LIFE PROCESSES

Life processes are the basic processes in living organisms which are necessary for maintaining their
life. The basic life processes are – nutrition, respiration, transportation, and excretion.
i) Nutrition: – is the process of taking food by an organism and its
utilization by the body for life processes.
ii) Respiration: – is the process by which food is burnt in the cells of the body with the help of oxygen
to release energy.
iii) Transportation: – is the process by which food, oxygen, water,
waste products are carried from one part of the body to the other,
iv) Excretion: - is the process by which waste products are removed from the body.

 Living organisms -
 show growth
 have life processes
 show response to stimuli
 reproduce
 die
NUTRITION
Nutrition is the process of taking food by an organism and its utilisation by the body to
build the body, for growth, to repair the damaged parts of the body and for energy.
Life on earth depends on carbon-based molecules and most of the food are also carbon-based
molecules. The outside raw materials used by living organisms are food, water and air.
i) Autotrophic nutrition: - is nutrition in which organisms prepare their own food from simple
inorganic substances like carbon dioxide and water in the presence of sunlight and chlorophyll.
E.g.: - all green plants and some bacteria.
ii) Heterotrophic nutrition: - is nutrition in which organisms get them
food directly or indirectly from plants.
E.g.: - all animals fungi and some bacteria.
There are three main types of heterotrophic nutrition. These are saprophytic, parasitic and
holozoic nutrition
I) Holozoic nutrition: - is nutrition in which organisms take food directly and then digests and
absorbs it. E.g.: - amoeba, paramaecium, birds, fishes, humans etc.
ii) Parasitic nutrition: - is nutrition in which organisms get their food from living organisms
(host) without killing them. E.g.: - Cuscuta, orchids, ticks, lice, leeches, round worm, tape
worm, plasmodium etc.
III) Saprophytic nutrition: - is nutrition in which organisms get their food from dead and
decaying organisms. They break down the food material outside their body and then absorbs
it. E.g.: - mushroom, bread mould, yeast, some bacteria etc.
 Photosynthesis: -

Equation of photosynthesis
 Photosynthesis- is the process by which plants prepare food by using carbon dioxide and water
in the presence of sunlight and chlorophyll. The food prepared is carbohydrate which is stored
in the form of starch. Oxygen is released in this process.
PROCESS-
Photosynthesis takes place in three main steps. They are: -
i) Absorption of light energy by chlorophyll.
ii) Conversion of light energy into chemical energy and splitting up of water molecules
into hydrogen and oxygen.
iii) Reduction of carbon dioxide by hydrogen to form
carbohydrates.
UTOTROPHIC NUTRITION
CHLOROPHYLL the green pigments present in the leaves. If we observe a cross section of a
leaf under a microscope, we can see cells containing green dot like structures called
chloroplasts which contain chlorophyll.

STOMATA
These are tiny pores present in the leaves through
which exchange of gases takes place. Each stoma has
a pair of guard cells which controls the opening and
closing of the stomatal pore. When water enters the
guard cells, it swells and the pore opens and when
the guard cells lose water, it shrinks and the pore
closes.

Activity to show that chlorophyll is necessary for photosynthesis: -

 Keep it in a dark room for three days so that all the starch
is used up. T keep it in sunlight for 6 hours.
 Then take a leaf from the plant and mark the green areas
of the leaf on a sheet of paper.
 Then dip the leaf in boiling water to make it soft.
 Then dip the leaf in alcohol and heat it in a water bath to
decolourise it and remove the chlorophyll.
 Then wash the leaf in water and dip it in dilute iodine solution.

OBSERVATION
It will be seen that only the green parts of the leaf turn blue black.

CONCLUSION
This shows that chlorophyll is necessary for photosynthesis.

Activity to show that carbon dioxide is necessary for photosynthesis: - Take two potted plants
of the same size and keep them in a dark room for three days so that all the starch is used up.
 Then keep the plants on separate glass plates.
 Keep a watch glass containing some potassium hydroxide near one plant to absorb carbon
dioxide.
  Cover both the plants with bell jars and seal the bottom of the jars with Vaseline to make
it airtight.
 Keep the plants in sunlight for three
 hours.
 Then take a leaf from each plant and test for starch.

OBSERVATION
The leaf of the plant kept in the jar containing potassium hydroxide does not show the presence
of starch.

CONCLUSION

This shows that carbon dioxide is necessary for photosynthesis.

HETEROTROPHIC NUTRITION
Nutrition in animals: -
a) Nutrition in amoeba: - {intracellular digestion}
Amoeba is a unicellular animal living in water. It
takes in food by forming finger like projections called
pseudopodia and forms a food vacuole. Inside the
food vacuole the food is digested and absorbed. The
undigested food is then sent out through the surface of
the cell.

Nutrition in Human beings {extracellular digestion}: -

Nutrition in human beings takes place in the digestive system. It consists of the
alimentary canal and glands which produce enzymes which breaks down food into
smaller molecules.
The main organs of the digestive system are
 mouth,
 oesophagus,
 stomach,
 small intestine,
 large intestine, and
 anus
The main glands are salivary glands, gastric glands, liver, pancreas and intestinal glands.
Digestive system In Human

In the mouth
 the food is broken down into smaller particles by
the teeth and mixed with saliva from the salivary
glands.
 Saliva contains the enzyme salivary amylase which
converts starch into sugar.
 Then the food passes through the oesophagus into
the stomach.
In the stomach:
 the gastric glands produce gastric juice which
contains
 the enzyme pepsin, hydrochloric acid and mucous.
 Pepsin breaks down proteins.
 Hydrochloric acid makes the medium acidic and helps in the action of pepsin.
 Mucous protects the walls of the stomach from the action of the acid.
 Then the food passes into the small intestine.
In small intestine:
 The food is mixed with bile
from liver and pancreatic juice
from the pancreas.
 Bile juices do not contain any
enzyme but very important for
digestion Bile breaks down fats
into smaller globules. This
process is called
emulsification.
 Pancreatic juice contains the
enzymes trypsin and lipase.
 Trypsin breaks down proteins
and
 lipase breaks down fats.
 In the small intestine: - the glands in the walls of the small intestine
produces intestinal juice. The enzymes of the intestinal juice coverts carbohydrates
into glucose, fats into fatty acids and glycerol and proteins into amino acids.

Absorption in the small intestine:

The walls of the small intestine have several finger-like projections called villi
having blood vessels. It helps to increase the surface area for the absorption of digested
food. The digested food is absorbed by the blood and transported to all cells in the body.

In large intestine:
water is absorbed and the waste material is removed through the anus.
 RESPIRATION
Respiration is the process by which food is burnt in the cells of the body with the help of
oxygen to release energy. It takes place in the mitochondria of the cells.
The energy released during respiration is used to make ATP molecules (Adenosine tri
phosphate) from ADP molecules (Adenosine di phosphate) and inorganic phosphate.
Energy is stored in the cells in the form of ATP molecules. When the cells need energy, ATP
is broken down in the presence of water to form ADP and energy is released.

Activity to show CO2 is released during respiration:

Take two test tubes. Half-fill them with freshly prepared lime water. Blow air into one test
tube by means of a tube. Note the time taken by lime water to turn milky. Now, blow fresh air
into the second test tube by means of a syringe. Repeatedly do it till lime water turns milky.
Note the time taken. Compare the two time periods.

Lime water turns milky only when it reacts with carbon dioxide. Air blown out of the mouth
is the one which has come out from the lungs. As it turns lime water milky very soon,
respiration releases carbon dioxide. ‘Atmospheric air contains comparatively very low
concentrations of carbon dioxide as it takes a long time to change lime water milky.

Steps of respiration:
 Breaking down of glucose into
pyruvate: This step happens in
the cytoplasm. Glucose
molecule is broken down into
pyruvic acid. Glucose molecule
is composed of 6 carbon atoms,
while pyruvic acid is composed
of 3 carbon atoms.
 Fate of Pyruvic Acid: Further breaking down of pyruvic acid takes place in
mitochondria and the molecules formed depend on the type of respiration in a
particular organism. Respiration is of two types, viz. aerobic respiration and
anaerobic respiration.
 Respiration involves
o Gaseous exchange: Intake of oxygen from the atmosphere and release of
CO2 → Breathing.
o Breakdown of simple food to release energy inside the cell → Cellular
respiration
TYPES OF RESPIRATION: -
THERE ARE TWO MAIN TYPES OF RESPIRATION. THEY ARE AEROBIC AND
ANAEROBIC RESPIRATION.
 Aerobic respiration: This type of respiration happens in the presence of oxygen.
Pyruvic acid is converted into carbon dioxide. Energy is released and water molecule is
also formed at the end of this process.

 Anaerobic respiration: This type of respiration happens in the absence of oxygen.

Pyruvic acid is either converted into ethyl alcohol or lactic acid. Ethyl alcohol is
usually formed in case of anaerobic respiration in microbes, like yeast or bacteria.
Lactic acid is formed in some microbes as well as in the muscle cells.

 Glucose (6 carbon molecule) → Pyruvate (3 carbon molecules) + Energy

 Pyruvate (In yeast, lack of O2) → Ethyl alcohol + Carbon dioxide + Energy
 Pyruvate (In muscles, lack of O2) → Lactic Acid + Energy
 Pyruvate (In mitochondria; the presence of O2) → Carbon dioxide + Water +
Energy

Pain/cramps in leg muscles while running: When someone runs too fast, he may experience
throbbing pain in the leg muscles. This happens because of anaerobic respiration taking place
in the muscles.

 During running, the energy demand from the muscle cells increases. This is
compensated by anaerobic respiration and lactic acid is formed in the process.
 The deposition of lactic acid causes pain in the leg muscles. The pain subsides after
taking rest for some time.

Exchange of gases:

 For aerobic respiration, organisms need a continuous supply of oxygen, and carbon
dioxide produced during the process needs to be removed from the body.
 Different organisms use different methods for the intake of oxygen and expulsion of
carbon dioxide.
 Diffusion is the method which is utilized by unicellular and some simple organisms for
this purpose.
 In plants also, diffusion is utilized for exchange of gases.
 In complex animals, respiratory system does the job of exchange of gases.
 Gills are the respiratory organs for fishes. Fishes take in oxygen which is dissolved in
water through gills.
  Since, availability of oxygen is less in the aquatic environment, so the breathing rate of
aquatic organisms is faster.
 Insects have a system of spiracles and tracheas which is used for taking in oxygen.
 Terrestrial organisms have developed lungs for exchange of gases.
 Availability of oxygen is not a problem in the terrestrial environment so breathing rate
is slower as compared to what it is in fishes.

Terrestrial organisms: Use atmospheric oxygen for respiration.

Aquatic organisms: Use dissolve oxygen for respiration.

Human respiratory system

The human respiratory system is composed of a pair of

lungs. These are attached to a system of tubes which open
on the outside through the nostrils.
Following are the main structures in the human
respiratory system:

1. Nostrils: There are two nostrils which converge to

form a nasal passage. The inner lining of the
nostrils is lined by hair and remains wet due to
mucus secretion. The mucus and the hair help in
filtering the dust particles out from inhaled air.
Further, air is warmed up when it enters the nasal passage.
2. Pharynx: It is a tube-like structure which continues after the nasal passage.
3. Larynx: This part comes after the pharynx. This is also called voice box.
4. Trachea: This is composed of rings of cartilage. Cartilaginous rings prevent the
collapse of trachea in the absence of air.
5. Bronchi: A pair of bronchi comes out from the trachea, with one bronchus going to
each lung.
6. Bronchioles: A bronchus divides into branches and sub-branches inside the lung.
7. Alveoli: These are air sacs at the end of bronchioles. The alveolus is composed of a
very thin membrane and is the place where blood capillaries open. This is alveolus,
where the oxygen mixes with the blood and carbon dioxide exits from the blood. The
exchange of gases, in alveoli, takes place due to the pressure differential.

Breathing Mechanism

 The breathing mechanism of lungs is

controlled by the diaphragm and the
intercostal muscles.
 The diaphragm is a membrane which
separates the thoracic chamber from the
abdominal cavity.
 When the diaphragm moves down, and rib cage moves outward and upwards the lungs
expand, and the air is inhaled.
 When the diaphragm moves up and the rib cage moves downwards and inwards the
lungs contract and air are exhaled.