LIFE PROCESSES

Life Processes are basic processes needed by living organism to maintain their life.
Life processes can be divided into
1) Nutrition
2) Respiration
3) Transportation
4) Excretion

1) Nutrition:
The process by which organism gets nutrients from the environment in the form
of food or to manufacture food is called nutrition.

Types of Nutrition

Autotrophic Heterotrophic

2) Respiration
The process of breaking down of food to obtain energy is called respiration.

Types of Respiration

Aerobic Anaerobic

Autotrophic nutrition

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Autotrophic nutrition :- Organisms prepare their own food from simple inorganic
substances like carbon dioxide and water in the presence of sunlight and
chlorophyll is called autotrophic nutrition. This is fulfilled by the process of
photosynthesis.
Eg :- all green plants and some bacteria

Nutrition in plants done by the process of photosynthesis :-

● Photosynthesis:- It is a process in which plants prepare their own food from

simple inorganic substances like carbon dioxide and water in the presence of
sunlight and chlorophyll. The food prepared is carbohydrate which is stored in the
form of starch. Carbohydrates are utilized for providing energy to the plant.
Oxygen is released in this process.
● Equation of photosynthesis :-
Sunlight
6CO2 + 12H2O C6H12O6 + 6H2O + 6O2
Chlorophyll
● Process of photosynthesis :-
This photosynthesis process mainly takes place in the green part of the plant
i.e., leaves .Photosynthesis takes place in three main steps. They are :-
i) Absorption of light energy by chlorophyll.
ii) Conversion of light energy into chemical energy and splitting of
water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen.
iii) Reduction of carbon dioxide to form carbohydrates.

Chlorophyll :-
photosynthesis process mainly takes place in the green part of the plant i.e.,
leaves. If you carefully observe a cross-section of a leaf under the microscope
(shown in Fig. 5.1), you will notice that some cells contain green dots. These
green dots are called chloroplasts which contain chlorophyll.
es
Stomata :- The tiny pores present on the surface of the leaves are called stomata.
AQMassive amounts of gaseous exchange takes place in the leaves through these
pores for the purpose of photosynthesis. The plant closes these pores when it
does not need carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. The opening and closing of the
pore is a function of the guard cells. The guard cells swell when water flows into

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them, causing the stomatal pore to open. Similarly the pore closes if the guard
cells shrink.

Heterotrophic nutrition:
● Heterotrophic nutrition is nutrition in which
organisms get their food directly or indirectly from
plants.
Eg : all animals fungi and some bacteria.

● Types of heterotrophic nutrition :- There are three

main types of heterotrophic nutrition:

1. Saprophytic: is nutrition in which organisms get

their food from dead organisms. They break
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down the food material outside their body and
then absorbs it.
Ex: mushroom, some bacteria etc.

2. parasitic : is nutrition in which organisms get

their food from living organisms without killing
them.
Ex: lice, tape worm etc.

3. holozoic : is nutrition in which organisms take

food directly and then digests and absorbs it.
Ex: amoeba, humans etc.

Nutrition in amoeba:
 Amoeba is a unicellular animal living in
water.

Nutrition in Human beings :

● Nutrition in human beings takes place in the
digestive system. It consists of the alimentary canal

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and glands which produce enzymes which breaks
down food into smaller molecules.
● The main organs of the digestive system are
mouth, oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, large
intestine, and anus.
The main glands are salivary glands, gastric glands,
liver, pancreas and intestinal glands.

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