Characteristics and Classification of Living

Organisms
Movement - An action by an organism or part of an organism causing a change of position or
place.
Respiration - The chemical reactions in cells that break down nutrient molecules and release
energy for metabolism.
Sensitivity - The ability to detect internal or external stimuli in the environment and to make
appropriate responses
Growth - Permanent increase in size and dry mass by an increase in cell number or cell size or
both.
Reproduction - Processes that make more of the same kind of organism.
Excretion - Removal of waste products of metabolism, toxic materials and substances in excess
of their requirements from organisms.
Nutrition - Taking in materials for energy, growth and development.

Classification:
● There are millions of species of organisms on Earth.
● A species is a group of organisms that can reproduce to produce fertile offspring.
● Species can be classified into groups based on the features that they share.

Why do we classify?
● The main reason is to make it easier for us to study them.
● The ancestor they all share is called a common ancestor.
● We can try to conserve threatened species.
● Understand evolutionary relationships
How are organisms Classified?
● Anatomy - gain an insight to their evolution.
● Organisms share features because they originally descended from a common ancestor.
Originally, organisms were classified using morphology - the overall form and shape of
the organism, and anatomy (the detailed body structure as determined by dissection)
● Cladistics - Classification involving data from DNA or RNA sequences.
● DNA is the chemical from which our chromosomes are made.
● It is the genetic material passed on from one generation to the other.
● The DNA molecule is made up of 4 diff. bases - A,G, T, C and can be arranged in any
order. Biologists can compare the sequence of bases in the DNA of organisms of 2
different species.
● The more similar the base sequence in the DNA of the two species, the more closely
related those two species are and the more recent in time their common ancestor is.
● The similarities in the sequence of amino acids in proteins can be used the same way.
(DNA base sequences are used to code for amino acid sequences in proteins)

All vertebrates have a vertebral column skull protecting a brain and a pair of jaws, usually with
teeth.

The Binomial Naming System:

● An internationally agreed system in which the scientific name of an organism is made up
of 2 parts showing the genus and species.
● The first part of the name consists of the genus, with the first letter capitalised.
● The second part consists of the species with all letters in lowercase.

Order of classification:
● Kingdom
● Phylum
● Class
● Order
● Family
● Genus
● Species
● Acronym : King Phillip Came Over For Good Soup

Common structures :
● Cells of all living organisms contain: cytoplasm, cell membrane, DNA as genetic material
● Also contain ribosomes (either found in the nucleus or free in the cytoplasm) for protein
synthesis and enzymes for respiration.

The five Kingdoms:

● The first division of classification is to put organisms into one of the 5 kingdoms -
● Animals, plants, Fungi, Protoctists and Prokaryotes
Main features of Animals;
● Are multicellular
● Cells have a nucleus but no cell wall or chloroplasts
● Feed on organic substances made by other living things (heterotrophic)

Main Features of Plants:

● Are multicellular
● Cells contain a nucleus, cell wall and chloroplast
● All feed by photosynthesis (Autotrophic)
● May have roots, stems and leaves.

Main Features of Fungi:

● Usually multicellular
● Have nuclei and cell walls made of chitin
● Do not photosynthesize;
● No chlorophyll, chloroplast
● Feed by Saprophytic or parasitic nutrition.
● Saprophytic-Dead Decaying material.
● Parasitic - live material

Main Features of Protoctists:

● Multicellular or unicellular
● Have no nucleus
● Cells may or may not have a cell wall and chloroplasts
● Some feed by photosynthesis and others feed on organic substances made by other
organisms.

Main Features of Prokaryotes:

● Often unicellular
● Cell walls are made of peptidoglycan
● Have no nucleus
● Have no mitochondria
● Have plasmid DNA.
● Plasmid - 1 molecule
Arthropods:
● Largest Phylum in the animal Kingdom.
● Have jointed limbs, segmented bodies and hard exoskeletons

Vertebrates: (Phylum)

Classifying plants:
Some parts of any parts are green caused by the presence of the pigment chlorophyll which
absorbs energy from sunlight for the process of photosynthesis.
The plant Kingdom includes ferns and flowering plants

Ferns:
● Stem and leaves have sieve tubes and water conducting cells
● Have leaves called fronds.
● Have roots, Stems, leaves
● produce gametes but not seeds
● Reproduce by spores or produced on the underside of their fronds.
● Do not produce flowers
Flowering plants:
● Cells have cellulose cell wall and sap vacuoles
● Reproduce sexually by means of flowers and seeds
● Have roots, Stems, leaves
● Seeds are produced in the ovary inside the flower.
● Cotyledon means seed leaf can be divided into 2 groups - Monocotyledons and
Dicotyledons.

Viruses:
● Not part of any classification system as they are not considered living.
● They take over the host cells and then make multiple copies of themselves
● Host cell is usually killed while this happens
● On their own, viruses cannot move, feed, excrete, show sensitivity, grow or reproduce.
● They take over a host cell's metabolic pathway and make copies of themselves.

Structure :
Simply genetic material ( DNA ON RNA ) surrounded by a protein coat.
Dichotomous key: Key is used to identify organisms based on a series of questions about their
features

Magnification:
Organ systems in plants: Roots & shoots system.
Organs of a plant: roots & stems.