla → parasympathetic neurones → acetylcholine released at SAN → SAN decreases frequency of heartbeat initiation → heart rate decreases.
  • High blood CO₂ or low blood pressure: impulses to medulla → sympathetic neurones → noradrenaline released at SAN → SAN increases frequency of heartbeat initiation → heart rate increases.
  • Cardiac output = heart rate × stroke volume; can be rearranged to find heart rate or stroke volume.
  • Investigating caffeine effect on heart rate: control group drinks water, experimental group drinks caffeine; measure resting heart rate, then after consumption at 15-minute intervals for 2 hours; control variables and large sample size improve reliability.

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Câu hỏi luyện tập

Xem trước miễn phí — 8 trên 61 câu hỏi. Đăng ký để xem tất cả.
  1. 1.What is the correct term for a growth response to a directional stimulus in plants?

    Easy
    • ATropism
    • BTaxis
    • CKinesis
    • DReflex
  2. 2.Which of the following is the plant growth factor that controls cell elongation?

    Easy
    • AIndoleacetic acid (IAA)
    • BGibberellin
    • CEthene
    • DAbscisic acid
  3. 3.Kineses are non-directional responses that involve random movement.

    Easy

    True or false?

  4. 4.In which part of a plant is indoleacetic acid (IAA) synthesised?

    Easy
    • AGrowing tips of roots and shoots
    • BMature leaves
    • CRoot hair cells
    • DXylem vessels
  5. 5.What is the effect of IAA on cell elongation in shoots and roots?

    Easy
    • AIt promotes elongation in shoots and inhibits elongation in roots
    • BIt inhibits elongation in shoots and promotes elongation in roots
    • CIt promotes elongation in both shoots and roots
    • DIt inhibits elongation in both shoots and roots
  6. 6.Which of the following correctly describes a taxis?

    Medium
    • AA directional response towards or away from a stimulus
    • BA non-directional response involving random movement
    • CA growth response to a directional stimulus
    • DA rapid automatic response that protects from harm
  7. 7.Which of the following is an example of a negative taxis?

    Medium
    • AA mosquito moving away from an aerosol spray
    • BA moth moving towards a light source
    • CA flatworm moving faster in bright light
    • DA plant shoot growing towards light
  8. 8.In a reflex arc, which neurone carries impulses from the receptor to the central nervous system?

    Medium
    • ASensory neurone
    • BRelay neurone
    • CMotor neurone
    • DEffector neurone

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