Chapter 1, Problem 8A

Summary Introduction

To write:

About comparison and differences between response and adaptation using daily activities of humans or organisms around humans.

Introduction:

The response is defined as a mechanism in which different reactions occur in the body of an organism whenever it receives any kind of trigger or stimuli from the external or internal environment.

Adaptation is the process in which some traits or features are permanently acquired by an organism and are passed down from one to the next generation.

Explanation of Solution

Response and adaptations are the two different phenomena that help an organism to survive or adjust to the environment it lives in. In humans, different examples that compare these two phenomena are as follows:

Goosebumps: It is the state when there occur bumps on the skin or straightening of body surface hairs in conditions of fear or sexual arousal. Goosebumps occur involuntarily in uneasy or pleasurable conditions. During earlier times, humans used to have long body surface hairs, and the straightening of these hairs in fearful conditions would scare away the enemy. Nowadays, humans have very small or no body hair as now humans live in a well-organized society and have other means to get rid of the enemy. Shortening of hair is an adaptation in humans as long hairs are not required. 

Melanin production: Melanin is a pigment that is produced in the body of humans to protect the skin from sun damage. Early ancestors of humans used to have large amounts of melanin in response to the climate they live in. With time, humans have adapted to different environmental conditions or climate they live in, and thus the amount of melanin also varies among humans. 

Conclusion

A response is something that an organism performs instantly to any stimuli and examples of this include Goosebumps and melanin secretion. Adaptation is something that an organism has acquired and is not an instantaneous effect. It occurs slowly over a span of years.