Sense Receptors: Thermo, Chemo & Electroreceptors

Sense Receptors

• Sense receptors detect changes in an organism's environment.
• They send information to the brain so the body can take in information and respond appropriately.

Thermoreceptors

• Thermoreceptors gather information about the temperature of the environment and inform the brain.
• These receptors are located on the skin.

Chemoreceptors

• Chemoreceptors sense different chemicals in food and send the information to the brain.
• They help identify what is being eaten and provide a memory of the flavor.
• Butterflies have chemoreceptors in their feet.
• Catfish have chemoreceptors over their entire bodies, allowing them to taste everything around them, including chemicals in the water.

Electroreceptors

• Electroreceptors, found in many aquatic animals like sharks, sense weak electric fields given off by other creatures.
• Electricity conducts better through water, making electroreceptors useful for aquatic creatures.
• Bees and cockroaches also possess electroreceptors.

Nociceptors

• Nociceptors are the sense receptors that transmit pain signals and are located in the skin.

Animal Migration

• Animal migration involves traveling great distances each year.
• Migration can be caused by seasonal changes (temperature, sunlight), food supply changes, and for mating/reproduction.
• Examples include geese flying south, red crabs migrating on Christmas Island, salmon migrating to freshwater rivers, and wildebeest herds traveling for food in Africa.
• The arctic tern migrates from the Arctic to Antarctica and back every year, a round-trip of over 40,000 miles.

Animal External Structures

• External structures are on the outside of the body.
• Examples of external structures:
  • Penguin flippers.
  • Frog's large back legs.
  • Bird beaks.
  • Duck webbed feet.

Animal Internal Structures

• Internal structures are on the inside of the body.
• Examples of internal structures:
  • Lungs.
  • Heart.
  • Stomach.

Definition of Predator

• A predator is an animal that hunts and eats other animals.

Plant Structures

• Leaves: capture sunlight and make food for the plant.
• Flowers and fruit: flowers are where the plant creates new seeds that can grow into new plants, some turn flowers into fruit.
• Fruit: holds seeds that can protect them until they have a chance to grow.
• Roots: absorb water and nutrients, and help the plant stay in place.
• Stem: holds the plant up and contains tiny tubes that carry water and nutrients.

Light Reflection

• Reflect means to bounce off.
• The order in which we process light waves is: Light > Object > Eyes.
• Light is reflected from an object's surface and enters the eyes.
• The human eye takes light waves and sends wave messages to the brain to be processed as sight.

Explore sense receptors: thermoreceptors, which detect temperature; chemoreceptors, which sense chemicals; and electroreceptors, which perceive electric fields. Learn how these receptors help organisms gather information and respond to their environments.