Biology

Photosynthesis & Respiration

Ecology
Micro-organisms
Human Reproduction
Plant & Animal Cells

Keywords
Ecosystem Interactions between organisms, and between these organisms and their environment.
Chlorophyll A green pigment found in the chloroplast that traps radiant energy from the sun.
Radiant energy Light energy that comes from the sun.
Glucose A sugar that is a product of photosynthesis.
Destarch When starch in a leaf is converted & moved to other parts of the plant
Respiration The series of chemical reactions by which plants & animals release the potential chemical energy
trapped in them.
Species A group of similar organisms that can interbreed with each other to produce fertile offspring, but
cannot breed with other species.
Interbreed Able to mate with each other to produce viable offspring.
Ecologist A scientist who studies the relationships between organisms and their environment.
Abiotic components Non-living parts of an ecosystem.
Biotic components Living parts of an ecosystem.
Physiographic Factors associated with the physical nature of an area (Height above sea level)
Altitude The height or location of any object above a certain base (Sea level/ground level)
Gradient The degree to which a slope ascends or descends.
Habitat The place where an organism lives.
Food chains The natural process in which one living thing is eaten by another, which is in turn eaten by another
and so on.
Feeding relationships Interaction between biotic components.
Food webs The different food chains in an ecosystem are interconnected to form a complex web of feeding
interactions.
Trophic level The particular feeding/nutritional position occupied by different organisms in an ecosystem.
Carrying capacity The maximum number of individuals that a particular environment can support.
Eroded The gradual loss of soil by natural elements (wind/rain).
Adaptation A form/structure modified to fit a changed environment.
Extinct The organism dies out and no longer exists anywhere in the world.
Naked eye Seeing something without the aid of magnifying lens or microscope.
Microscopic Instrument using a series of lenses that increase the size of the image when it reaches the eye.
Microbiologist Scientist who studies micro-organisms.
Pathogenic Capable of causing diseases.
Infectious Something that can be spread from organism to organism.
Immune system Your body’s defence system, helps protect you from infections.
Cosmopolitan Found almost everywhere.
Anthrax A bacterial disease usually found in sheep and cattle; can be transferred to humans.
Rabies Viral disease affecting nervous system of all warm blooded creatures & almost always leads to death.
Pharmacologist Person who studies how drugs work in the human body.
Antibiotic Medicine used to treat bacterial infections.
Control Used for comparison in an investigation; factor being investigated is not included in control.
Reproduction Process in which parent organisms give rise to new living individuals.
Hormones Chemicals in the body.
Menstruation The monthly flow of blood and lining of the uterus.
Implantation When the zygote embeds itself into the inner lining of the uterus.
Promiscuous Human who has many different sexual partners.
Eukaryotic cells Cells that make up plants and animals.
Cells Smallest living unit that makes up a living organism.
Organelles Small parts of a cell that each have their own functions and characteristics.
Photosynthesis
- Process whereby green plants use radiant energy + CO2 + water in series of chemical reactions to make glucose.
- Chloroplasts in green plants contain chlorophyll which is used to trap radiant energy and convert it to glucose,
which is stored in the plant as starch.
- Starch, cellulose, chemical compounds are produced from glucose enable processes such as growth &
reproduction.

Respiration
- When energy is released from food.
- Mitochondria
- Breaks down energy rich food substances, glucose using oxygen.

Glucose + oxygen  energy + carbon dioxide + water

Ecology
- Study of the interactions of organisms with one another and with their physical & chemical environment.
1) Population
Group of organisms of the same species that live in the same area & are able to interbreed.

2) Communities
Different species of organisms /different populations that share a common area and are interdependent
on each other.

3) Ecosystems
- Consists of a community and its environment.
- Living organisms affect each other and their env. (vice versa)
- Biotic and abiotic

4) Biosphere
- All ecosystems combined
- Bios: where living things can exist.

Ecosystems
Abiotic Biotic
Air & wind: - All the living organisms and the wate they produce.
- Gases are imp. For life processes. (pho+res) - Most varies and easily changed pats of eco.
- Moving air for birds migrating - Influenced by: disease, population, a/biotic,other org.
Temp, sunlight, shade: - The survival of individual organisms & populations
- Temp determines the type of life the eco support. depend on ability of org to adapt to changes.
- Sunlight & shade affects temp
Soil, stones, rocks: Ecosystem:
- Woodlice pref – moist, sticky soil - Stable sys. made up of a comm. of org. which interact
- Scorpions, centipedes – loose, dry soil with env.
Steep/gentle slope:
- Altitude, slope of land and position of area in area in relation to sun or winds impact eco.
- Slopes affect surface temp of soil (North facing are warmer) (S. Eastern: rain bearing winds-forests in places.)
- Gradient-steep slope won’t hold lots of water, soil, rocks. (North slopes: lots sunlight) (gentle north for veg.)
Feeding Relationships
- Producers
Plants are the only producers in an ecosystem as they are autotrophs and are able to photosynthesise.
- Consumers
Animals cannot photosynthesise as they are heterotrophs, they depend on other organisms such as plants.
1) Herbivores
2) Carnivores
3) Omnivores
4) Detritivores
5) insectivores
- Decomposers
Break down dead organic matter and return nutrients to soil. They are micro/macroscopic.

Energy Flow
- Plants & algae are producers
- When living organisms die, it decays and energy is released back into the env. as heat.
- The transfer of energy through an ecosystem.

- Food chains
o Organisms found in a sequence.
o Use arrows
o Primary Consumer (Herbi/omni)
o Secondary Consumer (Carni/omni)
o Tertiary Consumer (Carni/omni)

- Food webs
o Each organism eats more than one species or organism and is in turn eaten by more than one organism.
o Food chains are interconnected in nature.

- Energy pyramids
o Represent food chains by energy pyramids.
o Food pyramids show how much energy is available at each feeding level.
o Greatest amount of energy is stored at the base.
o Energy is lost at each level as plants & animals use some energy in various physical and metabolic processes.
(cellular respiration, urine, faeces.)
o Remaining energy is converted to biomass.
o Number of organisms at each level decreases.
Balance in an ecosystem
- Ecosystems can only support as many organisms as its resources can support.
- If one organism exceeds its carrying capacity, there are harmful effects on the ecosystem.
o Soil erosion
o Too many cattle grazing on a field (over-eating)

Natural Factors
- Extreme changes: Weather + Climate
o Floods, droughts, temperature

- Droughts & Floods

o Often occur in ecosystems in Africa.
o Animals migrate in search for water, some die along the way but there’s enough to keep the species
alive.
o Okavango Delta in Botswana
- Lack of food
o Bears hibernate through winter months, their body functions slow down and little energy is used.
o Birds fly to warmer climates.
o Animals migrate to different climates.

Human Factors
- Poaching
o Motivated by greed to make money from organisms.
o Poachers kill rhinos for horns.
- Air pollution
o Acid rain – increases water’s acidity in rivers, lakes, streams, killing aquatic plants and animals.
- Water pollution
o Humans use water to get rid of our waste
o Littering
o Oil spills
- Climate change
o Changes in temperature and rainfall (Blizzards, hurricanes, snowfall, droughts, volcanic activity)
o Burning fossil fuels, cutting down trees, creating toxic waste.
o Higher temperature at North Poles causes more ice to melt from polar caps flooding more water into the
ocean bringing up the tide line.
- Habitat Destruction
o Past 100 years, tigers lost 93% of their habitat (2006-2010: 20 000 km2 in India lost.)
o Causes animals to move closer to humans.
o 100 years ago, 100 000 tigers (4000 estimated today)

Adaptations
- Changes to structural, functional, behavioural characteristics.
- Not a conscious choice, happens over a long period of time.
- Bears with thicker coats can survive in colder climates.
- Environment selects the better adapted organism, organisms that are unable to do so will become
extinct.
Exoskeletons Small Reproduce quickly
Wings Social insects; colonies Camouflage, mimicry, warning colours, markings, chemicals
Micro-organisms
- Microscopic organisms that are living.

- Viruses
o Tiny agents 0,02-0,3 µm
o Can only reproduce using a host.
o E.g.) HIV
- Bacteria
o Tiny organisms 1 µm
o Decomposers
o Kingdom Monera
o E.g.) Rod & round shaped decomposition bacteria.
- Protozoans
o Single-celled animal-like organisms 10-50 µm
o Feed on bacteria & protozoans
o Kingdom Protista
o E.g.) Plasmodium
- Yeast
o Single-celled organisms 5-10 µm
o Can’t make own food, feed on sugars
o Produce alcohol + CO2 from sugars.
o Kingdom Fungi
o E.g.) Yeast cells
- Algae
o Plant-like organisms 1-100s µm
o Photosynthesise
o Kingdom Protista
o E.g.) Green Algae

Characteristics
- Capable of carrying out the life processes. (Excl. viruses)
- Reproduce quickly
- Very small, Microscopic
 Calculating the actual size of an object using magnification
Drawing size
Actual size = --------------------------
Magnification
Harmful Micro-organisms
- TB
o Infectious disease caused by bacterium
o Lungs, air when infected person sneezes/coughs.
o If not treated with meds it can be fatal.
- HIV
o Causes AIDS
o Attacks & destroys persons immune system (without a string one, a person will get sick very easily.)
- Escherichia coli infections
o Bacterium that lives in the large intestine.
o Most strains are harmless, but some are harmful.
o Stomach cramps, vomiting, diarrhoea, death.
o Food not cooked/washed properly, bacteria passed easily from hands to mouth.
- Meningitis
o Affects the membrane surrounding the brain (Virus/bacterium)
o Persistent headache, stiff neck, back, nausea, vomiting, body aches.
o Viral – saliva, faeces, mucus.
o Bacterial – spread when person coughs & sneezes (very contagious)
- Malaria
o Mosquito borne infectious disease (Protozoan - Plasmodium) – Infected Anopheles mosquito.
o Fever, chills, headache.
o Result in coma & death if not treated.

Preventing the spread

- Cosmopolitan
- Unknowingly picked up on hands and transferred to mouths. (Immune system handles germs)
- Washing hands regularly
- Sanitising
- Vaccinations

Waterborne diseases
- Cholera
o Bacterium found in contaminated water
o Diarrhoea, vomiting, severe dehydration + death
o Untreated causes lead to death within 6 hours (Babies and young children especially at risk)
- Typhoid
o Bacterium excreted in faeces in unsanitary conditions.
o 3 weeks for symptoms to show. (headache, fever, abdominal pain)

Modern Scientists
- Louis Pasteur (1822 -1895)
o French chemist + microbiologist
o Anthrax + rabies vaccine
o Pasteurisation (72° for 15 secs, cooled to 10° quickly)
o Recommended that docs wash hands + equipment before use
- Alexander Flemming (1881 - 1955)
o Scottish biologist & pharmacologist
o Antibiotic Penicillin (First called mould juice)
o Petri dish with bacteria cultures
o One dish developed fungus and all bacteria had died.

Useful Micro-organisms
- Beer, wine, bread
- Fermentation: Breaking down of sugars to form alcohol & CO2 that expands when baking causing bread to rise.