ALETHEA INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL - DEHIWELA

STUDY PACK 2

SCIENCE- GRADE 8I
Issued on:16/05/2021 Date of submission: 07/06/2021 Set By Ms. Shakya Wickramasuriya

Unit 8D Unicellular organisms

Definitions:

Cell: Basic structural and functional unit of living organisms.

Unicellular organisms: Organisms made of a single cell.
Multicellular organisms: Organisms made of more than one cell.
Microorganisms: An organism too small to be seen with the naked eye.
Diffusion: Movement of particles from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration,
down a concentration gradient.
Kingdom: There are five kingdoms into which organisms are divided: Plants, animals, fungi,
protoctists and prokaryotes.
Gene: A length of DNA that contains the instructions for making a protein, and helps to produce an
inherited characteristic of an organism.
Replication: When a virus (or DNA) copy itself.
Parasite: Organism or virus that lives on or in a living host organism and takes food from it, causing
harm to the host.
Obligate parasite: A parasite that cannot reproduce without being in its host.

Further study:
https://youtu.be/JZjzQhFG6Ec?t=4
https://youtu.be/YS7vsBgWszI?t=3
https://youtu.be/aPmPep2r6uo?t=72
https://youtu.be/0TdQeTM0xec?t=76 Introduction: bacteria

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 https://youtu.be/VVuYGkk_I8s?t=2 fungi
https://youtu.be/B1CFVuQVG2U?t=2 protozoa
https://youtu.be/sK6Us18yEAE?t=3
https://youtu.be/18vbNJuzhx8?t=3
https://youtu.be/r75NL3gN5yU carbon cycle
https://youtu.be/_dYkByQ9Kmg?t=2

8Db Microscopic Fungi

Definitions:

Evidence: Data used to support an idea or prove that it is wrong.

Budding: A type of asexual reproduction in which a new small cell, a bud, grows out from a parent cell.
Asexual reproduction: Producing new organisms with one parent only.
DNA: A large molecule that contains genes.
Gene: A length of DNA that contains the instructions for making a protein, and helps to produce an
inherited characteristic of an organism.
Aerobic respiration: A type of respiration in which oxygen is used to release energy from substances,
such as glucose.
Glucose + Oxygen →Carbon dioxide + Water (+ energy)
Anaerobic respiration: A type of respiration that does not need oxygen.
In humans: Glucose → Lactic acid (+ some energy)
Fermentation: Anaerobic respiration occurring in microorganisms.
Glucose → Carbon dioxide + Ethanol (+ some energy)
Population: The number of a certain organism found in a certain area.
Limiting factor: Something that stops a population growing.

Growth Curves

When grown in controlled conditions, these simple organisms will demonstrate the phases of a
sigmoidal growth curve:

➢ After an initial lag period, there will be a period of exponential growth whilst resources remain
abundant
➢ As resources become limited, the growth rate may begin to slow before eventually becoming
stationary (plateau)
➢ Because organisms are being grown in closed systems, an accumulation of metabolic waste will
inevitably occur
➢ This will eventually lead to an increase in the rate of death and an overall reduction in population
size

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Videos and extra reading:

Yeast cell budding: https://youtu.be/cjK4yCo-xEk

https://youtu.be/GFEgB_ytDZY

DNA to protein: https://youtu.be/gG7uCskUOrA

Aerobic respiration: https://youtu.be/ZkqEno1r2jk

Anaerobic respiration in human muscle: https://youtu.be/40Wp3-ntNis

Fermentation using yeast: https://youtu.be/FYClCHVT00M

8Dc Bacteria
Definitions:

Tuberculosis: A communicable bacterial disease that infects the lungs.

Vaccines: A substance introduced into the body to make a person immune to a certain pathogen.
Enzyme: A biological catalyst which can speed up a chemical reaction but not get used up in the
process.
Binary fission: Splitting of a cell into two.
Chromosome: A long molecule that contains instructions for organisms and their cells.
Flagellum: A tail- like structure that rotates, allowing a unicellular organism to move. (Plural: flagella)
Statement key: A series of descriptive statements used to work out what something is.

Videos and extra reading:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/znyycdm/articles/z4f26yc
https://youtu.be/lzHdQ0n6o7E
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 8Dd Protoctists
Definitions
Photosynthesis: A process that plants use to make their own food. It needs light to work.
Organic molecules: A molecule that is built using a chain of carbon atoms.
Producers: An organism that is able to produce its own food. (eg: by photosynthesis)
Chlorophyll: The green substance found inside chloroplasts.
Food chains: A way of showing what eats what in a habitat.
Food webs: Many food chains linked together.
Pyramid of numbers: Diagram showing the numbers of different organi9sms at each trophic level in a
food chain.
Trophic level: Feeding level in a food chain, such as producer, primary consumer, secondary
consumer.
Pyramid of biomass: Diagram showing the biomass in each trophic level of a food chain.

• The term ‘Protista’ is derived from the Greek word “protistos”, meaning “the very first“.

• These organisms are traditionally considered as the first eukaryotic forms of life and a
predecessor to plant, animals, and fungi.

• The primary feature of all protists is that they are eukaryotic organisms. This means that
they have a membrane-enclosed nucleus. They are mostly unicellular.

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Protozoa

Protozoans are unicellular organisms. These are also called animal protists. All protozoans are
heterotrophic, i.e., they feed on other organisms to obtain nutrition.
Eg: Amoeba, Euglena, Paramecium and Plasmodium

Algae

These form another category under kingdom Protista. These are generally single-celled or
multicellular organisms. These are photosynthetic, found mostly in freshwater sources or marine
lakes. They are characterized by a stiff cell wall.

Moulds

Moulds are saprophytic organisms (they feed on the dead and decaying matter.)

Feeding Relationships
Food chains and food webs describe feeding relationships. The population of species in a food
chain is shown using a pyramid of numbers. Organisms in an ecosystem affect each other’s
population.

Producers and consumers

A food chain always starts with a producer, an organism that makes food. This is usually a green
plant, because plants can make their own food by photosynthesis.
A food chain ends with a consumer, an animal that eats a plant or another animal.
Here is an example of a simple food chain:

grass → cow → human

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Food webs

When all the food chains in an ecosystem are joined up together, they form a food web.
The plant is the producer and the animals are consumers:
the first consumer in the chain is also called the primary consumer
the next one is the secondary consumer
the one after that is the tertiary consumer

A consumer that only eats plants is called a herbivore, and a consumer that only eats other animals is
called a carnivore. An omnivore is an animal that eats both plants and animals.

Pyramids of numbers

The population of each organism in a food chain can be shown in a type of bar chart called a
pyramid of numbers. The bars are drawn to scale – the more organisms it represents, the wider
the bar. The producer in the food chain always goes at the bottom of the pyramid of numbers.
Think about this food chain:
clover → snail → thrush → hawk

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Clover is a plant and it is the producer in this food chain. Its bar goes at the bottom of the
pyramid:

Energy is lost to the surroundings as we go from one level to the next, so there are usually fewer
organisms at each level in this food chain. A lot of clover is needed to support the snail
population. A thrush eats lots of snails, and a hawk eats lots of thrushes, so the population of
hawks is very small.

Pyramids of biomass

Biomass is the total dry mass of one animal or plant species in a food chain or food web. A
pyramid of biomass shows the biomass at each trophic level, rather than the population
The biomass goes down from one trophic level to the next, just like the amount of energy, so the
bars always get narrower towards the top.

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It can be difficult to get valid data for a pyramid of biomass because:
measuring dry biomass means that all the water has to be removed from the organisms
an organism may belong to more than one trophic level, so it cannot easily be represented by
one bar

Videos and extra reading:

https://study.com/academy/lesson/kingdom-protista-definition-characteristics-examples.html
https://youtu.be/kQdRVq0b9Bk
https://youtu.be/wGfOoRrICto
https://youtu.be/Qx0mz0rxe0k
https://youtu.be/hLq2datPo5M
https://youtu.be/KSk3cAJfdSI

8De Decomposers and Carbon cycle

Ecosystem: All the physical environmental factors and all the organisms that are found in a
habitat.
Decomposer: An organism that feeds on dead organisms or animal wastes, causing them to
decay.
Decay: The breakdown of dead organisms or animal wastes, which allows the substances they
contain to be recycled.
Carbohydrates: A nutrient that is used as the main source of energy.
Protein: A nutrient used for growth and repair.
Fats: A nutrient that is stored to be used for energy in the future. It also acts as a thermal
insulator.
Carbon cycle: A model used to show how carbon compounds are recycled in an ecosystem.
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 Decomposers do not possess complicated organ systems. In fact most decomposers are
microorganisms.

Decomposers therefore release enzymes* to their surroundings and digest the complex food
molecules in dead, organic matter such as carbohydrates, proteins and fats.

Note that this process of digestion occurs outside the body of the decomposer.

The small, soluble, simple molecules formed as a result of enzyme activity are then absorbed
by the decomposer.

The absorbed simple molecules are used by the decomposer for respiration and growth.

*Enzymes are biological catalysts which speed up a chemical reaction without itself being used
up in the process.

Rabbit decomposition video time lapse: https://youtu.be/C6sFP_7Vezg

Compost
Decomposers do not possess complicated organ systems. In fact most decomposers are
microorganisms.

Decomposers therefore release enzymes* to their surroundings and digest the complex food
molecules in dead, organic matter such as carbohydrates, proteins and fats.

Note that this process of digestion occurs outside the body of the decomposer.

The small, soluble, simple molecules formed as a result of enzyme activity are then absorbed
by the decomposer.

The absorbed simple molecules are used by the decomposer for respiration and growth.
*Enzymes are biological catalysts which speed up a chemical reaction without itself being used
up in the process.
Rabbit decomposition video time lapse: https://youtu.be/C6sFP_7Vezg

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 Carbon Cycle

Carbon cycle: https://youtu.be/AZmL5kiNml4

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