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Biology Unit 1

The document outlines the key characteristics of living organisms and describes the variety of life forms. It discusses the main groups of eukaryotic organisms - plants, animals, fungi - as well as prokaryotes like bacteria and viruses. Pathogens that cause diseases in humans are highlighted. The groups are then compared based on cellular features like having a cell wall, plasmid, cytoplasm or nucleus.

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13 views3 pages

Biology Unit 1

The document outlines the key characteristics of living organisms and describes the variety of life forms. It discusses the main groups of eukaryotic organisms - plants, animals, fungi - as well as prokaryotes like bacteria and viruses. Pathogens that cause diseases in humans are highlighted. The groups are then compared based on cellular features like having a cell wall, plasmid, cytoplasm or nucleus.

Uploaded by

thisismashael07
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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BIOLOGY UNIT 1

THE NATURE AND VARIETY OF LIVING ORGANISMS

CHARACTERISTICS OF ALL LIVING ORGANISMS:


M- movement, action of changing position or place
R- respiration, release of energy from food
S- sensitivity, responding to changes in surroundings
G- growth and development
R- reproduction, producing offspring
E- excretion, removing metabolic waste products
N- nutrition, provides energy and raw materials for growth and repair
C- control ling internal conditions e.g. temperature

VARIETY OF LIVING ORGANISMS


Eukaryotic organisms are those made of eukaryotic cells, which are complex and include all
animal and plant cells:
ORGANISM DESCRIPTION EXAMPLE

Plants  Multicellular Flowering plant:


 Can photosynthesise (chloroplasts)  Cereals (e.g.
 Cells hv cellulose cell walls maize)
 Store carbs as starch/sucrose  Herbaceous
legumes (e.g.
peas)
Animals  Multicellular Mammals, insects
 Most hv nervous coordination, respond
quickly to changes in the environment
 Don’t photosynthesise (no chloroplasts)
 No cell walls
 Often store carbs as glycogen
 Can move around
Fungi  Some single celled Unicellular:
 Others hv body called mycelium, which is Yeast
made up of hyphae (thread-like
structures), which contains lots of nuclei Multicellular:
 Cell walls of chitin Mucor (has a
 Store carbs as glycogen mycelium, thus
 Don’t photosynthesise hyphae)
 Feed through saprotrophic nutrition:
- Detect large insoluble molecules
(starch) on the outside
- Release extracellular enzymes on the
outside, onto molecules
- Enzymes breakdown/dissolve/digest
insoluble molecule into smaller soluble
ones (glucose)
- Hyphae absorbs smaller molecules
 Decomposers
 Contain plasmid

Protoctists  Single-celled, microscopic Plant-like:


 Some hv chloroplasts and are similar to Chlorella
plant cells
 Others are like animal cells Animal-like:
Amoeba
(lives in pond water)

Pathogenic:
Plasmodium, causes
malaria

Prokaryotic cells are smaller, simpler structures:


ORGANISM DESCRIPTION EXAMPLE
Bacteria  Single celled, microscopic Lactobacillius Bulgarius -
 No nucleus, but a circular chromosome turns milk into yoghurt
of DNA, plasmid hv DNA too
 Some can photosynthesise Pneumococcus- pathogen
 Most feed off other organisms, alive + causing pneumonia
dead
 Contains a cell wall

Virus  Neither pro/eukaryotic because they Influenza


aren’t living organisms
 Particles, not cells (don’t respire) Tobacco mosaic virus-
 Smaller than bacteria discolours tobacco leaves by
 Infect all types of living organisms preventing formation of
 Only reproduce inside living cells chloroplasts
(parasitic) HIV
 Variety of shapes/sizes
 No cellular structure, but hv protein
coat around genetic material (DNA or
RNA)

Pathogens are organisms that cause disease:

Bacteria: Pneumococcus, causes pneumonia


Protoctists: Plasmodium, causes malaria
Virus: Influenza, respiratory condition & HIV, attacks immune system and causes AIDS

GROUPS FEATURE
Cell wall Plasmid Cytoplasm Nucleus
Bacteria ✓ ✓ ✓ x
Fungi ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Protoctists x x ✓ ✓

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