Levels of organization

• Organelles: Living components of cell are collectively known as organelles such as: nucleus, mitochondria, endoplasmic, reticulum, Golgi bodies,
ribosome, chloroplasts, centrosome, etc.
• Inclusion: Non-living components such as starch, grain, glycogen granule, oil droplets, glucose, amino acids, etc. are collectively known as inclusion.
• Cells: Cell is a structural and functional unit of living organism consisting organelles and inclusion.
• Tissue: A group of specialized cells, known as tissue. It means all these cells originate from same source and collectively perform a particular function.
For example: Epithelial tissue, nervous tissue, muscle tissue, xylem, phloem, epidermis.
• Organs: A group of different specialized tissues that work together to carry out a particular function. For example: lungs in mammals and leaves on
plants.
• Organ System: When different types of organs collectively perform a particular function is known as organ system. Example: digestive system, nervous
system, skeletal system, respiratory system, endocrine system, transport system made up of xylem and phloem.
• Organism: Several organ systems working together for an independent body is known as organism.

Characteristics of living organism

• Nutrition: Plants make their foods using the process of photosynthesis. Animals obtain their foods ready made by eating them. Foods needed for
respiration to produce energy. Energy is used for growth, repair and reproduction.
• Respiration: Respiration is the process by which living cells release energy from food or glucose.
• Excretion: Excretion is the process by which metabolic waste products such as carbon dioxide and urea are removed from body.
• Sensitivity: Sensitivity is the ability to detect changes in the environment. For example: plants grow towards sunlight.
• Reproduction: Reproduction makes new organisms of the same species as the parents.
• Growth and development: Growth and development are the processes by which an organism changes in size and in form or in mass.
• Movement: plants cannot move from place to place but parts of their body move towards certain stimulus such as light. But animals can move from
place to place.
• Homeostasis: It means maintenance a constant internal environment. For example: body temperature, blood glucose level, water level in the blood etc.

Mahmudur Rahman Munna 1|Page

 VARIETY OF LIVING ORGANISMS:
Plant:

• Plants are multicellular organisms

• Plants are eukaryotic organisms
• Plants contain chloroplast. Chloroplast contain chlorophyll for photosynthesis.
• They have cellulose made cell walls
• They have large permanent vacuole
• They store carbohydrate as starch or sucrose
• For example: Maize, rice, pea, bean.

Mahmudur Rahman Munna 2|Page

• Animals:

• Animals are multicellular organisms

• Animals are eukaryotic organisms
• Animals have centrosome
• Animals usually have nervous coordination and are able to move from place to place
• Animals store carbohydrate as glycogen
• Animals do not contain chloroplasts
• Animals have no cell walls
• For example: human, housefly, mosquito

Mahmudur Rahman Munna 3|Page

Fungi:

• Some fungi are single celled for example: yeast

• Some fungi are multicellular such as: Mucor, mushroom
• Fungi are eukaryotic organisms
• Fungi have cell walls made up of chitin
• Their body is usually organized into a mycelium made from fibre like structure called hyphae which contain many nuclei
• They don’t carry out photosynthesis as they do not contain chloroplasts
• They feed by extra cellular secretion of digestive enzyme onto food material and absorption of the digested products. This is known as saprotrophic
nutrition.
• They store carbohydrate as glycogen.

Mahmudur Rahman Munna 4|Page

Bacteria:

• They are unicellular organisms

• Bacteria are microscopic single celled organisms
• They are prokaryotic organism
• They have cell wall made of peptidoglycan
• They have circular DNA which is free in the cytoplasm
• They have no membrane bound organelles such as nucleus, mitochondria, Golgi bodies, etc.
• They have smaller ribosome (70s)
• Some bacteria can carry out photosynthesis but most feed by saprotrophic nutrition
• Some bacteria have flagella which is used for swimming through water by corkscrew-like movements
• For example: Lactobacillus used in the production of yoghurt from milk; Pneumococcus causes pneumonia; Salmonella causes typhoid.

Mahmudur Rahman Munna 5|Page

Virus/Akaryote:

• They are small particles (smaller than bacteria)

• They have no cellular structure but have protein coat (capsid) and central nucleic acid either DNA or RNA.
• They can reproduce inside living cells
• They are nonliving because they have no cellular structure
• They are living because they can reproduce on living host
• They are parasites
• For example: Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TV) that causes the discoloring of the leaves of the tobacco plants by preventing the formation of chloroplasts;
the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) causes AIDS

Protocists:

• They are microscopic single celled organisms

• They are known as Dustbin kingdom
• They are mixed group of organisms
• Some like amoeba that live in water have characteristics like an animal cell
• Others like chlorella have chloroplasts and more like plants.
• A pathogenic example is plasmodium responsible for causing malaria

Mahmudur Rahman Munna 6|Page