(Biology)

CLASS X
CH-5
LIFE
PROCESSES
 Life Processes
Points to remember:
1. The activities by which living organisms take in food, derive energy, remove waste from
their body and respond to changes in the environment are called life processes. Basic life
processes are nutrition, respiration, transportation of nutrients and fluids in the body and
excretion.

2. Nutrition - Nutrition is defined as a process by which living beings obtain food, change
food into simple absorbable forms and use it to make substances needed by the body.

3. Mode of nutrition
a) Autotrophic – Kind of nutrition in which organisms make their own food using CO2
and H2O.
b) Heterotrophic – Kind of nutrition in which organisms obtain their food directly or
indirectly from autotrophs.

4. Nutrition in plants
Process – Photosynthesis (Chlorophyll is the green pigment found in green plants)
Equation of photosynthesis – 6CO2 + 6H2O C6H12O6 + 6O2

5. Stomata- these are the tiny pores on the lower surface of the leaves.
Functions of stomata
a. Exchange of gases
b. Helps in transpiration

6. Nutrition in animals
Types of Heterotrophic Nutrition
 Saprotrophic Nutrition: Organisms obtain their food from dead,
decaying plants and animals. Example: Mushrooms
 Parasitic Nutrition: Organisms obtain their food from the bodies
of other living organisms. Parasites usually harm the host while
obtaining their food. Example: Leech
 Holozoic Nutrition: It is a mode of nutrition in which organisms feed on solid
food. The food is complex organic material which when ingested is broken
down into simple inorganic substances by the process of digestion. Example:
Humans

A. Steps employed by heterotrophs

1. Ingestion – intake of food
 2. Digestion – breakdown of complex food into simpler form
3. Absorption – absorption of simpler food particles by blood capillaries
4. Assimilation- utilization of simpler food to get energy
5. Egestion- removal of waste product

B. Nutrition in Amoeba
Process – Phagocytosis or endocytosis

C. Nutrition in Paramecium
The food is taken in at a specific spot, i.e. the oral groove. The food is brought close to the
oral groove by the cilia present on the body surface of paramecium.

D. Nutrition in humans – Humans have a well-developed digestive system. Each organ of

this system is responsible for the entire process of digestion by releasing various
digestive enzymes.
 E. Respiration – Respiration provides oxygen to the cells of our body for oxidation of food
in order to generate energy for various activities.

F. Respiration in human beings

a. Mechanism of respiration
Breathing involves the following processes:
I Process - Inhalation
i. During the inhalation, the thoracic cavity (chest region)
expands.
ii. Ribs lift up.
iii. Diaphragm becomes flat in shape.
iv. Volume of lungs increases and the air enters the lungs.
II Process Exhalation
i. During the exhalation, the thoracic cavity (chest region) contracts.
ii. Ribs move downwards.
iii. Diaphragm becomes dome shaped.
iv. Volume of lungs decreases and the air exits from the lungs.
Respiration in Plants

● All parts of a plant perform respiration.

● Plants exchange gases by diffusion through the stomata.
● Oxygen from the air diffuses into a leaf and reaches all the cells for respiration.
● Carbon dioxide produced during respiration is released into the air through the stomata.
● In plants, respiration occurs during the day as well as during the night.
● During the day, oxygen produced during photosynthesis is used for respiration and
the extra amount of oxygen is given out through the stomata.
● The roots of plants take up oxygen from the air present between the roots and
soil particles.
● In stems, the exchange of gases occurs through either the stomata or lenticels.
Respiration in Animals
Different animals have evolved different respiratory organs:
G. Transportation - The distribution of food and oxygen to all parts of the body as well as
removal of body wastes is performed by a transport system within the body of all living
organisms.

H. Transportation in human beings

a. Components of circulatory system
(i) Blood – Fluid connective tissue that consists of plasma, blood cells (RBCs,
WBCs, platelets)
(ii) Blood vessels- Muscular tubes carrying blood that comprises of arteries,
veins and capillaries
Artery Vein Capillaries
An artery is a blood vessel A vein is a vessel which A capillary is a very narrow
which carries blood away carries the blood away from blood vessel which is located
from the heart towards any an organ towards the heart. within the tissue.
organ.
It has elastic and thick It has thin muscular walls. It has an extremely thin wall.
muscular walls.
Narrow cavity through Broad cavity through which -
which the blood flows. the blood flows.
- The veins have valves which The arteries branch to form
prevent the backflow of arterioles, and arterioles break
blood. up into capillaries.
The largest artery is the - The capillaries gradually
aorta. reunite to form venules.
Venules further combine to
form veins.
- - Capillaries allow the exchange
of materials such as nutrients,
metabolic wastes and
respiratory gases between the
blood and cells.

(iii) Heart – has 4 chambers that are 2 auricles and 2 ventricles. Auricles are
thin-walled and ventricles have thick walls. Septum is the partition between
left side and right side of the heart. Valves act as barriers or gates which
allow unidirectional flow of blood or prevent backflow of blood and
prevent the mixing of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood.
 b. Mechanism of blood circulation

Blood enters the heart twice before reaching the body tissue, hence, the process is
called double circulation.

c. Blood pressure- The force exerted on the blood vessels by the blood is called blood
pressure. Normal BP = 120 /80 mm of Hg (120- systole / 80 – diastole)
Instrument used to measure BP is called sphygmomanometer.

d. Lymph/ tissue fluid- It is a yellowish extra cellular fluid or tissue fluid. It is a

colourless or light yellowish in colour and resembles the plasma of the blood.
Functions of lymph
A. Carries digested or absorbed fat from intestine
B. Drains the excess amount of fluid from the extra-cellular space into the
platelets

I. Transportation in plants

A. Mechanism of Transport of Water and Minerals

o Water enters the root hair through osmosis, and mineral ions enter the root cells by
 active transport.
o Both water and minerals move upward from cell to cell through the cortex
of the root by osmosis.
o From the cortex, water and minerals are brought to the xylem.
o The sap which contains water and dissolved minerals move upwards from
the root cells to xylem. The upward movement of sap is called the ascent of
sap.
o The xylem vessels of the roots are in continuation with the xylem vessels of the
stem.
o Transpiration is the loss of water in the form of water vapour from the aerial
parts of a plant.
o It occurs through openings called stomata.
o Water loss through evaporation lowers the concentration of water inside the
mesophyll cells.
o Due to this, water enters mesophyll cells from neighbouring xylem vessels
through osmosis.
o As water evaporates from the leaves, a suction force is created. This force
helps to draw more water up through the stem which causes the roots to absorb
more water from the soil.
o Higher the rate of transpiration, greater the rate of absorption of water and
solutes from the soil.
o Transpiration also helps in maintaining the temperature of the plant body.

B. Translocation of food through Phloem

o It conducts manufactured food from the leaves to different parts of the plant.
o The food in the phloem can move in the upward and downward directions.
o Phloem mainly consists of sieve tube cells and companion cells.
o Sieve tubes are living cells of the phloem. They contain cytoplasm but no nucleus.
o The end walls of the cells form sieve plates.
o Sieve plates have small pores in them which allow food to pass through the
phloem.
o Each sieve tube cell has a companion cell next to it.
o Food synthesised during photosynthesis is loaded into sieve tubes by utilising ATP.
o The presence of food inside the phloem develops the concentration
gradient for water. Thus, water enters the phloem by osmosis.
o Osmosis develops high pressure inside the phloem which transports the food
from the phloem to plant parts where the concentration of food is less.
o This process is called translocation.
o In spring, the sugar stored in the root or stem tissues is transported to the buds.
Xylem and phloem constitute the conducting tissues and are known as vascular
tissues.

J. Excretion – Biological process involved in the removal of harmful metabolic wastes

from body.
Excretory system of human beings
The excretory system consists of a pair of kidneys – functional unit of
kidney is nephron, a pair of ureters, urinary bladder, urethra
Formation of Urine
The process of urine formation occurs in two major steps.
Ultrafiltration
• The efferent arteriole is narrower than the afferent arteriole which develops a hydrostatic
pressure on the blood.
• Thus, the blood flows through the glomerulus with a great pressure.
• Due to the pressure, the liquid part of the blood filters out from the glomerulus and
passes into the Bowman’s capsule.
• The glomerular filtrate consists of water, urea, salts, glucose and other plasma solutes.
• Blood corpuscles, proteins and other large molecules remain behind in the glomerulus.
• Therefore, the blood carried away by the efferent arteriole is relatively thick.
Reabsorption
• The glomerular filtrate entering the renal tubule contains many useful substances.
• Hence, as the filtrate passes down the tubule, water and other substances required by the
body are
reabsorbed.
• Potassium ions and certain substances such as penicillin are passed into the forming urine
through the
distal convoluted tubule (DCT).
• The cells of the walls of DCT are involved in bringing potassium ions and other
substances back into
the renal tubule; hence, this process is known as tubular secretion.
Urine Excretion
• The filtrate left after reabsorption and tubular secretion is called urine.
• The urine passes from the collecting duct into the pelvis of the kidney. From there it is sent
to the urinary bladder through the ureters.
• By relaxing the sphincters present at the opening of the urethra, the urine is expelled from
the body. This process is known as micturition or urination.

K. Artificial Kidney

If one kidney is damaged or removed, then the other kidney alone can fulfil excretory needs.
• However, the failure of both the kidneys allows urea and other wastes to accumulate in the
blood.
• Such a patient undergoes dialysis.
• In dialysis, an artificial kidney is used.
• The artificial kidney contains tubes with a semi-permeable lining.
• These tubes are suspended in a tank filled with a dialysing solution.
• This fluid contains water and glucose in concentrations similar to those in blood.
• The patient’s blood is led from the radial artery through the tubes of the artificial kidney
where excess salts and urea are removed.
• The purified blood is returned through a vein in the same arm.
• The function of dialysis is similar to the function of the kidney, but the only difference is
there is no
reabsorption during dialysis.

L. Excretion in plants
The waste products released by plants includes:
a. Oxygen is released by stomata.
b. Excess water by transpiration.
c. Some waste is stored in leaves that fall off.
d. Some waste is stored as resins and gums.
e. Some waste is released directly into the soil.