Written Assignment Unit 7

University of the People

UNIV 1122 BIO 2

Dr. Rita Mourya

25/12/2022
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Whether simple or complex animals, they are build-up from basic units (blocks) of life

called cells. Cells with common functions come together and form tissues from where functional

organs are developed. As these organs collaborate in the execution of functions (respiration,

circulation, digestion, etc.) onto which the survival of organisms depends, they develop what is

known as an organ or body system. Therefore, body systems depend on a combined effort of

different organs within the body to perform particular health-promoting importance for the

survival of organisms (Brouhard, 2022).

Unlike complex organisms such as birds, dogs, etc. which make use of a well-developed

network of organs to respire and transport nutrients across the body, simple organisms depend on

diffusion to execute these functions. In all organisms (unicellular or multicellular), the efficiency

of diffusion can be dictated by the size of the animal. I.e. the larger size the more ineffective the

diffusion becomes and vice versa. This is so because the bigger a cell gets, it becomes hard for it

to evenly supply enough nutrients all over hence the inability to control functions like excretion

of water and circulation. However, if the surface to volume ratio is small, diffusion is more

effective (Rye, et al., 2016).

Considering a simple organism such as an amoeba, via its cell surface it conducts the

flow of air in (oxygen) and out (carbon dioxide) from its environment through its plasma

membrane enhanced by diffusion. It should be noted, however, that because they don’t possess a

set of organs for breathing, oxygen is diffused into the cell for metabolic purposes which results

in the production of energy and carbon dioxide, where the latter is released by diffusion out to

the environment as a waste product (Reich, 1948).

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Complex animals such as birds are able to respire by making use of the lungs to carry out

cellular respiration through which cells are equipped with a factor that aids in the metabolic

process of an organism to generate energy. Through the lungs, oxygen joins the blood streams to

the different parts (tissues, cells, etc.) where it is exchanged with carbon dioxide (waste) for

exhaling and the different organs all together that execute this responsibility make up the

respiratory system. It is worth a mention that although some complex animals have lungs, insects

use spiracles, while aquatic animals use gills (fish) and the skin (amphibians) to carry out cellular

respiration (Goyal, 2016).

In both complex and simple animals, the sole purpose of respiration is to absorb oxygen

to aid in the catabolic process to generate energy used to sustain the functions of the different

organs of the body. However, the size of an organism reflects the number of cells it possesses i.e.

complex organisms constitute more cells and here require more amounts of oxygen compared to

simple organisms with limited cells. Complex animals acquire oxygen directly from the air using

lungs, gills, etc. while simple animal use diffusion to absorb oxygen from the environment via

their skin or membranes. Among complex animals, the respiratory system is well developed and

it involves are set of organ coordination to execute a breathing function while simple animals

make use of a single organ (skin) to facilitate the in and outflow of oxygen and carbon dioxide

respectively (Goyal, 2016).

Because the increase in the size of an organism results in changes in shape (more

complex), the cells become more and big thereby differentiating to particularly execute specific

functions. As a result, more tissues, organs, and systems develop supplementing the survival of

organisms hence a need for more energy to facilitate the organism’s metabolic processes. More
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energy required reflects a fractional increase in the amount of oxygen required for the survival of

the organism (Rye, et al., 2016).

By the look of things, more complex animals use more oxygen due to the need for more

energy to aid in their metabolic process compared to simple animals. Therefore, because the

oxygen consumption per unit mass reduces as the body mass increases, am of the opinion that

the increase in the size provides an adaptive advantage to respiration since some animals

especially the aquatic ones (mammals) need more oxygen for a longer stay in water hence a need

for more room (body mass) to accommodate oxygen.

Word Count: 709

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References

Brouhard, R. (2022, November 20). Understanding the 11 Body Organ Systems. Very well

Health. https://www.verywellhealth.com/organ-system-1298691

Reich, K. (1948). Studies on the Respiration of an Amoeba, Mayorella Palestinensis.

Physiological Zoology, 21(4), 390–412. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30152018

Rye, C., Wise, R., Jurukivski, V., DeSaix, J., Choi, J., & Avissar, Y. (2016). 

Biology. OpenStax. https://openstax.org/books/biology/pages/1-introduction 

Goyal, S. (2016, February 24). Respiration in Animals. Jagran Josh. Com.

https://www.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/respiration-in-animals-1456291042-1