LIFE PROCESSES

• The basic functions performed by living

organisms to maintain their life on this
earth are called life processes.
• Energy is needed for the life processes.
• The energy requires by an organism comes
from the food that the organism eats.
• Food is a kind of fuel which provides energy
to all the living organisms.
• Food is an organic substance. It contains
nutrients like carbohydrates, proteins, fats,
vitamins, minerals, and fibres.
• The term ‘nutrition’ comes from the word
‘nutrient’.
 NUTRITION
• Nutrition is a process of intake of nutrients
(like carbohydrates, fats, proteins, minerals,
vitamins, and water) by an organism as well
as the utilization of these nutrients by the
organism.
• There are various ways of producing food or
obtaining food by the different organisms.
 MODES OF NUTRITION
• There are mainly two modes of
nutrition:
1. Autotrophic nutrition
2. Heterotrophic nutrition
 AUTOTROPHIC MODE OF NURTION
• Autotrophic nutrition is that mode of nutrition in
which an organism makes its own food from the
simple inorganic materials like carbon dioxide and
water present in the surroundings with the help of
sunlight energy.
• Those organisms which can make their own food
from carbon dioxide and water are called autotrophs.
• The autotrophic organisms contain the green
pigment called chlorophyll which is capable of
trapping sunlight energy.
 Autotrophic bacteria
• Autotrophic bacteria include cyanobacteria,
green sulfur bacteria, purple bacteria,
halophiles and methanogens. These bacteria,
along with several types of plants and fungi,
have the ability to produce their own food
through photosynthesis. They use light,
water and carbon dioxide or other chemicals
to transform sunlight into glucose — a type
of sugar then used for energy.
CYANOBACTERIA
GREEN SULFUR BACTERIA
PURPLE BACTERIA
HETEROTROPHIC MODE OF NUTRITION
• Heterotrophic nutrition is that mode of
nutrition in which an organism cannot make
its own food from simple inorganic materials
like carbon dioxide and water, and depends
on other organisms for its food.
• All the animals have heterotrophic mode of
nutrition. Most bacteria and fungi also have
heterotrophic mode of nutrition.
• The non-green plants are also heterotrophic .
TYPES OF HETEROTROPHIC NUTRITION
• SAPROPHYTIC NUTRITION
• PARASITIC NUTRITION
• HOLOZOIC NUTRITION
 SAPROPHYTIC NUTRITION
• Saprophytic nutrition is that nutrition in
which an organism obtains its food from
decaying organic matter of dead plants, dead
animals, and rotten bread, etc.
• Example: Fungi(yeast, mushrooms, moulds)
 PARASATIC NUTRITION
• The parasitic nutrition is that nutrition in
which a organism derives its food from the
body of another living organism called its
host without killing it.
• Example: round worm, a common intestine
parasite of man.
 HOLOZOIC NUTRITION
• The holozoic nutrition is that nutrition in
which an organism takes the complex organic
food materials into its body by the process of
ingestion, the ingested food is digested and
then absorbed into the body cells of the
organism.
• Example: Animals and humans.
 NUTRITION IN PLANTS
• The process by which green plants make their
own food from carbon dioxide and water by
using sunlight energy in the presence of
chlorophyll, is called photosynthesis.
• Conditions necessary for photosynthesis are
as follows:
i. Sunlight,
ii. Chlorophyll,
iii. Carbon dioxide, and
iv. Water.
• The photosynthesis takes place in the
following three steps:
i. Absorption of sunlight energy by
chlorophyll.
ii. Conversion of light energy into chemical
energy, and splitting of water into hydrogen
and oxygen by light energy.
iii. Reduction of carbon dioxide by hydrogen to
form carbohydrate like glucose by utilizing
the chemical energy.
 NUTRITION IN ANIMALS
• Animals obtain their food from plants or
other animals which they eat.
• All the animals can be divided into three
groups on the basis of their food habits.
These are:
i. Herbivores
ii. Carnivores
iii. Omnivores
 DIFFERENT STEPS IN THE PROCESS OF
NUTRITION IN ANIMALS
• Ingestion: Taking food into the body.
• Digestion: Process in which the food containing large,
insoluble molecules is broken down into small, and
water soluble molecules.
• Absorption: Process in which the digested food passes
through the intestinal wall into blood stream.
• Assimilation: Process in which the absorbed food is
taken in by body cells and used for energy, growth, and
repair.
• Egestion: Process in which the undigested food is
removed from the body.
 NUTRITION IN AMOEBA
The process of obtaining food by Amoeba is called
phagocytosis (cell feeding). It is a unicellular organism
and eats tiny (microscopic) plants and animals as food
which float in water in which it lives.
 NUTRITION IN HUMAN BEINGS
• In the complex Multicellular animals like
human, grasshopper, fish and frog, etc., all
the processes involved in nutrition are
performed by a combination of digestive
organs.
• A long tube running from mouth to anus of a
human being in which digestion and
absorption of food takes place is called
alimentary canal.
• The various organs of the human digestive
system in sequence are: mouth, oesophagus,
stomach, small intestine, and large intestine.
• The glands which are associated with the
human digestive system and form a part of
the human digestive system are: salivary
glands, liver, and pancreas.
• The human alimentary canal which runs
mouth to anus is about 9 metres long tube
 GLANDS
• Glands are the organs that make one or more
substances, such as hormones, digestive juices,
sweat, tears, saliva, or milk.
• Endocrine glands release the substances directly into
the bloodstream.
• Exocrine glands release the substances into a duct or
opening to the inside or outside of the body.
 ENZYMES
• Enzymes are biological catalysts, typically proteins,
that speed up chemical reactions in living organisms
without being consumed in the process.
 INGESTION
The human beings have a special organ
for the ingestion of food called mouth.
 DIGESTION
• The teeth help in physical digestion.
• Tongue help in mixing he saliva with
food.
• The salivary glands help in chemical
digestion by secreting enzymes.
• It has an enzyme called salivary
amylase which digests the starch
present in the food into sugar.
• The slightly digested food in the
mouth is swallowed by the tongue
and goes down the food pipe called
oesophagus.
• Oesophagus carries food to the
stomach.
• The contraction and expansion
movement of the walls of food pipe is
• The slightly digested
food in the mouth is
swallowed by the
tongue and goes
down the food pipe
called esophagus.
• Esophagus carries
food to the stomach.
• The contraction and
expansion movement
of the walls of food
pipe is called
peristaltic movement
which pushes the
slightly digested food
into stomach.
• The stomach is a J-shaped organ present
on the left side of the abdomen.
•The food is churned in the stomach for
about three hours.
•During this time, the food breaks down
into still smaller pieces and forms a semi-
solid paste.
•The glands present in the walls of the
stomach secrete gastric juice.
•The gastric juice contains three
substances: hydrochloric acid, the enzyme
pepsin, and mucus.
•In the acidic medium, the enzyme pepsin
begins the digestion of proteins present in
food to form smaller molecules.
•The mucus helps to protect stomach wall
from its own secretions of hydrochloric
acid.
•The partially digested food then goes
from the stomach into the small intestine.
•The small intestine is the largest part of the
alimentary canal (6.5 meters long).
•The small intestine is arranged in the form of a
coil in our belly.
•The small intestine in human beings is the site of
complete digestion of food like carbohydrates,
proteins, and fats.
a)The small intestine receives the secretions of
two glands: liver and pancreas.
b)The walls of small intestine contain glands
which secrete intestinal juice.
Liver secretes bile. It is a greenish yellow liquid made in
the liver which is normally stored in the gall bladder.
Functions:
i. It makes the acidic food coming from the stomach
alkaline so that pancreatic enzymes can act on it
ii. Bile salts break the fats present in the food into small
globules making it easy for the enzymes to act and
digest them.
• Pancreas is a large gland
which lies parallel to and
beneath the stomach.
• It secretes pancreatic juice
which contains digestive
enzymes like pancreatic
amylase, trypsin and lipase.
• The enzyme amylase breaks
down the starch
• The enzyme trypsin digests
the proteins
• The enzyme lipase breaks
down the emulsified fats.
 ABSORPTION
• After digestion, the molecules
of food become so small that
they can pass through the
walls of the small intestine
which contain blood capillaries
and go into our blood. This is
called absorption.
• The small intestine is the main
region for the absorption of
digested food.
• The walls of small intestine
contain glands which secrete
intestinal juice.
• It contains a number of
enzymes which complete the
digestion of complex
carbohydrates into glucose,
proteins into amino acids and
fats into fatty acids and
glycerol.
• In this way, the process of
digestion converts the large and
insoluble food molecules into
small, water soluble molecules.
 ASSIMILATION
• The blood carries digested and dissolved food
to all the parts of the body where it becomes
assimilated as part of the cells.
• The assimilated food is used by the body cells
for obtaining energy as well as growth and
repair of the body.
• The digested food which is not used by our
body immediately is stored in the liver in the
form of a carbohydrate called ‘glycogen’.
 EGESTION
• The undigested food cannot be absorbed in the
small intestine, so it passes from small intestine
into a wider tube called large intestine.
• It absorbs most of the water from the undigested
food, due to which the undigested food becomes
almost solid.
• The part of the large intestine called rectum stores
the undigested food for sometime.
• Then this undigested food is passed out or egested
from our body through anus as faeces or stool.
 RESPIRATION
• The process of releasing energy from food is called
respiration.
• The process of respiration involves taking in
oxygen (of air) into the cells, using it for releasing
energy by burning food, and then eliminating the
waste products (carbon dioxide and water) from
the body.
• Food + oxygen Carbon dioxide + water + Energy
• The process of respiration which releases
energy takes place inside the cells of the
body. So, it is also known as cellular
respiration.
• Respiration is essential for life because it
provides energy for carrying out all the life
processes which are necessary to keep the
organisms alive.
• Respiration is actually a biochemical process
which occurs in stages and requires many
enzymes.
• The main purpose of respiration is the release
of energy from the oxidation of simple food
molecules like glucose.
• The energy released during respiration is used
for carrying out the biological functions which
are necessary for the maintenance of life and
survival of an organism.
• Respiration is just opposite of photosynthesis.
• Glucose is C6H12O6. It is a six carbon atom
compound.
• The oxidation of glucose to pyruvic acid or
pyruvate is called glycolysis.
• Glycolysis occurs in cytoplasm of the cell.
• Pyruvic acid is a three carbon atom.
• The fate of pyruvate formed during
respiration depends on whether the oxygen
is present in the cells or not.
 AEROBIC RESPIRATION
• The respiration which uses oxygen is called
aerobic respiration.

Glycolysis
• Glucose Pyruvate
In cytoplasm

Oxgen
• Pyruvate 6CO2 + 6H2O + 38 ATP
Mitochondria
• Mitochondria are the sites of aerobic
respiration in the cells.
• Most of the living organisms carry out
aerobic respiration.
 ANAEROBIC RESPIRATION
• The respiration which takes place without the oxygen
is called anaerobic respiration.
• In anaerobic respiration, the micro-organisms like
yeast break down glucose into ethanol and carbon
dioxide, and release energy.
Glycolysis

• Glucose In cytoplasm Pyruvate

In the absence of
oxygen

• Pyruvate Yeast (fermentation) 2C2H5OH + 2CO2 + 2 ATP

 AEROBIC RESPIRATION
• The human beings obtain energy by aerobic respiration
but, anaerobic respiration can sometimes take place in
our muscles.
• It happens during vigorous physical exercise when oxygen
gets used up faster in the muscle cells than can be
supplied by the blood.
Glycolysis

In cytoplasm
• Glucose Pyruvate
In the absence of
oxygen

Muscle tissue
• Pyruvate 2 lactic acid + 2 ATP
• The accumulation of lactic acid in the muscles
causes muscle cramps.
• We can get relief from cramps in muscles caused
by heavy exercise by taking a hot water bath or a
massage.
• Hot water bath or massage improves the
circulation of blood in the muscles. Due to
improved blood flow, the supply of oxygen to the
muscles increases.
• This oxygen breaks down lactic acid accumulated
in muscles into carbon dioxide and water, and
hence gives us relief from cramps.
 RESPIRATION IN PLANTS
• The respiration in plants differs from that in animals
in three respects:
1. All the parts of plant like root, stem, and leaves
perform respiration individually. On the other hand,
an animal performs respiration as a single unit.
2. During respiration in plants, there is a little
transport of respiratory gases from one part of the
plants to the other. On the other hand, respiratory
gases are usually transported over long distances
inside an animal during respiration.
3. The respiration in plants occurs at a slow rate. On
the other hand, the respiration in animals occurs at
a much faster rate.
RESPIRATION IN ROOTS
RESPIRATION IN STEMS
RESPIRATION IN LEAVES
 RESPIRATION IN ANIMALS
1. In simple unicellular animals like Amoeba,
respiration takes place by the simple diffusion of
gases through the cell membrane.
• The animals like earthworms which live in the soil use their skin
to absorb oxygen from air and remove carbon dioxide. So, the
respiratory organ in the earthworm is the skin.
• The aquatic animals like fish, prawns and mussels
have gills as the respiratory organs which extract
oxygen dissolved in water and take away carbon
dioxide from the body.
• In the insects like grasshopper, cockroach,
housefly and the mosquito, the tiny holes called
spiracles on their body and the air tubes called
tracheae are the respiratory organs.
• The respiratory organs of the land animals such as
man, birds, lizard, dog, and frog, etc., are the lungs.
• All the respiratory organs whether skin, gills,
trachea or lungs have three common features.
1. All the respiratory organs have a large surface
area to get enough oxygen.
2. All the respiratory organs have thin walls for
easy diffusion and exchange of respiratory gases.
3. All the respiratory organs like skin, gills, and
lungs have a rich blood supply for transporting
respiratory gases but only in tracheal system of
respiration, air reaches the cells directly.
 RESPIRATION IN HUMANS
• The process of respiration takes place inside
the cells of our body. It involves our
respiratory system.
• The function of respiratory system is to
breathe in oxygen for respiration (producing
energy from food), and to breathe our carbon
dioxide produced by respiration.
• The breathing organs of human beings are
lungs.
• The main organs of human respiratory
system are : Nose, Nasal passage (or nasal
cavity), Trachea, Bronchi, Lungs and
Diaphragm.
 TRANSPORT
• Transport is a life process in which a substance
absorbed or made in one part of the body of
an organism is carried to other parts of its
body.
• Special tissues and organs are needed for the
transport of substances in plants and animals
because these tissues and organs can pick up
the essential substances like food, oxygen,
water, etc., at one end of their body and carry
them to all other parts.
 TRANSPORT IN PLANTS
• The plants have two transport systems:
1. Xylem which carries water and minerals,
and
2. Phloem which carries the food materials
which the plants makes.
Phloem also carries the hormones made by
the plants in their root and shoot tips.
TRANSPORT IN HUMAN BEINGS
• The main transport system in human beings
is the ‘blood circulatory system’.
• The human circulatory system consists of
Blood, Blood vessels, and Heart.
• In the human circulatory system, blood
carries oxygen, digested food and other
chemicals like hormones and enzymes to al
the parts of the body.
BLOOD
• Blood is a red coloured liquid which
circulates in our body. Blood is red because it
contains a red pigment called haemoglobin in
its red cells.
• Blood is a connective tissue. Blood consists of
four things:
1. Plasma
2. Red Blood Corpuscles
3. White Blood Corpuscles
4. Platelets
 PLASMA
• The liquid part or fluid part of blood is called
plasma.
• Plasma is a colourless liquid which consists of
mainly of water (about 90%) with many
substances dissolved in it. Like, protiens, digested
food, common salt, waste products (carbon
dioxide and urea), and hormones.
• Plasma carries all these dissolved substances
from one part to another part in the body.
• RBCs, WBCs, and platelets are immersed in this
liquid.
 RED BLOOD CELLS
• Red blood cells are red in colour due to the presence
of a red pigment called haemoglobin inside them.
• These are the carriers of oxygen. They carry oxygen
from the lungs to all the cells of the body. It is an
actual function of Haemoglobin.
• Haemoglobin also carries some of the carbon dioxide
from body tissues to the lungs .
• RBCs are circular in shape and do not have nuclei.
• RBCs have to be made quickly because they do not
live for very long.
 WHITE BLOOD CELLS
• White blood cells fight infection and protect us from
diseases. This is because white blood cells help to
fight against germs and other foreign bodies which
cause diseases.
• Some white blood cells can eat up the germs like
bacteria which cause diseases. Other white blood
cells make chemicals known as ‘antibodies’ to fight
against infection.
• White blood cells are called soldiers of the body.
• White blood cells are either spherical or irregular in
shape and have a nucleus .
• WBCs are much smaller in number than red blood
cells.
 PLATELETS
• Platelets are the tiny fragments of special
cells formed in the bone marrow.
• Platelets do not have nuclei.
• Platelets help in the coagulation of blood or
clotting of blood in a cut or would.
 FUNCTIONS OF BLOOD
• Blood carries oxygen from the lungs to
different parts of the body
• It carries carbon dioxide from the body cells
to the lungs for breathing out
• It carries digested food from the small
intestine to all the parts of the body.
• It carries hormones from the endocrine
glands to different organs of the body where
they are needed.
• It carries a waste product called urea from
the liver to the kidneys for excretion in urine.
• Blood protects the body from diseases.
• Blood regulates body temperature. This is
because the blood capillaries in our skin help
to keep our body temperature constant at
about 37 degree Celsius.
 BLOOD VESSELS
• In blood circulatory system, the blood flows
through three types of blood vessels:
1. Arteries
2. Veins, and
3. Capillaries
• The blood vessels of the circulatory system are
present in each and every part of the human
body due to which the blood reaches all the
parts of the body.
HEART
• The blood circulatory system in human beings
is an example of double circulation.
1. A circulatory system in which the blood
travels twice through the heart in one
complete cycle of the body is called double
circulation.
2. In human circulatory system the pathway of
blood from the heart to the lungs and back to
the heart is called pulmonary circulation;
3. And the pathway of blood from the heart of
the rest of the body and back to the heart is
called the systemic circulation.
• One complete contraction and relaxation of the
heart is called heart beat.
• The heart usually beats about 70 to 72 times in a
minute when we are resting.
• The heart beats faster during and after an exercise
because the body needs more energy under these
conditions.
• Every time the heart beats, blood is forced into
arteries. This blood makes the arteries expand a
little. The expansion of an artery each time the
blood is forced into it, is called pulse.
• Each heartbeat generates one pulse in the arteries,
so the pulse rate of a person is equal to the number
of heartbeats per minute.
 BLOOD PRESSURE
• The pressure at which blood is pumped around
the body by the heart is called blood pressure.
• The blood pressure of a person is always
expressed in the form of two values called
‘systolic pressure’ and ‘diastolic pressure’.
• The phase of the heart beat when the heart
contracts and pumps the blood into arteries is
called ‘systole’.
• The phase of the heat beat when the heart
relaxes (or expands) and allows the chambers to
fill with blood is called ‘diastole’.
• The maximum pressure at which the blood leaves
the heart through the main artery (aorta) during
contraction phase, is called the systolic pressure.
• The minimum pressure in the arteries during the
relaxation phase of heart is called the diastolic
pressure.
• The blood pressure is expressed in terms of
millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). The normal
blood pressure values are:
systolic pressure : 120 mm Hg
diastolic pressure : 80 mm Hg
(120/80)
 LYMPHATIC SYSTEM
• A system of tiny tubes called lymph vessels (or
lymphatics) and lymph nodes (or lymph glands)
in the human body which transports the liquid
called lymph from the body tissues to the blood
circulatory system is called lymphatic system.
• Lymph is another medium of circulation in the
human body.
• Lymph contains a special type of white blood
cells called lymphocytes which help in fighting
infection and disease.
 Functions of Lymph
• Lymph takes part in the nutritive process of the body. For
example, it puts into circulation of large protein
molecules by carrying them from the tissues into the
blood stream which could not be absorbed by blood
capillaries due to their large size. Lymph also carries
digested fat for the nutritive process.
• Lymph protects the body by killing the germs drained out
of the body tissues with the help of lymphocytes
contained in the lymph nodes, and by making antibodies.
• Lymph helps in removing the waste products like
fragments of dead cells, etc.
 EXCRETION
• The process of removal of toxic wastes from
the body of an organism is called excretion.
• The biochemical reactions taking place in the
cells of an organism may produce toxic
wastes in the body.
• The accumulation of toxic wastes in the body
harms an organism continuously.
 EXCRETION IN PLANTS
• The main waste products produced by plants are carbon
dioxide, water vapour and oxygen.
• The gaseous wastes of respiration and photosynthesis in
plants are removed through the stomata in leaves and
lenticels in stems and released to the air.
• The plants also store some of the waste products in their
body parts. For example, some of the waste products
collect in the leaves, bark and fruits of the plants.
• The plants get rid of these wastes by shedding of leaves,
peeling of bark and felling of fruits.
• The plants get rid of wastes by secreting them in the form
of gums and resins.
• Plants also excrete some waste substances into the soil
around them.
 EXCRETION IN ANIMALS
• In amoeba, the waste material carbon dioxide is
removed by diffusion through the cell membrane,
but nitrogeneous wastes like ammonia and excess
water are removed by the contractile vacuole.
• In earthworm, the tubular structures called nephridia
are the excretory organs. In addition to nephridia,
the moist skin of earthworm also acts as an excretory
organ.
• In human beings, the microscopic thin tubules form
nephron, which functions as excretory unit. About 1
million nephrons taken together form the excretory
organ of human beings called kidney.
 EXCRETION IN HUMANS
• The major wastes produced by the human
body are: carbon dioxide and urea.
• Urea is produced as a waste by the
decomposition of unused proteins in the
liver.
• Our lungs act as the excretory organs for
removing the waste product carbon dioxide
from the body.
• Waste removal is called excretion.
• The excretory system of human beings consists of the
following main organs: Two kidneys, two ureters, bladder
and urethra.
• The function of kidneys is to remove the poisonous
substance urea, other waste salts and excess water from the
blood and excrete them in the form of a yellowish liquid
called urea.
DIALYSIS