THE LIVING WORLD - Notes

CHAPTER-1-THE LIVING WORLD
Life is a unique, complex organization of molecules, expressing through chemical

reactions which lead to growth, development, responsiveness, adaptation &
reproduction.
A living organism is self-replicating, evolving and self-regulating interactive

system capable of responding to external stimuli.
PROPERTIES OF LIVING ORGANISMS
1. Growth
 It is the increase in number & mass of cells by cell division.
 In plants, growth continues throughout their lifespan.
 In animals, growth is only up to a certain age. However, cell division occurs

to replace lost cells.
Basically, growth is the increase in mass & size. Thus non-living objects also
grow (surface accumulation of material). So growth is not a defining property of
living organisms.
In living organisms, growth is from inside.
2. Reproduction
 It is the production of progeny having features similar to those of parents.
 Organisms reproduce asexually and sexually.
 In unicellular organisms, growth & reproduction are same because they

reproduce by cell division.
Many organisms do not reproduce (e.g. mules, worker bees, infertile human
couples, etc). Hence, reproduction is not a perfect defining property of living
organisms.
3. Metabolism
 It is the sum total of all biochemical reactions taking place inside a living
system. It is the defining feature of living organisms.
4. Cellular organization
 Organisms are made up of one or more cells.
 It is the defining feature of living organisms.
5. Consciousness
 It is the ability of organisms to sense their environment and respond to

environmental stimuli (like light, water, temperature, other organisms,
chemicals, pollutants, etc).
 All organisms are ‘aware’ of their surroundings. So, it is the defining

property of living organisms.
 Human is the only organism having self-consciousness.
DIVERSITY IN THE LIVING WORLD
 The number and types of organisms present on earth refer to biodiversity.
 Number of species described is 1.7-1.8 million.
 Taxonomy is the study of identification, classification & nomenclature of

organisms.
 Systematics (Latin ‘systema’ = systematic arrangement) deals with

evolutionary relationships among organisms.
 Systema Naturae is the book written by Linnaeus.
Basic processes of taxonomy.
Characterization: It is the understanding of characters of organisms such as

external and internal structure, structure of cell, development process, ecological
information etc.
Identification: It is the correct description of the organism so that the naming is

possible.
Classification: It is the grouping of organisms into convenient categories (taxa)

based on characters.
Nomenclature (naming): It is the standardization of names of the organisms such

that an organism is known by the same name all over the world. The system of
naming with two components is called Binomial nomenclature. It is proposed by
Linnaeus.
Botanical names are based on the rules in International Code for Botanical
Nomenclature (ICBN).
Zoological names are based on International Code for Zoological Nomenclature

(ICZN).
Universal rules of Binomial nomenclature
 Scientific names are in Latin or Latinised and written in italics. When

handwritten, they are underlined separately.
 The first word is genus name (Generic name) and second word is the
species name (specific epithet).
E.g. Homo sapiens- Homo represents the genus name and sapiens represents the
species name.
 The Genus name starts with capital letter and the species name starts with
small letter.
 Name of the author (in abbreviated form) appears at the end of the
biological name.
E.g., Mangifera indica Linn. It indicates that this species was first described by
Linnaeus.
TAXONOMIC CATEGORIES
Classification involves hierarchy of steps in which each step represents a

taxonomic category (rank).
All categories together constitute a taxonomic hierarchy.
A group of organisms occupying a particular category is called a taxon (pl. taxa).

E.g. Class Mammalia.
Each category or taxon represents a unit of classification.
Category Taxon
Kingdom -Animalia
Phylum/Division -Chordata
Class Mammalia
Order Primata
Family Hominidae
Genus Homo
Species Sapiens

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CHAPTER-1-THE LIVING WORLD

Life is a unique, complex organization of molecules, expressing through chemical

A living organism is self-replicating, evolving and self-regulating interactive

PROPERTIES OF LIVING ORGANISMS

 It is the increase in number & mass of cells by cell division.

 In plants, growth continues throughout their lifespan.

 In animals, growth is only up to a certain age. However, cell division occurs

In living organisms, growth is from inside.

 It is the production of progeny having features similar to those of parents.

 Organisms reproduce asexually and sexually.

 In unicellular organisms, growth & reproduction are same because they

 It is the defining feature of living organisms.

 It is the ability of organisms to sense their environment and respond to

 All organisms are ‘aware’ of their surroundings. So, it is the defining

 Human is the only organism having self-consciousness.

DIVERSITY IN THE LIVING WORLD

 The number and types of organisms present on earth refer to biodiversity.

 Number of species described is 1.7-1.8 million.

 Taxonomy is the study of identification, classification & nomenclature of

 Systematics (Latin ‘systema’ = systematic arrangement) deals with

 Systema Naturae is the book written by Linnaeus.

Basic processes of taxonomy.

Characterization: It is the understanding of characters of organisms such as

Identification: It is the correct description of the organism so that the naming is

Classification: It is the grouping of organisms into convenient categories (taxa)

Nomenclature (naming): It is the standardization of names of the organisms such

Zoological names are based on International Code for Zoological Nomenclature

Universal rules of Binomial nomenclature

 Scientific names are in Latin or Latinised and written in italics. When

Classification involves hierarchy of steps in which each step represents a

All categories together constitute a taxonomic hierarchy.

A group of organisms occupying a particular category is called a taxon (pl. taxa).

Each category or taxon represents a unit of classification.

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