LIFE PROCESS

 Nutrition:The process by which an organism takes food and utilizes it, is called
nutrition.
 Need for Nutrition:Organisms need the energy to perform various activities. The energy is
supplied by the nutrients. Organisms need various raw materials for growth and repair. These
raw materials are provided by nutrients.
 Nutrients:Materials which provide nutrition to organisms are called nutrients. Carbohydrates,
proteins and fats are the main nutrients and are called macronutrients. Minerals and vitamins
are required in small amounts and hence are called micronutrients.
 Modes of Nutrition
1. Autotrophic Nutrition.
2. Heterotrophic Nutrition.
 Autotrophic Nutrition –The mode of nutrition in which an organism prepares its own food is
called autotrophic nutrition. Green plants and blue-green algae follow the autotrophic mode of
nutrition.
 .The organisms which carry out autotrophic nutrition are called autotrophs (green plants).

 Autotrophic nutrition is fulfilled by the process, by which autotrophs intake CO2 and
H2O, and convert these into carbohydrates in the presence of chlorophyll, sunlight is
called photosynthesis

Nutrition in
Plants: Green plants
prepare their own food.
They make food in the
presence of sunlight.
Sunlight provides
energy’, carbon dioxide and water are the raw materials and chloroplast is the site where food is
made.

 Photosynthesis: The process by which green plants prepare food is called

[Link] this process, the solar energy is converted into chemical energy and
carbohydrates are formed.
 Green leaves are the main site of photosynthesis.
 The green portion of the plant contains a pigment chloroplast, chlorophyll (green pigment).
 The whole process of photosynthesis can be shown by the following equation:

 Main Events of Photosynthesis:

 Absorption of light energy by chlorophyll.
 Conversion of light energy into chemical energy + splitting (breaking) of water into hydrogen
and oxygen.
 Reduction of CO2 to carbohydrates.
 Sunlight activates chlorophyll, which leads to splitting of the water molecule.
 The hydrogen, released by the splitting of a water molecule is utilized for the reduction of
carbon dioxide to produce carbohydrates.
 Oxygen is the by-product of photosynthesis.
 Carbohydrate is subsequently converted into starch and is stored in leaves and other storage
parts.
 The splitting of water molecules is a part of the light reaction.
 PHOTOSYNTHESIS IN DESERT PLANTS
 How does photosynthesis takes place in desert plants?? In dessert plants the stomata are open
at night. They take in CO2 at night, and is stored in the form of an intermediate (converted to
an acid), and is used during the day for photosynthesis,(when the stomata are closed).
Everything else is the same, except the fact that they have chlorophyll in their stem.

 CROSS SECTION OF A LEAF

 It is divided into three parts upper epidermis,lower epidermis,mesophyll tissues.
 Upper Epidermis: A protective layer of cells that produces the cuticle. The epidermis is is
also transparent and very thin to allow maximum light penetration. Cuticle: A waxy layer that
prevent water loss by evaporation. The cuticle is transparent and very thin to allow maximum
light penetration. It also prevents loss of water from leaves
 Lower Epidermis: A protective layer of cells. The lower epidermis produces a waxy cuticle
too in some plant species. The lower epidermis contains pores called stomata that allow
carbon dioxide and oxygen to move in and out of the plant respectively.
 Mesophyll tissues:It contains mesophyll [Link] represents the middle layer of cells
located between the epidermal layers of a leaf. Mesophyll contains many chloroplasts, and
therefore represents the main site of photosynthesis in [Link] main function of mesophyll
tissue of leaves is to facilitate photosynthesis.
Stomata: These are tiny pores present in the epidermis of leaf or stem through which gaseous
exchange and transpiration occur.

 Functions of stomata
 Loses a large amount of water (water vapour) during transpiration.
 It helps in exchange of
gases like oxygen and
carbondioxide.

 Opening and closing of stomatal pores:

 The opening and closing of stomatal pores are controlled by the turgidity of guard cells.
 When guard cells uptake water from surrounding cells, they swell to become a turgid body,
which enlarges the pore in between (Stomatal Opening).
 While, when water is released, they become flaccid shrinking to close the pore.(Stomatal
closing)
  Significance of Photosynthesis:
 Photosynthesis is the main way through which
solar energy is made available for different living
beings.
 Green plants are the main producers of food in the ecosystem. All other organisms directly or
indirectly depend on green plants for food.
 The process of photosynthesis also helps in maintaining the balance of carbon dioxide and
oxygen in the air.
 Heterotrophic Nutrition –
 The mode of nutrition in which an organism takes food from another organism is called
heterotrophic nutrition. Organisms, other than green lants and blue-green algae follow the
heterotrophic mode of nutrition. Heterotrophic nutrition can be further divided into three
types, viz. saprophytic nutrition, holozoic nutrition, and parasitic.
 Saprophytic Nutrition:In this, the organisms feed on dead and decaying matter. For
Example, bacteria and fungi digest the food externally and then absorb the nutrients.

A saprophyte or saprotroph is an organism that gets its energy from dead and decaying organic matter.
This may be decaying pieces of plants or animals. This means that saprophytes are [Link]
break down the complex organic matter into simpler substances that are absorbed by the plants for
various metabolic activities.
For example, include fungi like mushrooms, bacteria like Lactobacillus and yeast.

 Holozoic Nutrition:In holozoic nutrition, the digestion happens inside the body of the
organism. i.e., after the food is ingested. Most of the animals follow this mode of nutrition.
 Parasitic Nutrition:The organism which lives inside or outside another organism (host) and
derives nutrition from it is known as parasites and this type of mode of nutrition is called
parasitic nutrition. For example Cuscuta, tick etc.
 Nutrition in Amoeba
 Amoeba is a unicellular animal which follows the holozoic mode of nutrition.
 In holozoic nutrition, the digestion of food follows after the ingestion of food. Thus, digestion
takes place inside the body of the organism.
 Holozoic nutrition happens in five steps, viz. ingestion, digestion, absorption,
assimilation and egestion.

 Steps of Holozoic Nutrition:

 Ingestion: The process of taking in the food is called ingestion.

 Digestion: The process of breaking complex food substances into simple molecules is
called digestion. Simple molecules, thus obtained, can be absorbed by the body.
 Absorption: The process of absorption of digested food is called absorption.
  Assimilation: The process of utilization of digested food, for energy and for growth
and repair is called assimilation.
 Egestion: The process of removing undigested food from the body is called egestion.

Amoeba is a unicellular animal which follows the holozoic mode of nutrition. The cell
membrane of amoeba keeps on protruding into pseudopodia. Amoeba surrounds a food
particle with pseudopodia and makes a food vacuole. The food vacuole contains food particle
and water. Digestive enzymes are secreted in the food vacuole and digestion takes place.
After that, digested food is absorbed from the food vacuole. Finally, the food vacuole moves
near the cell membrane and undigested food is expelled out.

Life Processes: The processes which together perform the repair and
maintenance job inside a body are life processes. For Example Respiration (R),
Excretion (E), Nutrition (N), and Transportation (T) [RENT].

Human Digestive System:

Human beings are complex animals, which have a complex digestive system. The human
digestive system is composed of an alimentary canal and some accessory glands. The alimentary
canal is divided into several parts, like oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine,
rectum and anus. Salivary gland, liver and pancreas are the accessory glands which lie outside
the alimentary canal.

.Digestion:the process in which the complex chemical compounds present in the food are broken
down into simpler substances that are readily absorbed and utilized by the body.

Structure of the Human Digestive System:

The human digestive system comprises of the alimentary canal and associated digestive glands.

 Alimentary Canal: It comprises of mouth, oesophagus, stomach, small intestine and

large intestine.
 Associated Glands: Main associated glands are
 o Salivary gland
o Gastric Glands
o Liver
o Pancreas

Mouth or Buccal Cavity:

The mouth has teeth and tongue. Salivary glands are also present in the mouth.

 The tongue has gustatory receptors which perceive the sense of taste.
 The tongue helps in turning over the food so that saliva can be properly mixed in it.
 Teeth help in breaking down the food into smaller particles so that, swallowing of
food becomes easier.
 There are four types of teeth in human beings. The incisor teeth are used for cutting
the food.
 The canine teeth are used for tearing the food and for cracking hard substances.
 The premolars are used for the coarse grinding of food. The molars are used for fine
grinding of food.
 Enamel: A white, strong, shining, protective material covering on teeth.

 Salivary glands secrete saliva: Saliva makes the food slippery which makes it easy
to swallow the food. Saliva also contains the enzyme salivary amylase or ptyalin.
Salivary amylase digests starch and converts it into sucrose, (maltose)
Oesophagus: Taking food from mouth to stomach by Peristaltic [Link]
movement is the rhythmic contraction of muscles of the lining of the alimentary canal to
push the food forward.

Stomach:

 Stomach is a bag-like organ. Highly muscular walls of the stomach help in churning
the food.
 The walls of the stomach secrete hydrochloric acid. Hydrochloric acid kills the germs
which may be present in food.
 Moreover, it makes the medium inside the stomach as acidic. The acidic medium is
necessary for gastric enzymes to work.
 The enzyme pepsin, secreted in the stomach, does partial digestion of protein.
 The mucus, secreted by the walls of the stomach saves the inner lining of the stomach
from getting damaged from hydrochloric acid.

Small Intestine: It is a
highly coiled tube-like structure. The small intestine is longer than the large intestine but its
lumen is smaller than that of the large intestine. The small intestine is divided into three parts,
like duodenum, jejunum and ileum.

Liver:Liver is the largest organ in the human body. The liver manufactures bile, which gets
stored in the gall bladder. From the gall bladder, bile is released as and when required.

Pancreas:Pancreas is situated below the stomach. It secretes pancreatic juice which contains
many digestive enzyme.
Bile and pancreatic juice go to the duodenum through a hepatopancreatic duct. Bile breaks down fat
into smaller particles. This process is called emulsification of fat. After that, the enzyme lipase digests
fat into fatty acids and glycerol. Trypsin and chymotrypsin are enzymes which digest protein into
amino acids. Complex carbohydrates are digested into glucose. The major part of digestion takes
place in the duodenum.

No digestion takes place in the jejunum: The inner wall in the ileum is projected into
numerous finger-like structures, called villi. Villi increase the surface area inside the ileum so
that optimum absorption can take place. Moreover, villi also reduce the lumen of the ileum so
that food can stay for a longer duration in it, for optimum absorption. Digested food is
absorbed by villi.

Large Intestine:

 Large intestine is smaller than the small intestine.

 Undigested food goes into the large intestine.
 Some water and salt are absorbed by the walls of the large intestine. After that, the
undigested food goes to the rectum, from where it is expelled out through the anus.
 Large Intestine absorb excess of water. The rest of the material is removed from the
body via the anus. (Egestion).
 RESPIRATION

The process by which a living being utilises the food to get energy, is called
respiration. Respiration is an oxidation reaction in which carbohydrate is oxidized to
produce energy. Mitochondria is the site of respiration and the energy released is
stored in the form of ATP (adenosine triphosphate). ATP is stored in mitochondria
and is released as per need.

Steps respiration of:

 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 involve:
 Gaseous exchange: Intake of oxygen from the atmosphere and release
of CO2 → Breathing.
 Breakdown of simple food in order to release energy inside the cell →
Cellular respiration.

Types of 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.

Difference between Aerobic and Anaerobic Respiration:

Pain 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 trachease 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 [Link] voice box
there are two vocal chord in which narrow slit is between them,which when vibrate
produces sound.
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.
8. Role of alveoli:The alveoli provide a surface where the exchange of gases
can take [Link] walls of the alveoli contain an extensive network of blood
vessels. The blood brings carbon dioxide from the rest of the body for
release into the alveoli, and the oxygen in the alveolar air is taken up by the
blood in the alveolar blood vessels to be transported to all the cells in the
body.
9. In human beings, the respiratory pigment is hemoglobin which has a very
high affinity for oxygen. This pigment is present in the red blood corpuscles.
10. Carbon dioxide is more soluble in water than oxygen is and hence is mostly
transported in the dissolved form in our blood.

Breathing Mechanism

 The breathing mechanism of lungs is controlled by the diaphragm and the intercostalis
muscles.
 The diaphragm is a membrane which separates the thoracic chamber from the
abdominal cavity.
 When the diaphragm moves down, the lungs expand and the air is inhaled.
 When the diaphragm moves up, the lungs contract and air are exhaled.
Respiration in Plants

 Unlike animals and humans, plants do not have any specialized structures for
gaseous exchange.
 They have stomata (present in leaves) and lenticels (present in stems), which are
involved in the exchange of gases.
 Compared to animals, plant roots, stems, and leaves respire at a very lower rate.
 Transpiration is a biological process in which water is lost in the form of water vapour
from the aerial parts of the plants.
 This process occurs mainly through the stomata, where the exchange of gases
(oxygen and carbon dioxide) occurs.
 Transpiration helps in the transportation of water from roots to the upper parts of
plants, and this is explained by the ‘transpirational pull theory’.
 Loss of water, especially from leaves, acts as a straw effect and pulls water upwards
from roots.
 Transpiration also acts as an excretory mechanism in plants as it helps to get rid of
excess water.

Transportation
Transportation in Human Beings

 Transportation in humans is done by the circulatory system.

 The circulatory system in humans mainly consists of blood, blood vessels and the
heart.
 It is responsible for the supply of oxygen and nutrients and the removal of carbon
dioxide and other excretory products.
 It also helps to fight infections.
 Blood transports food, oxygen, and waste materials in our bodies.
 Blood consists of a fluid medium called plasma in which the cells are
suspended.
 Plasma transports food, carbon dioxide, and nitrogenous wastes in
dissolved form.
 Oxygen is carried by the red blood corpuscles.
 We thus need -
  a pumping organ (heart) to push blood around the body,
 a network of tubes (arteries and veins) to reach all the tissues and
 a system in place (platelets) to ensure that this network can be
repaired if damaged.

Heart:
 The muscular organ which is located near the chest, slightly towards the left in
the thoracic region.
 The heart is the main pumping organ of the body.
 The human heart is divided into four chambers which are involved in the
transportation of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood.
 The upper two chambers are called atria, whereas the lower two chambers are
called ventricles.
 Contraction of cardiac muscles is called systole.
 Relaxation of cardiac muscles is called diastole.
 Oxygen-rich blood from the lungs comes to the thin-walled upper
chamber of the heart on the left, the left atrium.
 The left atrium relaxes when it is collecting this blood.
 It then contracts, while the next chamber, the left ventricle,
relaxes, so that the blood is transferred to it.
 When the muscular left ventricle contracts in its turn, the blood is
pumped out to the body.
 De-oxygenated blood comes from the body to the upper chamber
on the right, the right atrium, as it relaxes.
 As the right atrium contracts, the corresponding lower chamber,
the right ventricle, dilates.
 This transfers blood to the right ventricle, which in turn pumps it to the
lungs for oxygenation.
 The separation of the right side and the left side of the heart is useful to
keep oxygenated and deoxygenated blood from mixing. Such separation
allows a highly efficient supply of oxygen to the body.
 Animals, like amphibians and many reptiles, have three-chambered hearts
and tolerate some mixing of the oxygenated and de-oxygenated blood
streams.
 Fishes, on the other hand, have only two chambers to their hearts, and the
blood is pumped to the gills, is oxygenated there, and passes directly to
the rest of the body.

Double circulatory system: The oxygenated blood from the

lungs returns to the heart, which is pumped again into different
parts of the body by the heart. Thus, the blood passed twice
through the heart making one complete round through the body,
i.e., once through the right half in the form of deoxygenated
blood and once through the left half in the form of oxygenated
blood.

How Circulation in Heart takes place:

 Blood:It is a fluid that moves through the vessels of a circulatory system. In humans, it
includes plasma (the liquid portion), blood cells (which come in both red and white varieties),
and cell fragments called platelets.

 Plasma is the main component of blood and consists mostly of water, with proteins, ions,
nutrients, and wastes mixed in.

 Red blood cells are responsible for carrying oxygen and carbon dioxide.

 Platelets are responsible for blood clotting.

 White blood cells are part of the immune system and function in immune response.
Simple diagram of Heart:

Blood Vessels:
The networks of hollow tubes like pipes, which carry blood to and from all parts of the body, are called
blood vessels. These vessels carry blood in both the directions, i.e. one from the heart to all other parts and
another from all body parts to the heart.

Types of Blood Vessels:

The three types of blood vessels are:

Arteries:

Arteries are the main blood vessels that carry and transport oxygenated blood or oxygen-rich
blood from the heart to other parts of the body. They are the strongest blood vessels with
thicker walls and are muscular in nature. It consists of three distinct layers, which are rigid,
thicker and highly muscular. Arteries are located deep within the body and are red in colour.
These blood vessels are with high pressure and move in a downward direction from the
heart to the body tissues.

Why arteries have thick walls.?

Walls of the arteries are thick because they have to withstand the high pressure released
from the heart during the process of pumping the blood. Therefore, the thick walls of the
arteries help in maintaining the blood pressure simultaneously by controlling blood flow.

Veins:

Veins are thin, tube-like elastic blood vessels, present closer to the surface of the skin.
These translucent blood vessels are blue in colour and carry impure or deoxygenated blood
from all parts of the body to heart. These blood vessels are with low pressure and
move in an upward direction, i.e. from the cells, tissues and other organs to the heart.
Compared to the arteries, veins are thin-walled.

Capillaries:

Short and tiny blood vessels, found within the tissues are called capillaries. Capillaries bring
about the exchange of substances between blood and tissues. These blood vessels also
function by connecting arterial systems to the venous system and help in exchange of
substances across cells.

Difference between arteries and veins:

Functions of Blood Vessels

 Blood vessels play a vital role in the gaseous exchange.

 Blood vessels help maintain a constant internal temperature of an organism.
 The vital function of the blood vessels is protecting against the loss of blood during
injuries.
 Blood vessels are also involved in circulating both oxygenated (poor) and
deoxygenated (impure) blood from and to the heart.
 Blood vessels help in the transportation of nutrients, water, minerals, hormones and
all other essential components required for the different body metabolism.

Cardiac Cycle: One complete heartbeat in which all the chambers of the heart
contract and relax once is called cardiac cycle. The heart beats about 72 times per
minute in a normal adult. In one cardiac cycle, the heart pumps out 70 mL blood and
thus, about 4900 mL blood in a minute. Double circulation ensures complete
segregation of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood which is necessary for optimum
energy production in warm-blooded animals.

Lymph:

 Lymph is similar to blood but RBCs are absent in lymph.

 Lymph is formed from the fluid which leaks from blood capillaries and goes to
the intercellular space in the tissues. This fluid is collected through lymph
vessels and finally return to the blood capillaries.
 Lymph also plays an important role in the immune system.
 Lymph a yellowish fluids escape from the blood capillaries into the intercellular
spaces contain less proteins than blood.
 Lymph flows from the tissues to the heart assisting in transportation and
destroying germs.

Transportation in plants:
 Plants have specialized vascular tissues for transportation of substances. There are two
types of vascular tissues in plants.

 Xylem: Xylem is responsible for transportation of water and minerals. It is composed of

trachids, xylem vessels, xylem parenchyma and xylem fibre. Tracheids and xylem
vessels are the conducting elements. The xylem makes a continuous tube in plants
which runs from roots to stem and right up to the veins of leaves. .
 Carry water and minerals from the leaves to the other part of the plant.
 Phloem: Phloem is responsible for transportation of food. Phloem is composed of
sieve tubes, companion cells, phloem parenchyma and bast fibers. Sieve tubes are the
conducting elements in phloem.
 Carries product of photosynthesis from roots to other part of the plant.

Ascent of sap: The upward movement of water and minerals from roots to different
plant parts is called ascent of sap. Many factors are at play in ascent of sap and it
takes place in many steps. They are explained as follows :

 Root pressure: The walls of cells of root hairs are very thin. Water from soil enters the
root hairs because of osmosis. Root pressure is responsible for movement of water up
to the base of the stem.
 Capillary action: A very fine tube is called capillaiy, water, or any liquid, rises in the
capillary because of physical forces and this phenomenon is called capillary action.
Water, in stem, rises up to some height because of capillaiy action.
 Adhesion-cohesion of water molecules: Water molecules make a continuous column
in the xylem because of forces of adhesion and cohesion among the molecules.
 Transpiration pull: Loss of water vapour through stomata and lenticels, in plants, is
called transpiration. Transpiration through stomata creates vacuum which creates a
suction, called transpiration pull. The transpiration pull sucks the water column from the
xylem tubes and thus, water is able to rise to great heights in even the tallest plants.
 Transport of food: Transport of food in plants happens because of utilization of
energy. Thus, unlike the transport through xylem, it is a form of active transport.
Moreover, the flow of substances through phloem takes place in both directions, i.e., it
is a two-way traffic in phloem.
 Transpiration is the process of loss of water as vapour from aerial parts of the plant .

Functions

 Absorption and upward movement of water and minerals by creating pull.

 Helps in temperature regulation in plant.

Transport of food from leaves (food factory) to different parts of the plant is called
Translocation.

EXCRETION
The process of removal of chemical wastes , unwanted
nitrogenous waste products from the body is known as excretion
.
Substances to be eliminated by excretion –
1) Carbon dioxide and water (respiratory products) –
→ CO2 eliminated through lungs
→ Extra water released out of body in form sweat.
2)Nitrogenous waste – urea, uric acid and ammonia
→ Mainly produced in liver from dead protein
→ Any extra amino acids cannot be stored in the body.
→ Broken down in liver to glucose and urea
→ Urea is highly poisonous, if accumulated in body can cause death
3) Excess salts such as common salt (NaCl) and even some excess water soluble
vitamins(B &C) need to be eliminated.
4) Water
5) Bile pigments (yellow bilirubin)
→ Are breakdown products of haemoglobin of dead RBCs.

Human Excretory System:

 The human excretory system is composed of a pair of kidneys.

 A tube, called ureter, comes out of each kidney and goes to the urinary bladder.
 Urine is collected in the urinary bladder, from where it is expelled out through
urethra as and when required.

Excretory system of human beings includes :

 A pair of kidneys.
 A urinary bladder.
 A pair of the ureter.
 A urethra.

Kidney:

 Kiidney is a bean-shaped organ which lies near the vertebral column in the
abdominal cavity.
 The kidney is composed of many filtering units, called nephrons.
 Nephron is called the functional unit of kidney.

Nephron:

 It is composed of a tangled mess of tubes and a filtering part, called glomerulus.

 The glomerulus is a network of blood capillaries to which renal artery is attached.
 The artery which takes blood to the glomerulus is called afferent arteriole and the
one receiving blood from the glomerulus is called efferent arteriole.
 The glomerulus is enclosed in a capsule like portion, called bowman’s capsule.
The bowman’s capsule extends into a fine tube which is highly coiled.
 Tubes from various nephrons converge into collecting duct, which finally goes to
the ureter.

Urine formation in the kidney: The urine formation involves three steps:

 Glomerular filtration: Nitrogenous wastes, glucose, water, amino acid filter from the
blood into bowman’s capsule of the nephron.
 Tubular reabsorption: Now, useful substances from the filtrate are reabsorbed back
by capillaries surrounding the nephron.
 Secretion: Extra water, salts are secreted into the tubule which opens up into the
collecting duct and then into the ureter.
Urine produced in the kidneys passes through the ureters into the urinary bladder
where it is stored until it is released through the urethra.
The purpose of making urine is to filter out waste product from the blood i.e., urea
which is produced in the liver.

How nephron works:

Haemodialysis: The process of purifying blood by an artificial kidney. It is meant for
kidney failure patient

Excretion in Plants:

1. Plants have no special organs for the removal of waste. The

excretory products in plants are eliminated from the plant body
by different mechanisms.
2. The waste products of respiration and photosynthesis are used as
raw materials for each other.
3. Oxygen gas produced as a by-product of photosynthesis is used
up during respiration and carbon dioxide produced during
respiration is used up during photosynthesis.

Excretion is carried out in the plants in the following ways:

1. The gaseous wastes, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water vapor are
removed through the stomata of leaves and lenticels of stems.
2. Some waste products collect in the leaves and bark of trees. When the
leaves and bark are shed, the wastes are eliminated.
3. Some waste products are rendered harmless and then stored in the plant
body as solid bodies. Raphides, tannins, resins, gum, rubber, and essential
oils are some such wastes
4. The oil produced from orange, eucalyptus, and jasmine, latex from the
rubber tree, papaya tree, and gums from acacia, are different forms of
stored waste products. Sometimes these products are even excreted into
the soil.