Organism Profile Summary and Outline

Assignment Instructions:  To help prepare you for the Organism Profile which is due Week 5, you will submit a 4-6 sentence summary of what you will be covering in your paper and an outline of your organism profile.  The summary should be written first, letting your professor know what you plan to cover in your Organism Profile. This is NOT a formal paper but your thoughts should be clear and your writing free of spelling/grammar errors.  Once you have a summary of what you want to discuss, you should start organizing the general and specific information you want to include in your paper by creating an alphanumeric outline. You can review instructions on how to develop such an outline as well as see a sample alphanumeric outline athttp://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/544/03/.

Your Organism Profile Summary and Outline should include, but not be limited to, the following topics:

1.  Introduction/background information about the species – Include common and scientific names of the organism, the area you and this species live (country, state, city, etc.), the area’s biome classification, etc.

2.  Life cycle of the species– Describe the life cycle of the organism you have chosen. The life cycle of an organism refers to the series of changes in both development and growth from its beginnings as an independent life form up until maturity, when it is able to reproduce.  Organisms like bacteria have relatively simple life cycles; however other organisms (e.g., plants) have very complex stages to their life cycle. 

3.  Structure and Function– Describe the structure and function of at least one major organ system of the species (e.g., digestive system, reproductive system). Choose one system and explain how this organism’s system is structured anatomically and physiologically. Identify any species-specific characteristics or adaptations that are particularly unique to this organism and explain why.