BIOLOGY NOTES

CELLS AND ORGANISMS

TOPIC THE CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING THINGS

SEVEN CHARACTERISTICS

. Define the following terms

 Movement is an action by an organism or part of an organism causing a change of position

or place.
All organisms are able to move to some extent. Most animals can move their whole body from place
to place, and plants can slowly move parts of themselves.

 Respiration is the chemical reactions in cells that break down nutrient molecules and
release energy for metabolism.
All organisms break down glucose and other substances inside their cells, to release energy that
they can use.

 Sensitivity is the ability to detect or sense stimuli in the internal or external environment and
to make appropriate responses.
All organisms pick up information about changes in their environment, and react to the changes.

 Growth is a permanent increase in size and dry mass by an increase in cell number or cell
size or both.
All organisms begin small and get larger, by the growth of their cells and by adding new cells to their
bodies.
  Growth -All organisms begin small and get larger, by the growth of their cells and by adding
new cells to their bodies.

 Reproduction is the processes that make more of the same kind of organism

 Excretion is removal from organisms of the waste products of metabolism (chemical

reactions in cells including respiration), toxic materials, and substances in excess of
requirements

 Nutrition is taking in of materials for energy, growth and development; plants require light,
carbon dioxide, water and ions; animals need organic compounds and ions and usually need
water . Nutrients are like carbohydrates, proteins and vitamins) or simple (like mineral ions).

 Nutrition in green plants involves photosynthesis, in which the energy from sunlight is absorbed
and used to turn carbon dioxide and water into simple sugars.

 . Animals cannot make their own food like plants, so they have to eat plants or other animals to
gain energy and nutrients. The process of taking in food is called ingestion. The food is used for
growth and repair.


 Respiration

Respiration

 Define aerobic respiration as the chemical reactions in cells that use oxygen to break down
nutrient molecules to release energy

 Define anaerobic respiration as the chemical reactions in cells that break down nutrient
molecules to release energy without using oxygen


 All living organisms respire because they all need energy.

glucose + oxygen ~ carbon dioxide + water + energy released

Living things use this energy for movement, growth, repair and reproduction.

Movement
Organisms move themselves or move parts of themselves into new areas or to change position.

Plants move slowly when they grow. Their roots move down into the soil and their leaves and stems
move up towards the light.

Animals move to obtain their food or to avoid being caught by predators. Some animals remain fixed
to one place throughout their lives, but they are able to move parts, such as the tentacles on a sea
anemone.
 Growth
Growth is a permanent increase in size and the dry mass of an organism.
It can involve an increase in cell number, cell size or both.
,the dry mass increases.
Plants carry on growing throughout their lives.
Animals stop growing when they reach a certain size.

Excretion
All living organisms produce toxic (poisonous) waste substances as a result of metabolism.
Metabolism is all the chemical reactions that occur in an organism.
Respiration is a major part of metabolism.

Excretion is the removal of these waste substances from the body.

Plants store waste substances in their leaves, so the waste chemicals are removed when the leaves
fall off. Animals breathe out carbon dioxide; other waste substances leave the body in the urine.
Sensitivity
Living organisms are able to detect or sense changes in their environment.
A change like this is a stimulus (plural: stimuli). Sensitivity is the ability to detect these stimuli and
respond to them.
Plants respond to movement of the Sun by moving their leaves to face the light.
The flowers of some plants open in the morning and close at night.
Animals have sensory cells and sense organs for detecting light, sound, touch, pressure and
chemicals in the air and in food.

Reproduction
Organisms reproduce to make new individuals.
Asexual reproduction involves one parent giving rise to offspring that are often identical to each
other and to the parent.
Sexual reproduction involves two parent organisms producing gametes (sex cells) which fuse to give
rise to the next generation. The offspring show variation. They are not identical to each other or to
their parents.

MICROSCOPES
A light microscope, is a type of microscope that commonly uses visible light and a system of
lenses to generate magnified images of small objects.

A scanning electron microscope (SEM) is a type of electron microscope that produces images of a
sample by scanning the surface with a focused beam of electrons

SEM micrograph
Fungus
Characteristics: ♦ usually multicellular (many-celled)
♦ have nuclei and have cell walls, but cell wall not made of cellulose ♦ do not have chlorophyll and feed by
saprophytic or parasitic nutrition.

Yeast cells - an example of a fungus

Yeast are single-celled fungi. Like plants, they have a cell wall. However, unlike plants, they are unable to
make their own food.

MOLDS
Protozoa
---group of single-celled eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic, that feed on organic matter such

as other microorganisms

ALGAE
Algae are a diverse group of aquatic organisms that have the ability to conduct photosynthesis.

Certain algae are familiar to most people; for instance, seaweeds (such as kelp or phytoplankton),
pond scum or the algal blooms in lakes.
Prokaryote (BACTERIA)

Characteristics: ♦ often unicellular (single-celled) ♦ have no nucleus ♦ have cell walls, not made of cellulose ♦
have no mitochondria
List the features of viruses, limited to protein coat and genetic material
 Viruses are not cells. They are particles made up of genetic material (DNA or RNA)
surrounded by a protein coat. They reproduce and make lots of new viruses.
.
Pasteur showed that his flask was free from microorganisms, even though it was open to the air.

For a year, there was no microbial growth.

Until Pasteur broke the neck of the flask. And when microorganisms appeared, he proved to the
world that life could only come from other life.
Pasteur's experiment showed that microbes cannot arise from nonliving materials under the
conditions that existed on Earth during his lifetime

With the help of a microscope, Pasteur discovered that the yeast used in making wine and beer
contains different bacteria.

Some of the bacteria helps to produce the alcohol in the drink from sugar (by a process
called fermentation), while other bacteria turns the drink bad after it's made.

Pasteur's simple solution was to heat the wine briefly to kill off the harmful bacteria so the drink
wouldn't go bad so quickly.

This idea, which became known as pasteurization, proved hugely successful and was later adopted
to help preserve a wide range of other food and drinks.
Hepatitis C is a liver infection caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Hepatitis C is spread through
contact with blood from an infected person.
SPEACIALISED CELLS

Specialised cells

Many cells are specialised. They have structures that are adapted for their function. For example, muscle cells
bring parts of the body closer together. They contain protein fibres that can contract when energy is available,
making the cells shorter.

These tables show examples of some specialised animal and plant cells, with their functions and adaptations.

Animal cells

1. RED BLOOD CELL

 Phloem, tissues in plants that conducts food made in
the leaves to all other parts of the plan
fat cells, are the cells that primarily compose adipose tissue, specialized in storing energy as fat.

NERVE CELLS – conduction of impulses

 These cells are specialised for conducting electrical impulses along the fibre, to and from the brain
and spinal cord.
 The fibres are often very long and connect distant parts of the body to the CNS, e.g. the foot and
the spinal column.
 2.

Stem cells
 Stem cells can divide again and again to produce copious quantities of new cells.
 They are therefore useful for the growth of tissues or the replacement of cells that have
been lost or damaged.
 Stem cells are not fully differentiated. They can differentiate in different ways, to produce
different cell types.
 stem cells are most prevalent in the early embryonic development of a multicellular
organism.
 These cells will differentiate into any speacialised cell and they will no longer be stem cells.
STEM CELLS
Define tissue as a group of cells with similar structures, working together to perform a shared function

Example- A tissue, such as bone, nerve or muscle in animals, and epidermis, xylem or pith in plants, is
made up of many hundreds of cells often of a single type.

• Define organ as a structure made up of a group of tissues, working together to perform specific
functions

 For example,
 the stomach is an organ which contains tissues made from epithelial cells, gland cells and muscle
cells.
 The stomach also has a nerve supply. The heart, lungs, intestines, brain and eyes are further
examples of organs in animals.
 In flowering plants, the root, stem and leaves are the organs.
 The tissues of the leaf include epidermis, palisade tissue, spongy tissue, xylem and phloem

• Define organ system as a group of organs with related functions, working together to perform body
functions

 For example,
 the heart and blood vessels make up the circulatory system; the brain, spinal cord and nerves
make up the nervous system.
 In a fl owering plant, the stem, leaves and buds make up a system called the shoot .
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WORKSHEETS

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