Chapter -1

Characteristics of living organisms

In order to identify living organisms, scientists listed 7 characteristics which all living
organisms have:

MRSGREN:
 MOVEMENT.
 RESPIRATION.
 SENSITIVITY.
 GROWTH.
 REPRODUCTION.
 EXCRETION.
 NUTRITION.

MOVEMENT:

An action by an organism or part of an organism that changes position or place.

RESPIRATION:

Chemical reaction that breaks down food molecules in living cells to release energy.

SENSITIVITY:

The ability to detect or sense changes in the environment and to make response.

GROWTH:

The permanent increase in the size and dry mass by an increase in the number of:
cells, cell size or both.

REPRODUCTION:

The progresses that make more of the same kind of organism.

EXCRETION:
Removal of toxic substances, metabolic waste and excess substances from the body
of an organism.

NUTRITION:

Taking in of nutrients which are organic substances and mineral ores, containing raw
materials or energy for growth and
tissue repair, absorbing and
assimilating them.

CLASSIFICATION

Classification is the sorting out of

living organisms according to
common features.

The classificatory system:

K - kingdom.

P - phylum.

C – class.

O – order.

F – family.

G – genus.

S – species.

KPCOF general science.

Species:

A group of living organisms having the same characters and can breed together
successfully producing a fertile offspring.
 Binomial System:

Each organism has two names written in Latin, the first name is the name of the
genus it belongs to and the second name is the name of its species. This is the
binomial system.

There are certain rules that must be followed to write the Latin name:

 The name of the genus must begin with a capital letter.

 Tha name of the species must begin with a small letter.
 Both names must be written in Italics, if not it should be underlined.

For example:
We humans belong to the
genus- Homo and our species is
Sapiens. So the correct
Scientific name of human is
HomoSapiens or Hsapiens.

 Wolf = Canis lupus

 Zebra = Equus burchelli
 Lion = panthera Leo

Viruses:

 Viruses are not classified in to kingdom because it is not considered as living

organism because it cannot reproduce on its own.
 They are very small and measured in nanometers.
 They can only be seen through electronic microscope.
 It has protein coat around it.
 Has genetic material in it (DNA or RNA).

Viruses are not considered as living organism, because they don’t have any of the seven
characteristics, except that they reproduce by replication only when they are inside a
living organism.
Viruses strike humans by following steps:

 The viruses strike itself to a cell and injects the genetic material into it.
 The viruses reproduce more of its self by replication.
 The viruses keep on replicating until the cell bursts.
 The new virus goes out and kills the other cells.

Protoctista:

 It’s a mixture of organisms.

 They have cells with nucleus.
 Some have plant like cell with chloroplasts & cell walls with cellulose.
 Some others have animal like cells without these features.
 Most prtoctista are unicellular(single cell).
 But some such as sea weeds are multicellular.

Characteristics:

 Multicellular or unicellular.
  Cells have nucleus.
 Cells may or may not have cell wall & chloroplast.
 Some are feed by photosynthesis.
 Some feed on organic substances.

Kingdom bacteria(prokaryotes):

A bacterium is a single celled

organism that lives
everywhere on earth.
It can only be seen by a
microscope.

Cell wall:
It is made of substances called peptiologlycan(sugar),which contain glycogen and
sugar.

Cell membrane:
It protects the bacterium from bursting when too much water is present.

Cytoplasm:
Its where the chromosomes are kept and it stores granules of various materials.

Slime Capsule:
Its an extra feature that is not present in all bacteria, it is created by the
bacterium when the external conditions are not favorable.

Flagellum:
This is an extra feature that is not present in all bacteria, it helps in moving and
swimming.
 ADAPTATION:

Bacteria have managed to adapt itself in order to survive in various conditions.

They obtain their foods by various methods.

Autotrophic bacteria:
They make their own food by photosynthesis.

Heterotrophic bacteria:
They are unable to make their own food so they feed on readymade food.

 Bacteria also reproduce very quickly by binary fission producing numerous

offspring in a short time.
 Some bacteria respires aerobically and some anaerobically.

Kingdom Fungi:

 Fungi are multicellular organisms, except for yeast which is unicellular.

 Some fungi are not made of cells, but made of microscopic threads called
hyphae.

Reproductive hyphae:

They form spores which carry out reproduction.

Feeding hyphae:

They form a network which grows over or through the food materials, they are called as
mycelium.

Hyphae are tube like, microscopic structure; it contains a cytoplasm which contains
glycogen granules and several nuclei:

It doesn’t contain chloroplast or starch granules.

Large number of hyphae grows together through whatever the fungus is feeding on
making a branching network called mycelium.

What does Fungi eat?

Fungi use a process called Saprotrophic nutrition to feed its self. The hyphae secretes
enzymes which digests dead organic matter or animal waste which is then absorbed by
the hyphae to be used by fungi.

Reproduction of fungi:

At some point the fungi produce a reproductive structure, which are tiny spores which is
inside the sporangium when the spores get matured they burst out of Sporangium and
disperse to other ares and grow into a new mycelium.

Adaption:

 They grow long mycelium of hyphae on whatever they feed on

 These secrets enzymes which digest what the fungi feed on
 The mushrooms are able to grow tall so that the spores could be widely dispersed
by wind or insects. Thus, they reproduce quickly.

Why fungi was not considered as plants:

 Long ago, fungi were considered as plants

 But actually they are different from plants:
1. They do not have chloroplast so they do not undergo photosynthesis.
2. Their cell walls (hypae walls) are made of chitin and not cellulose as in plants.
3. Their extra supply of sugar is stored as glycogen and not starch.
4. They are heterotrophy, not autotrophic like plants.

Kingdom Plant:

 Plants are multicellular organisms.

 The main difference between them and the other organism is they make their
own food by a process called photosynthesis.
  Plants are green because they contain a green pigment called chlorophyll which
traps sunlight for photosynthesis.
 Plants are autotrophic.
 They contain large vacuole, a nucleus, chloroplasts and a cell wall made of
cellulose.
 Cell walls are not present in animal cells.
 Plant kingdom contain several different phyla but we will be discussing only one
that is the flowering plants ( Angiosperms).

Flowering Plants

Monocotyledons Dicotyledons

( Monocots) ( Dicots)

MONOCOTS DICOTS

1. Seeds have one cotyledon. Seeds have two cotyledons

2. Petals divisible by 3. Petals divisible by 5.
3. Long sharp leaves with parallel veins. Leaves with
branching veins.
4. Eg. Rice, Maize, etc. Eg. Beans, peas, etc.
Kingdom Animals:

Phylum Vertebrate.
Arthropoda.
Phylum molluscus.
Phylum hematodse.
Phylum annelids.
 INVERTEBRATES PHYLUM: ARTHROPODA

 All arthropods have joined legs.

 All arthropods have a hard external skeleton called cuticle or exoskeleton that encloses
their body.

P.O.C/class Insect Arachnids Crustaceans Myriapods

Body division Head Cephalothorax Cephalothorax Many body

Thorax Abdomen abdomen segments.
Abdomen
Eyes/antenna Compound Simple eyes no Simple eyes, two Simple eyes, pair
eyes. Pair of antenna. pairs of antenna. of antenna.
antenna.
Wings/legs Wings No wings/4 pair More than 4 pair of No wings/1 pair
Present/3 pairs of legs. legs/no wings. of legs on each
of legs. body segment.
Extra Breathe Breath through 1. Exo-skeleton Millipedes and
information through gills called book containing calcium Centipedes.
tracheae. lungs. salt.
Spiders and 2. Claws present.
Scorpions. 3. Breath through
gills.
 Phylum Vertebrates

P.O.C/class Fish Amphibian Reptiles Birds Mammals

Body cover Scales Moist skin Dry skin Feathers Fur/hair

Number of 2 fins and 1 tail 4 limbs 4 limbs 4 limbs 4 limbs
limbs
Blood type Ectothermic/ Ectothermic/c Ectothermic Homeothermic/ Homeothermic
cold blooded old blooded / warm blooded /warm blooded
cold
blooded
Reproduction Lay eggs. Lay eggs in Lay eggs Lay eggs with Give birth.
water. with hard shell.
rubbery
shell.
Extra  Have gills.  Tadpoles  Have beak.  Have
information  Live in water. live in  Fore limbs placenta.
water. become  Young feed
 Adults live wings. on milk from
on land mammary
and water. glands.
 Tadpoles  Have
have gills. diaphragm.
 Adult has  Heat four
lungs. chambers.
 Has ear  Have different
drum. types of
teeth.
 Cerebral
hemispheres
are very well
developed.
Phylum Annelids:

 Some have heads and antenna.

 Body is made of ring and segments.
 Most of them live in water. Some like earthworms live in moist soil.

Earth worm Tube worms

Phylum Molluscus:

 Soft unsegmented body.

 Many have hard shell.

Snail Octopus Oyster

Phylum Nematodes:

 They are worms like Annelids.

 Body is not divided into segments.
 No obvious head or legs.
 They live in different habitats.
 Some are parasites that live in the digestive
system.
 Some live in the soil.

Nematodes under microscope

Using DNA to help with classification

 It’s one of the most powerful and a new tool to help to work out evolutionary
relationships.
 DNA is a chemical made by chromosomes.
 It’s a genetic material passed from one generation to other.
 Each DNA molecule is made of strings of smaller molecules which contain four
different bases i.e. A, C, G and T.
 It can be arranged in any order.

Ferns:

 Have leaves called fronds.

 Don’t produce flowers.
 Reproduce by spores (produced on the underside of fronds).
 Plants have roots, stem and leaves.

Key:

 Key is a way of leading you through to the name of your

organism by giving you two descriptions at a time and asking to
choose between them
 This kind of key is called a dichotomous key “Dichotomous
means” branching in to two