1.

4 Features
of Organisms
The Domains + Kingdoms
 The domains + kingdoms of life
• There are 3 domains: Archaea, Eubacteria and Eukaryotes.
• The Eukaryotes have a nucleus and can be split into four kingdoms of life. The Archaea
bacteria and the eubacteria group together to form the prokaryotes- they have no
distinct nucleus but have DNA
• The organisms in each domain or kingdom have features that distinguish them from
other kingdoms
• The main groups we will discuss are:
1. Prokaryotes
2. Protoctista (Protists)
3. Fungi
4. Plants
5. Animals
 Prokaryotes ( we will learn more on this later)
• Bacteria and archaea
• Single celled
• Microscopic
• Have smaller cells than plants and animals
• The cells have NO nucleus
• The genetic material lies free in the cytoplasm
 Prokaryotes ( we will learn more on this later)
• They have a cell membrane
• Most have a cell wall made of different materials
(bacteria: made of peptidoglycan)
• Examples: Escherichia coli (found commonly in the
human gut), Salmonella (causes food poisoning),
Mycobacterium (causes tuberculosis)
 E. Coli
Salmonella

Mycobacterium
 Protoctists
(Protists)
• Single celled
• Microscopic
• Usually larger than bacteria
• Their cells have a nucleus with the DNA
• Their cells also have organelles that carry out specific functions
• Their single cell, performs all the life processes
• Examples:
• Amoeba – looks like a little animal
• Chlorella – looks like a plant – photosynthesises with its chloroplast
• Plasmodium – pathogen that causes malaria
 Plasmodium and malaria
• Malaria is one of the greatest causes of death through infectious illness in the world today
• Mostly children die
• Spread mostly in sub- Saharan Africa
• It is caused by the protoctist Plasmodium
• It is transferred from person to person by Anopheles female mosquitoes
• The mosquito feeds on blood to obtain nutrients to lay eggs
• The mosquito inserts a liquid that prevents blood clotting when it bites
• If it is infected, the plasmodium from the mosquito’s alimentary canal enters a person with
the liquid, thereby infecting the person
• The plasmodium protects itself from the environment and can complete its life cycle in this
way
• Its life cycle starts in the mosquito and continues in the human liver and blood cells, causing
the deadly illness malaria
Plasmodium infection causes malaria
Fungi
• Some fungi are single celled – example yeast
• Most are not and are made of thread-like hyphae
• Together, the hyphae make a mycelium
• They have no chloroplasts, therefore do not photosynthesise
• They obtain nutrients by releasing (secreting) digestive enzymes outside,
into the environment which break down living or dead material, and then
the digested nutrients are absorbed
• This type of nutrition is called saprotrophic nutrition
• Their cell wall is composed of chitin
• Examples:
• Mucor – seen as mould on spoiled foods (has hyphae with mycelium)
• Yeast - used by humans in baking and brewing (single celled)
Mucor
hyphae

Yeast
Mushrooms and toadstools
• The mushroom or toadstool we usually see are only the reproductive
organs of a fungus containing spores
• The spores are dispersed by wind which is why the mushroom is big
and it is tough to survive the drying conditions
• The hyphae and mycelium are usually under ground where the food
is, and where it is moist so it can feed
 Plants and Animals
Plants Animals

Multicellular Multicellular
Eukaryotes – cells have a nucleus with the Eukaryotes – cells have a nucleus with the
genetic material genetic material

Have chloroplasts Do not have chloroplasts

Make their own food by photosynthesis - Obtain food from others - HETEROTROPHS
AUTOTROPHS

Cells have cell walls containing cellulose Cells do not have cell walls
Not able to move about, but parts can Animals can usually move their bodies
move. Example leaves moving towards the from one place to another (such as to find
light, seeds dispersed by wind and animals their food) or parts of their body
Animals
• The phylum Chordata can be divided into two
main groups:
1. Vertebrates – have a backbone (vertebral
column)
2. Invertebrates – No backbone
Phylum: Chordata (includes the vertebrates)

• Chordata includes the following classes:

1. Mammals (Mammalia)
2. Birds (Aves)
3. Reptiles (Reptilia)
4. Amphibians (Amphibia)
5. Fish (including bony fish)*
 Mammals
• Live on land and in water
• Have hair or fur on their body (for insulation, or sensitivity . E.g.
whiskers)
• Homeotherms – maintain their body temperature regardless of the
temperature of the environment
• Internal fertilization
• Most give birth to live young after they have developed in the mothers
body supported by the placenta, although very few lay eggs e.g. Platypus
• The young are fed with mother’s milk from the mammary glands
• In some parents show protective behaviour towards young
• Examples: elephants, mice, whales, humans
Rhinoceros,
koala,
dolphin, seal
Birds
• Live in all environments (land, air, water), across every continent
• Have feathers or wings for flying and insulation
• Homeotherms
• Well developed circulatory system to supply oxygen to muscles for flying
• Bones, strong but light for flying
• Scaly legs
• Internal fertilization
• Lay hard-shelled eggs in which young develop before hatching
• Often significant protective behaviour of parents to protect eggs and raise
young
• Examples: swans, penguins, ostriches
Eagle,
penguin,
ostrich,
hummingbird
Reptiles
• Terrestrial, marine, freshwater
• Some have no legs (snakes), some have legs (maximum four)
• Thick scaly skin – protects them from water loss
• Heterotherms – no regulation of body temperature, follows
environmental temperature, so they may bask in the sun
• Internal fertilization (male and female openings brought
together)
• Lay eggs on land that have thick, leathery shells for protection
• Examples: snakes, lizards, turtles, crocodiles
Saltwater crocodile, sea
turtle, marine iguana, sea
serpent
 Amphibians
• Many spend part of their life on land and part in water
• Most have two pairs of legs, some have none
• Lay eggs
• Show metamorphosis: young hatch with gills (tadpoles), that they
lose later, their tails shorten, they develop legs and a simple lung
• Adults exchange gases through lungs and thin, moist skin
• Fertilization is external – males shed sperm over female eggs in
the water
• Examples: frogs, newts, toads, salamanders
Green frog,
Seymouria,
salamander, newt
Bony fish
• Well adapted for swimming
• Usually streamlined body shape helps swimming
• Bony tail and fins control swimming direction
• Have a swim bladder, allows buoyancy and to remain stationary in water
• Skin covered with overlapping scales
• Gills for breathing
• Many have a cover over the gills – operculum – it moves, thereby drawing
water over the gills for gas exchange
• External fertilization – males shed sperm over female eggs in the water
• Young when they hatch, fend for themselves
• Examples: sharks and ray fish (cartilage), salmon, cod
Invertebrates (no vertebral column)
There are several phyla of invertebrates. These include:
1. Porifera (sponges)
2. Cnidaria (hydras, corals, jellyfish, sea anemones)
3. Platyhelminthes (flatworms, flukes, tapeworms)
4. Molluscs (snails, squid, octopus, chitons)
5. Annelida (marine bristle worms, earthworm, leeches)
6. Arthropoda
• means “jointed legs”
• Have an exoskeleton made of chitin
• (insects, arachnids, crustaceans, myriapods)
Myriapods
• Means “many legged ones”
• Include:
1. Millipedes
• Have up to 200 legs
• From microscopic to 30cm in length
• Live in leaf litter and soil
• Eat plant debris generally
2. Centipedes
• Have fewer legs
• Predators
Insects
• Most numerous group of animals on Earth
• Body divided into three regions: head, thorax, abdomen
• Six jointed legs
• Many have pairs of wings
• Head well supplied with sense organs: antennae to detect vibrations,
compound eyes to see, some have chemical detectors
• Some (ants, bees, termites), have a complex social structure with
intricate behaviour patterns, usually living in large communities with one
queen who produces most of the young
• Examples: bees, beetles, insects, flies, butterflies, ants
 Arachnids
• These are spiders, scorpions, ticks
• Spiders:
• body made of two parts and eight legs (from front part)
• Pair of pedipalps in the front to manipulate food
• Most are carnivores, catching food in webs that they spin made of a strong
sticky protein
• Scorpions:
• Elongated body
• Release venomous sting from tail for defence and to capture prey
• Most are nocturnal
• Feed on a variety of small insects
 Crustaceans
• Mainly marine animals
• Include: crabs, lobsters, crayfish and woodlice
• Body divided into head, thorax, abdomen (abdomen can be made of several
segments)
• Head has two pairs of antennae
• Number of legs varies, usually attached to thorax; shrimps have two
swimming legs attached to abdomen
• Some species have front legs modified into pincers or chelipeds – example
crab
• Marine species, moult several times during life as they grow – they release
their hard skeleton, grow and then harden the new exoskeleton
Plants

•We will study four phyla of plants:

1.Bryophyta (mosses and liverworts)
2.Filicinophyta (ferns)
3.Coniferophyta (conifers)
4.Angiospermophyta (flowering plants)
Bryophyta (mosses and liverworts)
• No roots – structures similar to root hairs called
rhizoids
• Mosses have simple leaves and stems
• Liverworts have a flattened thallus
• No vascular tissue (lacks xylem and phloem)
• Spores are produced in a capsule which develops at
the end of a stalk
Filicinophyta (ferns)
• Leaves divided in fronds
• They appear directly from the ground or are on green stalks
• Non- woody plants (soft stems), usually bushes
• Have roots to anchor the plant to the ground and to absorb nutrients and
water from the soil
• In the winter, the fronds die back, so the ferns are almost invisible
• In the spring, the new curled fronds uncurl from the ground to the tip
• No flowers
• No seeds
• They produce spores from spore cases on the bottom side of the leaves
Coniferophyta (conifers)
• Shrubs or trees with roots,
leaves and woody stems
• Leaves often narrow with thick
waxy cuticle
• Vascular tissue is present
• Seeds develop from ovules on
the surface of the scales of
female cones
• Male cones produce pollen
 Angiospermophyta (flowering plants)
• Most numerous group of plants
• Herbaceous (soft) or woody
• Grasses, bushes, trees
• Have leaves
• Well developed roots for support and for absorbing nutrients and water
• Reproductive organs are in the flower containing male and female parts that
produce pollen (male gamete) and ova (female gamete)
• When the pollen reaches the egg, fertilization occurs (fusion of male and female
gamete) which results in a seed
• In most cases the seeds are surrounded with fruits which can help in seed
dispersal or for protection
•
Plant recognition features
Monocotyledons and Dicotyledons
• Cotyledons are food stores that are found in the seeds
• Flowering plants can be monocotyledons or dicotyledons
Monocotyledons Dicotyledons

One cotyledon Two cotyledons

Long strap-like leaves Broad leaves of different shapes

Parallel veins in leaves Branching veins

Fibrous roots Tap root

Flowers in multiples of three Flowers in multiples of four or five

Example: Grasses Most plants with visible flowers

Answer questions, pg. 25
Answer questions, pg. 30
Answer questions, pg. 32