CXC CSEC exam guide: Human and Social BiologySection A- Living Organisms and the

Environment

1.Describe the characteristics of living organisms;

Nutrition, respiration, excretion, growth, irritability, movement, reproduction.

Nutrition is the taking in of food in the body in order to produce energy needed and provide materials
for building up the body.

Growth is the increase in weight and size.

Excretion is the removal of waste products created by the bodys metabolism.

Respiration is the release of energy from food, oxygen +food+ chemical process in the body = energy.

Movement is the locomotion of the body.

Irritability is the ability to react to outer and inner changes of the body.

Reproduction is the ability to produce new individuals like one self.

2. Compare the structures of an unspecialized plant and animal cell and selected microbes;

plant cell.

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 CXC CSEC exam guide: Human and Social BiologySection A- Living Organisms and the
Environment

animal cell.

(b) Microbes include:

(i) Virus; A virus is a small infectious agent[ non cellular] that can replicate only inside the living cells of
an organism. Viruses can infect all types of organism, from animals and plants to bacteria and archaea.

(ii) Bacteria; Bacteria are microscopic organisms whose single cells have neither a membrane-enclosed
nucleus nor other membrane-enclosed organelles like mitochondria and chloroplasts. Unicellular single
cell

(iii) Fungi. This is a member of a large group of eukaryotic[ organisms with complex cell structures]
organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds as well as the more familiar
mushrooms. Fungi, is separate from plants, animals, and bacteria.

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 CXC CSEC exam guide: Human and Social BiologySection A- Living Organisms and the
Environment

3. State the functions of all cell structures;

A. CELL WALL;

This provides structure, support and rigidity to the plant to give it its shape.

CELL MEMBRANE;

B. The cell membrane controls what enters and leaves the cell, it also provides firmness to the cell.

C. NUCLEUS;

This is the control center of the plant,it houses DNA which controls cellular functioning.

b. Nucleous ;this creates ribosomes.

D. Ribosomes;

Ribosomes create proteins that your body needs by rearranging strands of amino acids in the system.

E. Cytoplasm;

This helps the cell keep some shape so that it doesnt get deflated.

F. Mitochondria;

The mitochondria provides energy for the cell.

G. Vacuoles

Stores food, water, waste products, and other materials. Also keeps cell membrane strong and keeps
the adult plant upright.

H. Chloroplasts;

They contain the green pigment chlorophyll, which traps light energy for photosynthesis.

I. Smooth Endoplasmic reticulum.

Responsible for breaking down toxic substances, in the body and also creates some of the lipids in the
body.

b. Rough endoplasmic reticulum.

This transports proteins around the cell to do what needs to be done.

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 CXC CSEC exam guide: Human and Social BiologySection A- Living Organisms and the
Environment

4. Identify selected cells which make up the human body;

NUCLEUS

1.Epithelial cells

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 CXC CSEC exam guide: Human and Social BiologySection A- Living Organisms and the
Environment

sperm cell

EGG CELL.

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 CXC CSEC exam guide: Human and Social BiologySection A- Living Organisms and the
Environment

NERVE CELL

MUSCLE CELL

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 CXC CSEC exam guide: Human and Social BiologySection A- Living Organisms and the
Environment

5. Explain the importance of cell specialization in human;

Cell specialization is when a group of cells work together by performing individual tasks for large organs
and tissues. Such as when blood cells carry nutrients, skin cells protect the interior of the body, etc.

A. Cell differentiation

The process by which a less specialized cell becomes a more specialized cell type.

B. Relation to cells to the organism as a whole.

An organism may either be unicellular (a single cell) or, as in the case of humans, comprise many trillions
of cells grouped into specialized tissues and organs. The term multicellular (many cells) describes any
organism made up of more than one cell.

6. Distinguish between osmosis and diffusion;

Both diffusion& osmosis involve movement of molecules from areas of high concentration to areas of
low concentration.

While diffusion takes place through solid, liquid & gases, osmosis take place only in water.

7. Explain the importance of osmosis, diffusion and active transport in living systems;

Osmosis and dialysis are of prime importance in living organisms where they influence the distribution
of nutrients and the release of metabolic waste products.

Examples of osmosis;

Plant absorbs water from the earth through the process of osmosis. Exchange of water in body fluids
and body cells in animals (including humans) takes place through osmosis.

Turgidity and plasmolysis in plants

Crenation in animals.

Diffusion is the movement of molecules from a region of high concentration to one of low
concentration.

Examples are respiration and excretion in animal bodies. Oxygen is passed from lungs to cells by a
process of diffusion.

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 CXC CSEC exam guide: Human and Social BiologySection A- Living Organisms and the
Environment

Active transport in living systems;

Is the movement of a substance against its concentration gradient (from low to high concentration).
Active transport is a good example of a process for which cells require energy. Examples of active
transport include the uptake of glucose in the intestines in humans and the uptake of mineral ions into
root hair cells of plants.

8. Explain the process of photosynthesis;

Photosynthesis is the process in which plants convert sunlight into energy and store it as sugar. The
plant uses special green pigments called chlorophyll to absorb the energy from the sun

Plants absorb red and blue light into the thylakoid membrane of the plant cell, converting it to chemical
energy. The chemical energy also is known as adenosine triphosphate, or ATP. Within the chloroplast,
carbon dioxide is combined with components from the ATP process to form sugar.

9. Investigate the effect of light and chlorophyll on the production of starch*

Plants produce sugars (glucose) from water and carbon dioxide through a process called photosynthesis.
The energy for that process comes from light, which is absorbed by a molecule called chlorophyll and
transformed into energy the plant can use for its biochemical processes. Once the sugars are produced,
they are transformed into insoluble macromolecules, called starch, for storage.

10. Explain the ways in which other living organisms depend on plants directly or
indirectly for food;

Plants take energy from the sun, and converts it into usable energy for itself.
Animals can take advantage of this energy by eating the plant, thus gaining the
energy. Also animals can then eat other animals that depend on plants as their
food source.

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 CXC CSEC exam guide: Human and Social BiologySection A- Living Organisms and the
Environment

11. Explain the principles of a food chain;

A food chain is a series of organisms, each of which is the food supply of a higher
feeding level.

e.g. cabbage snail bird cat or alge fish larger fish- human.

The trophic level of an organism is the position it occupies in a food chain.

Trophic level.

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 CXC CSEC exam guide: Human and Social BiologySection A- Living Organisms and the
Environment

12. Construct a food chain from a selected habitat;

a. Alge-shrimp- fish-human.

b. plant-mice-snakes

13. Identify the trophic level of organisms in the food chain;

The trophic level of an organism is the position it occupies in a food chain.

PRODUCERS, CONSUMERS,SECONDARY CONSUMERS,TERTIARY CONSUMERS.

14. Describe the recycling of carbon and nitrogen in nature.

The carbon cycle is the process in which carbon atoms are recycled over and over again on Earth. carbon
is known to be a basic building block of life. As the foundation atop which a huge family of chemical
substances called organic substances are formed, carbon is the basis of carbohydrates, proteins, lipids,
and nucleic acidsall of which form the basis of life on Earth.

The nitrogen cycle basically depends on the action of some specialized bacteria.

Bacteria of the soil called nitrogen-fixing bacteria present in plant roots absorb molecular nitrogen from
the air and liberate nitrogen in the form of ammonia. The decomposition of organic material also
produces ammonia.

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