Tissues 

Are Plants and Animals Made of Same Types of Tissues? 

 

Plant Tissues  Animal Tissues 

● Plants are stationary– they don’t  ● Animals move around in search of 
move. Since they have to be  food, mates and shelter. They 
upright, they have a large  consume more energy as 
quantity of supportive tissue  compared to plants. Most of the 
which generally has dead cells.   tissues they contain are living.  

● The growth in plants is limited to  ● Cell growth in animals is more 

certain regions. There are some  uniform. There is no such 
tissues in plants that divide  demarcation of dividing and 
throughout their life. These  nondividing regions in animals.  
tissues are localised in certain 
regions. 

● The structural organisation of  ● The structural organisation of 

organs and organ systems are not  organs and organ systems are far 
as specialised and localised as in  more specialised and localised 
animal tissues.  than in plant tissues. 
 
Plant Tissues 
Meristematic Tissues 
1. The growth of plants occurs only in certain specific regions. Why?  
This is because the meristematic tissue is located only at these points. Depending 
on the region where they are present, meristematic tissues are classified as apical, 
lateral and intercalary. New cells produced by meristem are initially like those of 
meristem itself, but as they grow and mature, their characteristics slowly change 
and they become differentiated as components of other tissues.  
2. Explain the different types of meristematic tissues. 
Apical meristem-​ Present at the growing tips of stems and roots and increases the 
length of the stem and the root.  
Lateral meristem (cambium) ​-Increases the girth of the stem and root.  
Intercalary meristem- ​Located near the node. 
3. List the features of meristematic tissues. 
Cells of meristematic tissue are very active, they have dense cytoplasm, thin 
cellulose walls and prominent nuclei. They lack vacuoles. 
 
Permanent Tissues 
1. What happens to the cells formed by meristematic tissue?  
The meristematic tissues take up a specific role and lose the ability to divide. As a 
result, they form a permanent tissue. This process of taking up a permanent shape, 
size, and a function is called differentiation. It leads to the development of various 
types of permanent tissues.  
2. Explain the different types of simple permanent tissues. 
Parenchyma-  
● Most common simple permanent tissue.  
● Consists of relatively unspecialised cells with thin cell walls.  
● Are living cells.  
● Loosely arranged, thus large intercellular spaces are found in this tissue. 
● Generally stores food. 
● In some situations, it contains chlorophyll and performs photosynthesis, and 
is called chlorenchyma.  
● In aquatic plants, large air cavities are present in parenchyma to help them 
float. This parenchyma type is called aerenchyma.  
Collenchyma- 
● Responsible for flexibility in plants. 
● Allows bending of various parts of a plant like tendrils and stems of climbers 
without breaking.  
● Provides mechanical support.  
● Found in leaf stalks below the epidermis.  
● The cells are living, elongated and irregularly thickened at the corners.  
● Very little intercellular space.  
Sclerenchyma- 
● Makes the plant hard and stiff.  
● The cells of this tissue are dead.  
● Long and narrow as the walls are thickened due to lignin with no internal 
space inside the cell. 
● Present in stems, around vascular bundles, in the veins of leaves and in the 
hard covering of seeds and nuts. 
● Provides strength to the plant parts.  
3. Epidermis 
● The outermost layer of cells. 
● Made of a single layer of cells.  
● Protects all the parts of the plant. 
● Plants living in very dry habitats- It may be thicker since protection against 
water loss is critical.  
● Aerial parts of the plant- It often secretes a waxy, water resistant layer on 
their outer surface which aids in protection against loss of water, 
mechanical injury and invasion by parasitic fungi.  
● Desert plants- It has a thick waxy coating of cutin on its outer surface. 
● Since it has a protective role to play, cells of epidermal tissue form a 
continuous layer without intercellular spaces.  
● Are relatively flat.  
● Outer and side walls are thicker than the inner wall. 
● The small pores present mostly on the underside of the leaf on the 
epidermis are called stomata. They are enclosed by two kidney-shaped cells 
called guard cells and are necessary for exchanging gases with the 
atmosphere. Transpiration takes place through stomata.  
● Epidermal cells of the roots, whose function is water absorption, commonly 
bear long hairlike parts that greatly increase the total absorptive surface 
area.  
● Cork Cells- As plants grow older, the outer protective tissue undergoes 
certain changes. A strip of secondary meristem located in the cortex forms 
layers of cells which constitute the cork. Its cells are dead and compactly 
arranged without intercellular spaces. They have a substance called suberin 
in their walls that makes them impervious to gases and water. 
4. Explain the two types of complex permanent tissues. 
Complex tissues are made of more than one type of cells which coordinate to 
perform a common function.  
● Xylem consists of tracheids, vessels, xylem parenchyma and xylem fibres. 
Tracheids and vessels have thick walls, and many are dead cells when mature. 
Tracheids and vessels are tubular structures which allows them to transport 
water and minerals vertically. The parenchyma stores food. Xylem fibres are 
mainly supportive in function.  
● Phloem is made up of five types of cells: sieve cells, sieve tubes, companion 
cells, phloem fibres and the phloem parenchyma. Sieve tubes are tubular 
cells with perforated walls. Phloem transports food from leaves to other 
parts of the plant. Except phloem fibres, other phloem cells are living cells. 
 
 

The Fundamental Unit of Life 

 
Cell Division  
Process by which new cells are formed in organisms in order to grow, to replace 
old, dead and injured cells, and to form gametes required for reproduction.  
Two main types of cell division: mitosis and meiosis.  
Mitosis: 
● Each cell called mother cell divides to form two identical daughter cells. 
● The daughter cells have the same number of chromosomes as the mother 
cell.  
● Helps in growth and repair of tissues in organisms.  
Meiosis: 
● Specific cells of reproductive organs or tissues in animals and plants divide 
to form gametes, which after fertilisation give rise to offspring.  
● Involves two consecutive divisions.  
● When a cell divides, it produces 4 new cells instead of just two.  
● New cells only have half the number of chromosomes than that of the 
mother cells.  
 
 Is Matter Around Us Pure? 
 
Solutions 
● It is a homogeneous mixture of two or more substances.  
● Alloys are mixtures of two or more metals or a metal and a non-metal and 
can’t be separated into their components by physical methods. 
● The component of the solution that dissolves the other component in it is 
called the solvent. The component of the solution that is dissolved in the 
solvent is called the solute. 
Properties of solution 
● It is a homogeneous mixture. 
● Its particles are smaller than 1 nm in diameter and can’t be seen by naked 
eyes. 
● Because of very small particle size, they do not scatter a beam of light 
passing through the solution. 
● The solute particles cannot be separated from the mixture by the process 
of filtration and don’t settle down when left undisturbed; it is stable. 
Concentration of a solution 
● Saturated solution-​When no more solute can be dissolved in a solution at a 
given temperature.  
● Solubility-​The amount of the solute present in the saturated solution at this 
temperature. 
● Concentration of a solution-amount of solute present in a given amount of 
solution. 
● Mass by mass percentage of a solution  
Mass of solute​ ×100  
Mass of solution  
● Mass by volume percentage of a solution  
Mass of solute ​ ×100  
Volume of solution  
● Volume by volume percentage of a solution  
Volume of solute​ ×100  
Volume of solution 
Suspensions 
● A heterogeneous mixture in which the solute particles don’t dissolve but 
remain suspended throughout the bulk of the medium. 
Properties of a Suspension  
● It is a heterogeneous mixture. 
● The particles of a suspension can be seen by the naked eye. 
● The particles of a suspension scatter a beam of light passing through it and 
make its path visible. 
● The solute particles settle down when a suspension is left undisturbed; it is 
unstable. They can be separated from the mixture by the process of 
filtration. When the particles settle down, the suspension breaks and it does 
not scatter light any more. 
Colloids 
● The particles are uniformly spread throughout the solution.  
● The components of a colloidal solution are the dispersed phase and the 
dispersion medium. The solute-like component forms the dispersed phase, 
and the component in which the dispersed phase is suspended is known as 
the dispersing medium.  
Tyndall effect 
● Scattering of a beam of light. 
● Can be observed when  
➔ a fine beam of light enters a room through a small hole. 
➔ sunlight passes through the canopy of a dense forest. In the forest, 
mist contains tiny droplets of water, which act as particles of colloid 
dispersed in air. 
● Happens due to the scattering of light by the particles of dust and smoke in 
the air.  
Properties of a colloid  
● It is a heterogeneous mixture. 
● The size of particles is too small to be individually seen by naked eyes.  
● They are big enough to scatter a beam of light passing through it and make 
its path visible. 
● They do not settle down when left undisturbed (Quite stable) 
 ● They can’t be separated from the mixture by the process of filtration but 
by centrifugation.  
 
Separating the Components of a Mixture 
Obtaining dye from blue/ black ink 
Ink is a mixture of a dye in water. We can separate the volatile component 
(solvent) from its non-volatile solute by the method of evaporation. 
 
Separating cream from milk  
For mixtures whose particles in a liquid are very small and pass through a filter 
paper, centrifugation is used. The principle is that the denser particles are forced 
to the bottom and the lighter particles stay at the top when spun rapidly.  
Applications 
● Used in diagnostic laboratories for blood and urine tests. 
● Used in dairies and home to separate butter from cream. 
● Used in washing machines to squeeze out water from wet clothes. 
 
Separating a mixture of two immiscible liquids 
The principle is that immiscible liquids separate out in layers depending on their 
densities. 
Applications 
● To separate mixture of oil and water. 
● In the extraction of iron from its ore, the lighter slag is removed from the 
top by this method to leave the molten iron at the bottom in the furnace. 
 
Separating a mixture of salt and camphor 
Camphor changes directly from solid to gaseous state on heating. To separate 
mixtures that contain a sublimable volatile component from a non-sublimable 
impurity, the sublimation process is used. Examples of sublime solids- ammonium 
chloride, naphthalene and anthracene. 
 
Separating dyes in black ink 
The ink has water as the solvent and the dye is soluble in it. As the water rises on 
the filter paper it takes along with it the dye particles. A dye is a mixture of 2 or 
more colours. The coloured component that is more soluble in water, rises faster 
and in this way the colours get separated. This process of separation of 
components of a mixture is known as chromatography. Kroma in Greek means 
colour. This technique was first used for separation of colours, so this name was 
given. Chromatography is the technique used for separation of those solutes that 
dissolve in the same solvent.  
Applications  
To separate: 
● colours in a dye. 
● pigments from natural colours. 
● drugs from blood. 
 
Separating a mixture of 2 miscible liquids 
Distillation is used for the separation of components of a mixture containing 2 
miscible liquids that boil without decomposition and have sufficient difference in 
their boiling points. To separate a mixture of two or more miscible liquids for which 
the difference in boiling points is less than 25 K, fractional distillation process is 
used. Example- separation of different gases from air, different factions from 
petroleum products. The apparatus is similar to that for simple distillation, except 
that a fractionating column is fitted in between the distillation flask and the 
condenser. A simple fractionating column is a tube packed with glass beads. The 
beads provide surface for the vapours to cool and condense repeatedly.  
 
Obtaining different gases from air 
Air is a homogeneous mixture and can be separated into its components by 
fractional distillation. If we want oxygen gas from air, we have to separate out all 
the other gases present in the air. The air is compressed by increasing the 
pressure and is then cooled by decreasing the temperature to get liquid air. This 
liquid air is allowed to warm-up slowly in a fractional distillation column, where 
gases get separated at different heights depending upon their boiling points.  
  
 
Obtaining pure copper sulphate from an impure sample 
The crystallisation method is used to purify solids. Crystallisation is a process that 
separates a pure solid in the form of its crystals from a solution. It is better than 
simple evaporation technique as: 
● Some solids decompose or some, like sugar, may get charred on heating to 
dryness. 
● Some impurities may remain dissolved in the solution even after filtration. 
On evaporation these contaminate the solid.  
Applications 
● Purification of salt that we get from sea water. 
● Separation of crystals of alum (phitkari) from impure samples.  
 

 
Physical and Chemical changes 
Properties like colour, hardness, rigidity, fluidity, density, melting point, boiling 
point etc. are the physical properties. The interconversion of states is a physical 
change because these changes occur without a change in composition and no change 
in the chemical nature of the substance. Burning is a chemical change. During this 
process one substance reacts with another to undergo a change in chemical 
composition. Chemical change/chemical reaction brings change in the chemical 
properties of matter and we get new substances. 
Elements 
● 1661- Robert Boyle -1​st​scientist to use the term element.  
● Antoine Laurent Lavoisier-1​st​to establish an experimentally useful definition 
of an element. ‘’Element is a basic form of matter that cannot be broken 
down into simpler substances by chemical reactions.’’ 
Metals: 
● have a lustre. 
● have silvery-grey or golden-yellow colour. 
● conduct heat and electricity. 
● are ductile (can be drawn into wires). 
● are malleable (can be hammered into thin sheets). 
● are sonorous.  
● Examples -gold, silver, copper, iron, sodium, potassium.  
Mercury is the only metal that is liquid at room temperature.  
Non-metals: 
● display a variety of colours. 
● are poor conductors of heat and electricity. 
● are not lustrous, sonorous or malleable.  
● Examples -hydrogen, oxygen, iodine, carbon (coal, coke), bromine, chlorine 
etc.  
Some elements have intermediate properties between those of metals and 
non-metals, they are called metalloids. Examples-boron, silicon, germanium. 
 
Compounds 
A compound is a substance composed of two or more elements, chemically combined 
with one another in a fixed proportion.