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Unit 2 Classification
Characteristics of Living Organisms
Movement: an action by an organism or part of an organism causing a change of
position or place
Respiration: the chemical reactions that break down nutrient molecules in living
cells to release energy for metabolism
Sensitivity: the ability to detect or sense stimuli in the internal or external
environment and to make appropriate responses
Growth: a permanent increase in size and dry mass by an increase in cell number
or cell size or both
Reproduction: the processes that make more of the same kind of organism
Excretion: the removal from organisms of toxic materials, the waste products of
metabolism (chemical reactions in cells including respiration) and substances in
excess of requirements
Nutrition: the taking in of materials for energy, growth and development; plants
require light, carbon dioxide, water and ions; animals need organic compounds,
ions and usually need water
Concept & Uses of Classification Systems
How Organisms are classified?
There are millions of species of organisms on Earth. A species is defined as a
group of organisms that can reproduce to produce fertile offspring
These species can be classified into groups by the features that they share e.g.
all mammals have bodies covered in hair, feed young from mammary glands and
have external ears (pinnas). The sequence of classification is:
Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species
The Binomial System
Organisms are named according to the binomial system where the scientific
name of an organism is made up of two parts starting with the genus (always
given a capital letter) and followed by the species (starting with a lower case
letter)
When typed binomial names are always in italics (which indicates they are Latin)
e.g. Homo sapiens
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Advantages of binomial naming system
i. It is universal
ii. It provides information about closely linked organisms and hence their traits
(characteristics)
iii. It allows for precise naming
Dichotomous Keys
Keys are used to identify organisms based on a series of questions about their
features. Dichotomous means ‘branching into two’ and it leads the user through
to the name of the organism by giving two descriptions at a time and asking
them to choose. Each choice leads the user onto another two descriptions
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The Five Kingdoms
The first division of living things in the classification system is to put them into
one of five kingdoms. They are:
o Prokaryote
o Protoctist
o Fungi
o Plants
o Animals
The Kingdom Prokaryote
Main features of all Prokaryotes (bacteria, blue-green algae)
o often unicellular
o cells have cell walls (not made of cellulose) and cytoplasm but no
nucleus or mitochondria
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The Kingdom Protoctists
Main features of all Protoctists (e.g. Amoeba, Paramecium, Plasmodium)
o most are unicellular but some are multicellular
o all have a nucleus, some may have cell walls and chloroplasts
o meaning some protoctists photosynthesise and some feed on organic
substances made by other living things
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The Kingdom Fungi
Main features of all fungi (e.g. moulds, mushrooms, yeast)
o usually multicellular
o cells have nuclei and cell walls not made from cellulose
o do not photosynthesize but feed by saprophytic (on dead or decaying
material) or parasitic (on live material) nutrition
The Animal Kingdom
Several main features are used to place organisms into groups within the animal
kingdom
Main features of all animals:
o they are multicellular
o their cells contain a nucleus but no cell walls or chloroplasts
o they feed on organic substances made by other living things
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Vertebrates
All vertebrates have a backbone. There are 5 classes of vertebrates
Class Main features Examples
Mammals Fur/Hair on skin Horse, Dog,
Have placenta Squirrel, Human
Young feed on milk from mammary
glands
External ears visible (pinna)
Warm- blooded
Birds Skin covered in feathers Parrot, Eagle
Have 2 legs and 2 limbs instead of
forelimbs
Lay eggs with hard shell on land
Warm- blooded
Reptiles Dry/ fixed scales on skin Snake, turtle
Lay eggs with rubbery shells on land
Cold-blooded
Amphibians Smooth, moist skin Frog, toad, newt
Adults usually live on land (so have lungs)
Larvae lives in water (so have gills)
Lay eggs without shells in water
Cold-blooded
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Fish Loose wet scales in skin Flounder, Guppies
Gills to breathe
Lay eggs without shells in water
Cold-blooded
Invertebrates
Invertebrates do not possess a backbone
One of the morphological characteristics used to classify invertebrates is whether
they have legs or not
All invertebrates with jointed legs are part of the phylum Arthropods
They are classified further into the following classes:
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The Plant Kingdom
Main features of all plants:
o they are multicellular
o their cells contain a nucleus, chloroplasts and cellulose cell walls
o they all feed by photosynthesis
o At least some parts of any plant are green, caused by the presence of the
pigment chlorophyll which absorbs energy from sunlight for the process
of photosynthesis
o The plant kingdom includes organisms such as ferns and flowering plants
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Ferns
Have leaves called fronds
Do not produce flowers but instead reproduce by spores produced on the
underside of fronds
Ferns reproduce by spores found in the underside of their fronds
Flowering plants
Reproduce sexually by means of flowers and seeds
Seeds are produced inside the ovary found at the base of the flower
Can be divided into two groups – monocotyledons and dicotyledons
Wheat plants are monocotyledons Sunflowers are dicotyledons
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How do you distinguish between monocotyledons and dicotyledons?
1) Flowers
Flowers from monocotyledons contain petals in multiples of 3
Flowers from dicotyledons contain petals in multiples of 4 or 5
2) Leaves
Leaves from monocotyledons have parallel leaf veins
Leaves from dicotyledons have reticulated leaf veins (meaning that they are all
interconnected and form a web-like network throughout the leaf)
Comparing monocots and dicots
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Viruses:
Viruses are not part of any classification system as they are not considered living
things
They do not carry out the seven life processes for themselves, instead they take
over a host cell’s metabolic pathways in order to make multiple copies of
themselves
Virus structure is simply genetic material (RNA or DNA) inside a protein coat
Definitions
Species: A group of organisms that can breed to produce fertile offspring
Nutrition: the intake of substances required for growth and to provide energy
Excretion: The removal of waste products from metabolic processes or substances
in excess
Reproduction: the creation of offspring of the same species as the parent(s)
Growth: A permanent increase in the size of an organism by either the increase in
the number of cells or the size of the cells
Sensitivity: the detection of a stimulus and the ability to respond to that stimulus
Respiration: the biochemical reaction in cells that break down molecules to
release energy
Movement: when an organism changes its position or place