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Bio Notes

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24 views5 pages

Bio Notes

Uploaded by

evelynkanuri86
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Chapter 1

There are seven characteristics that define a living thing/organism. No non-living thing has
all seven characteristics:
1. Growth - a permanent change in an organism's body. When cell become larger or
more cells are added/developed the body grows. Permanent increase in size
2. Movement - all living organisms can move to some extent
3. Sensitivity - the ability to detect and react to changes in an organism's environment
4. Reproduction - breeding. When the organism produces offspring
5. Nutrition - taking in substances that boost the organisms energy level
6. Excretion - removal of waste materials from the body
7. Respiration - taking in glucose and other substances to release energy

Five kingdoms:
● Animal kingdom
● Plant kingdom
● Fungus kingdom
● Prokaryote kingdom
● Protoctist kingdom

Animal kingdom characteristics:


● Cells have no cell wall
● No chloroplast(don't photosynthesise)
● Feed on organic substances made by other organisms

Plant kingdom characteristics:


● Cells have cell wall and chloroplast
● Feed by photosynthesis
● Cell wall made of cellulose
● May have roots, stems and leaves

Fungus kingdom characteristics:


● Reproduce by means of spores( a group of cells, specialized in reproduction)
● Their main body consists of microscopic threads called hyphae
● Have cell wall but not made of cellulose
● No chloroplast(don't photosynthesise)
● Most are decomposers. Feed on waste organic substances, breaking it down and
absorbing it into their cells

Prokaryote kingdom characteristics:


● No nucleus, mitochondria or chloroplast
● Bacteria belong to this kingdom
● Have cell wall but not made of cellulose
● Often have plasmids
● DNA is a circular loop, free in cytoplasm

Protoctist kingdom characteristics:


● Unicellular
● Some feed by photosynthesis others feed on organic substances made by other
organisms
● Have nucleus. Some have chloroplast and cell wall others don’t

Groups within the animal kingdom:


Vertebrates
1. Fish:
1. Live underwater throughout their lives
2. Have gills
3. Fins present
4. Scaly skin
5. Lay eggs in water without shell
1. Amphibians
1. No scales, moist skin
2. Tadpoles live in water but adults live on land
3. Go back in water to breed
4. Tadpoles undergo a major change in their body called metamorphosis
5. Tadpoles have gills but adults have lungs
6. Eggs have no shell(laid in water)
1. Reptiles
1. Dry, scaly skin
2. Lay eggs with soft shells on land
1. Birds
1. Have feathers
2. First two limps are wings
3. Eggs have hard shells
4. Some have scales but only o their legs
5. Evolved from dinosaurs
6. Have a beak
1. Mammals
1. Hair on skin
2. Sweat glands on skin
3. Have a uterus where young develop
4. Female have mammary gland to feed their young
5. Have a diaphragm
6. External ears

Arthropods (Invertebrates)

1. Insects
1. Three pairs of jointed legs
2. Two pairs of wings
3. One pair of antennae
4. Breath through tubes called trachea
5. Body divided into : head, thorax, abdomen
1. Crustaceans
1. Four pairs of jointed legs
2. Two pairs of antennae
1. Arachnids
1. Four pairs of jointed legs
2. No antennae
3. Body divided into: cephalothorax, abdomen
1. Myriapods
1. Body divided into several segments
2. Each segment has one pair of jointed legs
3. One pair of antennae

Groups within the plant kingdom

Ferns
● Non - flowering plants
● Leaves called fronds
● Reproduce by means of spores, formed on the underside of their fronds

Flowering plants
● Reproduce by flowers and seeds
● Seeds are produced in the ovary of the flower
● Two main groups:
- dicotyledon
● Seeds with two cotyledons
● Vascular bundles arranged in a ring
● Leaves have a network of veins
● Flower in multiples of four and five
● One main root with side roots
- monocotyledon
● Seeds with one cotyledon
● Vascular bundles arranged randomly
● Leaves have parallel veins
● Flower in multiples of three
● Roots branch out from the stem directly

Viruses
● Not considered to be living organisms, because they can't do anything without a host
● Can't show any of the seven characteristics on its own
Chapter 2
Cells - basic building block of the body
All living organisms are made of cells

● Cell membrane

● Thin layer of protein and fat


● Controls what goes in and out of the cell
● Partially permeable - only lets a few molecules and ions through
● Pressed tightly against the inside of the cell wall
● Cell wall

● All plant cells are surrounded by cellulose


● Animal cells do not have cell wall
● Cell wall is made of cellulose
● Cellulose forms fibre and the fibre criss-cross over each other and form a strong
cover around the cell
● If the cell absorbs too much water and swells up, the cell wall prevents it from
bursting
● Cell wall is fully permeable - let's all molecules and ions pass through

● Vacuole

● Fluid - filled space inside the plant cell


● Separated from cytoplasm with its own membrane
● Plant cells have large vacuoles containing sugars and other substances called cell
sap(fluid which fills the vacuole)
● Animal cells have much smaller vacuoles, because they do not photosynthesise,
called vesicles

● Nucleus

● Genetic information is stored here


● Information is kept in chromosomes
● Chromosomes are made of DNA
● The information carried on DNA determine the kind of protein made in the cell
● You can only see chromosomes when it is dividing

● Chloroplast

● Not found in animal cells


● Contains a green pigment called chlorophyll
● Chlorophyll absorbs the energy in sunlight and this is where photosynthesis happens
● Chloroplast contains starch grains, made by photosynthesis
● Mitochondria
● Present in almost all animal and plant cells
● Aerobic respiration happens here
● Like the energy store/power house of the cell
● The more energy released the more mitochondria present

● Ribosome

● Present in almost all plant and animal cells


● This is where the protein is made
● Only be seen with an electron microscope
● The instructions information on the proteins is used to link together long chains of
amino acids in a particular sequence
Bacterial cells

● Prokaryote cell
● No nucleus, mitochondria or chloroplast
● Cell wall present but not made of cellulose
● Prokaryote are the first kind of organisms to exist on Earth
● Often contain plasmids
● Circular loop of DNA, free in the cytoplasm. Also called bacterial chromosome
● Plasmids - smaller circles of DNA

Specialised cells

● Structure of these cells are modified to help carry out their specialised function
● Cells that specialise in the same function are found together in a group. A group of
specialised cells, adapted to do a particular function are called tissues
● A group of different tissues that work to carry out the same function together is called
an organ
● A group of organs that work together to carry out a function is called an organ system

Size of specimen

● Magnification = Image size / Actual size


● Image size = Actual size * Magnification
● Actual size = Image size / Magnification

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