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Revision Notes Class 8 Science Chapter 2 - Micro-Organisms: Friend and Foe

Microorganisms can be classified into bacteria, fungi, protozoa, algae, and viruses. They are found in soil, water, and living organisms. While some microorganisms are harmful and cause diseases, others are beneficial and are used in food production, agriculture, and medicine. The document provides examples of both helpful uses of microorganisms like in making bread, cheese, and antibiotics, as well as harmful microbes that can cause diseases in humans, animals, and plants.

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Arpit Sharma
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117 views

Revision Notes Class 8 Science Chapter 2 - Micro-Organisms: Friend and Foe

Microorganisms can be classified into bacteria, fungi, protozoa, algae, and viruses. They are found in soil, water, and living organisms. While some microorganisms are harmful and cause diseases, others are beneficial and are used in food production, agriculture, and medicine. The document provides examples of both helpful uses of microorganisms like in making bread, cheese, and antibiotics, as well as harmful microbes that can cause diseases in humans, animals, and plants.

Uploaded by

Arpit Sharma
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Revision Notes

Class 8 Science
Chapter 2 - Micro-organisms: Friend and Foe
Micro-organisms:
• There are numerous organisms living around us that we may not be
able to see. We can see some of them through a magnifying glass, like
the fungus on bread. Some others are so small that they cannot be seen
without a microscope.
• These organisms that cannot be seen by unaided eyes are termed as
micro organisms or microbes.
• The microorganisms can be broadly classified as:
a) Bacteria - They are a group of prokaryotic organism [does not have
membrane bound nucleus or organelles] that constitute a major part of
microorganism. They can inhabit soil, water and every other habit
found on earth. They can be a few micrometres in length and can be of
various shapes like sphere, rod or spirals. Example - Escherichia coli,
coliform bacteria, etc.
b) Fungi - They are a group of eukaryotic organism [have a membrane
bound nucleus and organelles] that are usually heterotrophic in nature.
Examples - Penicillium, bread mould, mushroom etc.
c) Protozoa - They are a group of unicellular eukaryotic organisms
which may be parasitic or living independently and are heterotrophic
[cannot prepare own food] in nature. Example - Amoeba, paramecium,
etc.
d) Algae - They are a group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms that
are predominantly aquatic. Example - Spirogyra, Chlamydomonas, etc.
• These group of microorganisms may be harmful or useful in nature.

• Virus is also a microorganism, but they differ from the others in this
groups as they can reproduce only in the body of a host, be it animal,
plants or humans. Example - AIDS, herpes, rubella, zika, etc.
Where do microorganism live?
• The microorganism may be single celled or unicellular as in bacteria,
protozoa or they may be multicellular as in fungi, animals, etc.
• They can survive in water, air and all kinds of environmental
conditions like extreme cold climate to even the hot springs, deserts
and marshy lands. Some of them even live inside the body of animals,
and even humans.
• Some of them grow on their own whereas others thrive on the body of
other animals.

Microorganisms and us:


It is to be noted that these microorganisms play a vital role in our lives. Some
of them may be beneficial to us whereas some of them may have an adverse
and harmful effect on us.

Friendly use of microorganism:


Microorganisms can be put to multiple use, be it in the making of alcohol,
bread, cake or medicines or in agriculture of cleaning the environment.

a) Making of curd and bread:


• A bacterium, namely lactobacillus multiplies in milk converting it into
curd. The making of cheese, pickles and various other food products
also involve the use of bacteria.
• The process of fermentation [conversion of sugar to alcohol] that is
required in the rice batter for making idlis and dosa is again helped by
bacteria and yeast.
• When yeast is added to a dough, it reproduces rapidly releasing carbon
dioxide which bubbles into the dough, making it rise. This property of
yeast is used to make breads, cakes etc.

b) Commercial use of microorganism:


• Yeast is an ingredient that is widely used in the production of alcohol,
wine and vinegar. This is done by growing yeast on the natural sugar
present in the fruit juices like grapes, grains like barley, wheat, rice etc.
• The sugars are converted to alcohol by fermentation.

c) Medicinal use of microorganisms:


• The source of the widely used medicines, antibiotics [medicines that
stop or kill the disease causing agents] are again microorganisms.
• These are manufactured by growing specific as a cure for various
diseases.
• Some of the antibiotics are streptomycin, erythromycin, azithromycin
etc.

d) Vaccine:
• A disease causing microorganism called as pathogen produces
antibodies against it when it enters our body. These antibodies are
retained in our body and we are protected from that disease for ever.
• A Vaccine is a biological substance that initiates the production of
antibodies for a specific disease. Thus a vaccination protects us from
that specific disease.
• Children are generally vaccinated for many diseases like polio,
tuberculosis, chicken pox, hepatitis etc. Smallpox has been eradicated
this way. And currently the Covid vaccine is doing the same.

e) Increasing soil fertility:


• There are some bacteria, like rhizobium that are present in the soil, generally
in the roots of leguminous plants, that are capable of fixing the
atmospheric nitrogen to enrich the soil with nitrogen which increases the
fertility of the soil and the yield of the crop.

f) Cleaning the environment:


• Some of the microorganisms have the ability to decompose dead organic
matter and convert them into simpler substance or manure that can be
reused for animals or plants, making the environment clean.

Harmful uses of microorganisms:


They can be harmful in numerous ways to humans, plants and animals and
cause diseases. As stated, the disease causing microorganisms are known by the
name of pathogens.
a) Disease causing microorganisms in humans:
• The harmful pathogens enter the body of humans by means of air, water
or the food. They can then spread to the others by contact with the
infected person or through an animal or insect.
• The diseases that can spread form an infected person to a healthy
person by means of air, water or contact are termed as communicable
diseases. Examples - plague, chickenpox, tuberculosis, common cold,
and the current Covid 19 infections.
• These disease bearing microorganisms are sometimes carried by insects
and animals are then they are termed as carriers of that disease.
Example- female anopheles mosquito is the carrier of plasmodium that
causes malaria.
• The mode of transmission, type of microorganism, the disease caused
by these microorganisms and their prevention differ from each other as
shown below:

• The prevention of these disease follows a general pattern of keeping the


affected person and his belongings isolated, personal hygiene, proper
sanitary practices, drinking boiled and clean water, controlling breeding
sites of mosquitoes, consuming properly cooked food and above
vaccination against all these diseases on schedule.
b) Disease causing microorganisms in animals:
Many of the microorganism are a cause of certain diseases in animals
too.A few of the diseases found in animals is as shown below:

c) Disease causing microorganisms in plants:


Many microorganisms are responsible for diseases in plants of potato,
rice, wheat, sugarcane etc reducing the quality and quantity of the yield
of the crops. These diseases can be controlled by the use of chemicals
that destroys these organisms. Some of diseases of plants are listed as
below:

d) Food poisoning:
When the microorganisms contaminate the food, they sometimes
produce toxic substances when leads to the ill health of a person
consuming it and has health problems like vomiting and needs to be
taken to a hospital. This condition of consuming food contaminated
with microorganisms is Called as food poisoning.

Preservation of food:
As discussed above contamination of the food by microorganisms leads to a
change in the colour and taste of the food. Several methods can be followed to
prevent this microorganism attack Some of them are as follows:
a) Chemical method: Generally salts and edible oils are used to control
Their growth and these are termed as preservatives. Example - salt in
pickles,sodium benzoate in jams.
b) Common salt: This is a common practice where meat and fish or some
fruits like raw mangoes, tamarind etc are covered with salt to last them
for longer periods.
c) Sugar: Some food items like jams and jellies are preserved in sugar
Which reduces the moisture to inhibit the growth of microorganisms.
d) Oil and vinegar: This is also used commonly as the microorganisms
cannot live in such conditions. This is widely used in making pickles.
e) Heat and cold treatments: It is a common practice to boil milk in
order to store it. The method of heating milk to eliminate the microbes
present in it is called as pasteurization. Similarly storing food at low
temperatures also prevents the growth of these microbes.

Nitrogen Cycle:
• The nitrogen cycle can be defined as a bio-chemical process of
circulating the nitrogen in the atmosphere, through soil, organism and
back to atmosphere.
• The nitrogen present in the atmosphere cannot be consumed by the
plants or animals directly.
• This nitrogen needs to be converted to nitrogenous compounds by some
bacteria in the soil.
• This converted form of nitrogen is used by the plants and when the
Animals feed on them they get that.
• The fungi and bacteria in the soil convert the nitrogen present in dead
plants and animals to either gaseous or compounds that are reused by
the plants.
• Thus the balance of nitrogen is maintained in the atmosphere.

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