Organisms and Cells

Characteristics of living things

1. Movement (moving part or all of themselves)
2. Respiration (providing energy)
3. Sensitivity (detecting changes)
4. Growth (getting bigger)
5. Reproduction (making new organisms like
themselves)
6. Excretion. (getting rid of wastes)
7. Nutrition. (getting food)

Remember: MRS GREN

Organism = living thing

Senses: sight, hearing, taste, touch, smell

Living things are called organisms. Living organisms have a set of seven
characteristics that make them different from non-living things.
 Cell is the smallest living part of an organism.

Parts of a plant cell Parts of a Function

animal cell
Cell wall Yes No Hold plant cell in shape
Cell membrane Yes Yes Control what goes in and out of the cell
Cytoplasm Yes Yes Chemical reactions happen inside
Nucleus Yes Yes Control the activities of the cell
Sap vacuole Yes No Contain a solution of sugar and other
substance dissolved in water
Chloroplast Yes No Where plants make their food
Contain chlorophyll (green substance)
Mitochondiron Yes Yes Energy is released from food inside
mitochondrion.
Specialized cells
Specialized cell: cell with adaptations for a certain job.

Adaptation: feature of something that allows it to do a job (function) or allows it to survive.

1. Palisade cell
palisade cell: cell found in plant leaves, which contains many chloroplasts.

2. Root hair cell

Root hair cell: plant cell found in roots that is adapted for taking in water quickly.

On the outside of many roots, is a layer of root hair tissue. It is made of root hair cells.
A “root hair” gives a cell a lot of surface area, which helps it absorb water quickly.

surface area: the area of a surface, measured in squared units such as square centimetres
(cm2)
 3. Red blood cells

Red blood cells don’t have nucleus.

They only have cell membrane and cytoplasm.
Function: carries oxygen.
Adaptation:
- contains haemoglobin (a substance that traps oxygen
and it is a red pigment).
- Its indented shape increases its surface area, so that it
can absorb oxygen quickly.
- are smaller than most most other cells in the body.
This allows them to get through tiny blood capillaries,
so they can deliver oxygen to every part of the body.

4. A nerve cell

Name: a nerve cell

Function: carrie signals from one part of the body to another.
They help all the different part of the body to communicate
with each other.
Adaptation: very long, to help carry these signals quickly.
Tissues
A tissue is a group of similar cells, which all work together to carry out a particular function.

Organs
The bodies of plants and animals contain many different parts, called organs.
Each organ is made up of several different kind of tissues, working together.
Organs also work together.
A set of organs that all work together to carry out the same function is called an organ system.
Exercise.