CHAPTER 2

CELL AS A UNIT OF LIFE

• Cells are basic units of all living things.
• All living things including animals, plants,
and humans are made up of cells.
• Like bricks that make up a house, cells are
the building block of life.
• Robert Hooke (1635-1703) was the first
person to name the cell.
• A ‘cell’ means a small room. he came
across cells when he was examining
pieces of cork under the microscope he
had invented.
• A cell is the smallest unit of living things. It
can be function and survive on its own.
• Cell are responsible to carrying out life
processes.
 MICROSCOPE
• A microscope makes an object look bigger
than it actually is. It magnifies the object.
• It is used to observe very tiny objects
which are not visible to the naked eye.
• Cells of living things can be observed with
a microscope.
• Organism can be divided into 2 groups namely
unicellular organisms and multicellular
organisms.

UNICELLULAR ORGANISMS
• Unicellular organisms are organisms that consist
of only 1 cell only.(‘uni’ means one).

• Also known as unicellular microorganisms

because their tiny size.

• These organisms usually live in the sea, rivers,

and lakes.
• Unicellular organisms carry
out all the life processes
such as movement,
response, respiration,
digestion, excretion,
reproduction, and growth.

• Examples of unicellular
organisms are euglena,
amoeba, paramecium,
yeast, and
chlamydomonas.
MULTICELLULAR ORGANISMS
• Multicellular organisms are organisms that
consist of many cell (‘multi’ means many).

• Like unicellular organisms, multicellular

organisms carry out all the processes of
life.

• Multicellular organisms are made up of

many types of cells.
• Each type of cell has a different structure
and carries out only specific function.

• Man is the most complex multicellular

organisms.
 Cell organisation in the human
body
• Human being are the most complex
multicellular organisms(has billions of
cells).

• In multicellular organisms, different

function are carried out by different types
of cells.

• This is known as cell specialisation.

 From cell to tissue
• In multicellular organisms, the same type
of cells form groups.

• These group are called tissue.

• Each cell in a tissue carries out the same

function.
 From tissue to organ
• A few different types of tissues group
together to form an organ.

• An organ carries out a specific function.

• Eg. Heart(organ) is made up of muscular

tissue, nervous tissue and connecting
tissue. The heart pump blood to all parts of
the body.
 BRAIN

EYE

EAR
NOSE
SKIN

LUNG HEART

LIVER
STOMACH

APPENDIX INTESTINE
 From organ to system
• A few group of organ which work together to
perform a specific function forms a system.

• A system carries out a function.

• System ensure that our bodies function

normally.

• The kidneys, the lungs, the liver, the skin are

excretory organ. Together they make up the
excretory system.
 From system to organism.
• There are many systems in our bodies.

• All systems in the body work together to

produce an independent organisms.

• These systems do not work independently.

They all cooperate with one another so
that the human body function as a whole.
• Cells are organised in the following way.
• The end