BIO 101; General Biology 1

Topics:- 1. Classification and General Characteristics of Living

Things
2. Cell Structure and Functions

By

Prof. Sunday Clement O. MAKINDE

and
Miss. O O SUNMON
Department of Biological Sciences (Botany Unit)
Faculty of Science
Lagos State University of Science and Technology Ikorodu, Lagos
 1. Classification and General
characteristics of Living Things
 What is a living thing?
•Biology is the study of life. But what, exactly,
does that mean? Although it may initially seem
obvious whether something is alive or not, when
approaching it scientifically, the definition and
properties of life become far less obvious.

•For example, this frog is sitting amongst lily

pads floating in a pond. Which things in this
picture are living, and which ones are non-
living?
Classification of Living Things

Classification is the grouping of

living organisms according to
similar structures and
functions.
Classification of Living Things
The most fundamental classification
of living things is kingdoms. There
are five kingdoms currently. The
living things are placed into certain
kingdoms based on how they
acquire their food, types of cells
they make in the body, and the
number of cells they contain.
 Classification systems
•We classify objects when we group
them with similar objects.

•This makes it easier for us to make

sense of the world around us.

•We group things all the time:

for example, kitchen utensils are
grouped
into cutlery, plates, bowls and pots.
 Classification of Living Things
•Biologists sort living organisms into groups to
make it easier to study them.

•Grouping of living organisms is called

biological classification.

•Living organisms are divided into five main

groups called KINGDOMS.

•These are the bacteria, protists, fungi, plants

and animals.
Classification of Living Things
Each Kingdom is very large and it contains
many different types of organisms.
4000
Bacteria

66000
150000
Fungi
Protists

290000
Plants

1200000
Animals
Meet Carl Linnaeus

•Famous for his work in Taxonomy:

the science of identifying, naming
and classifying organisms (plants,
animals, bacteria, fungi, etc.).
•He was born in 1707 in Råshult,
Sweden.
•He was the eldest of five children.
•His father, Nils, was a minister and a
keen gardener.
 Seven Level Classification System
He used seven groups or taxonomic levels
Kingdom The broadest level

Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species The most specific level
Classification of Living Things
Domain or Kingdom Cell Type and Number Able to Make Food?

Bacteria Monera Prokaryotes; unicellular Some are able to make

food
Archaea Monera Prokaryotes; unicellular Some are able to make
food
Eukarya: Some are able to make
Protists Eukaryotes; unicellular
or multicellular food
Fungi Eukaryotes; unicellular No
or multicellular
Plants Eukaryotes; Yes
multicellular
Animals Eukaryotes; No
multicellular
Classification of Living Things
Characteristics of Living Things
• Body made up of cell and organization of body system.

• A unique ability to reproduce

• Ability to grow and Develop

• Ability to metabolize (Use and Need Energy)

• Ability to respond to stimuli (React to changes)

• Ability to adapt to the environment (Homeostasis)

• Lastly, ability to move and respire

 Characteristics of Living Things
1. Made of Cells:
• All living things are composed of one or more cells.
• Cell – membrane-covered structure that contains all of the materials
necessary for life
• Unicellular - uni = one; made of one cell
• Different cell parts within the cell perform different functions
• Multicellular – multi = many; made of many cells
• Different cells have specialized functions
Organized body system

▪ All of the little cells that come together to make living things do so in
a specific order.
▪ For example a group of muscle cells come together to form our
muscles.
 Characteristics of Living Things
2. Reproduce:
–Living things make other living things similar to themselves.
• Sexual reproduction – reproduction in which the sex cells
from two parents unite, producing offspring that share
traits from both parents.
–2 parents
–Most plants & animals
• Asexual reproduction - reproduction that does not
involve the union of sex cells and in which one parent
produces offspring identical to itself.
– A parent (1 parent)
–Most unicellular organisms
 Characteristics of Living Things

3. Grow & Develop:

• Growth
• Get larger
• Develop
• Become more
complex
 Characteristics of Living Things
4. Use Energy:
– Organisms use energy to carry out the activities of life.
• Ex: making food, moving materials into & out of cells,
making new cells

– Metabolism – the sum of all chemical processes that

occur in an organism
1. Ingestion – taking in food
2. Digestion – breaking down food so that it can be
used
3. Respiration – adding oxygen to release energy in
food
4. Excretion – getting rid of wastes
 Characteristics of Living Things
5. Respond to changes in the environment:
• Sense change in the environment & respond

• Stimulus - anything that causes a reaction or change

in an organism
• Ex: gravity, light, heat, hunger

• Response – the reaction to a stimulus

• Homeostasis - the maintenance of a constant internal

state in a changing environment
• Ex: Body temperature
Hot = sweating Cold = shivering
Warm Up:
Living Things Respond to their Environment
Stimulus Response

You forget to use a potholder, and

touch the hot handle of a pan on
the stove.

Your parents turn on a light in the

morning to wake you.

Your dog sees a cat.

A fly lands on a venus flytrap.

The Vice Chacellor comes into the

classroom.
 Characteristics of Living Things

6. The sixth characteristic of living things is

homeostasis (to keep yourself alive)

•Living things respond to the environment.

•Examples are: sunflowers responding to the
sun, humans responding to the cold by
shivering, or birds migrating south
 Characteristics of Living Things
7. The seventh characteristic of living things is ability to
move and respire

• Living things exhibit locomotory motion, they move. Animals

are able to move as they possess specialized locomotory

organs, for example – Earthworms move through the soil

surface through longitudinal and circular muscles.

• Plants move in order to catch sunlight for photosynthesis.

• Living things respire.

 Needs of Living Things

1. Water:
• Living things are made up of approximately 70%
water
• Most chemical reactions (ex: metabolism)
require water
 Needs of Living Things
2. Air:
• A mixture of several gases, including oxygen
and carbon dioxide

• Oxygen is used to release the energy in food

• Cellular respiration

• Not every living thing needs oxygen

• Anaerobic
• an = without aero = air
 Needs of Living Things

3. Living space:
•All organisms need a place to live that
contains all of the things they need to
survive.
•Space on Earth is limited
•Leads to competition for space
 Needs of Living Things
4. Food:
All living things need food for energy.
• The SUN is the primary source of energy for living
things!
• Producers – organisms that can make their own food
by using energy from their surroundings
–aka: Autotroph
• Consumers – organisms that eat other organisms or
organic matter
–aka: Heterotroph
• Decomposers – organisms that get their food by
breaking down the nutrients in dead organisms or
animal wastes
2. Cell Structure ,Organisation
and Functions
 INTRODUCTION
• Fundamental unit of life.
• Self replicating structure
• The first cells were observed
and named by Robert Hooke in
1665 from slice of cork.
• Some organisms consist of a
single cells = unicellular organism, others are multicellular.
• Diameter- 2-120µm.
 CELL THEORY
•Proposed by Matthais Schleiden and
Theodor Schwann in 1839:-
-All living things are made up of
cells.
-Cells are the smallest working
unit of all living things.
-All cells come from pre-existing
cells through cell division.
Cell Wall
Cell wall is a rigid
outer covering
present outside
plasma
membrane. It is
found in plant
cell. Animal cell
lack cell wall.
Structure of Cell wall

•It is made up of cellulose .Cell walls are a

strong collection of laminated fibers. Each
fiber contains hundreds of strands of
cellulose.
Functions of Cell wall

• It gives turgidity to the cell.

• It provides shape to the cell.
• It provides mechanical strength to the
cell.
• It provides rigidity to the cell.
• It protects cell from damages.
• It is freely permeable to water and
allows exchange of materials
between living cell contents through
pores.
Nucleus
Structure
• The nucleus is a large roundish
organelle. It is bounded by a
double membrane which has
numerous pores. Inside the
nucleus are chromosomes and a
dark region called a nucleolus
which makes ribosomes.
Functions
❖It controls all the
metabolic functions of
the cell.
❖It helps in cell division.
❖It helps in proteins
synthesis.
❖It helps in cell cycle.
❖It is responsible for
transfer of heridatory
characters from parents
to next generation.
❖It is the brain of the
cell.
Plasma Membrane
Structure
• The plasma membrane is made up of
phospholipids. This makes the membrane
selectively permeable to molecules. It allows
only the entry and exit of selective material in
and out of the cell.
Function
The plasma membrane is also a vital
component of cellular control. Its responsibility
is to restrict what can enter or leave the cell.
Cytoplasm
Structure
•It is the fluid content present inside the
plasma membrane. It contains specialized
cell organelles.
Functions
It acts as the store of important chemicals.
It is a physical basis of all metabolic activities.
It keeps the cell fully expanded and provides
turgidity.
Endoplasmic Reticulum
Structure
• Endoplasmic reticulum is a large network of
membrane bound tubes and sheets. It looks like
long tubules or bags. Its structure is similar to
plasma membrane. It encloses fluid filled lumen.
• There of 2 types :
• Smooth Endoplasmic reticulum[they do not have
ribosomes]
• Rough Endoplasmic reticulum[ribosomes are
attached to its surface]
Functions
It is associated with the synthesis, storage and
transport of metabolic products.
It gives internal support to colloidal matrix.
Rough endoplasmic reticulum is concerned with
protein synthesis.
It helps in formation of new cell membrane.
Ribosomes

Structure
• Ribosomes are dense spherical granular particles which move freely
in the matrix. They are present in cytoplasm as well as inside the
nucleus. A ribosome is made of numerous proteins and RNA.
Golgi bodies/apparatus
Structure
• It consists of smooth
flatted cisterns. They are
usually together in parallel
rows. There membranes
have connections with the
membrane of endoplasmic
reticulum. The Golgi
complex looks like a stack
of pancakes made of
membranes with smaller
vacuoles or vesicles on
either side of the main
structure.
 Function
It is involved in synthesis of proteins, liquids and
carbohydrates.
It is involved in the process of lysosomes and
peroxisomes.
It complex sugars from simple sugar.
It packages and dispackages the material synthesis
near targets inside and outside the cells.
It helps in storage modification and packaging of
products.
Lysosomes
Structure
• They are small spherical bodies bounded by single
membrane. they contain digestive enzymes which can
break all organic material. They act as digestive system
for the cell so they are also called digestive bags.
• They cause digestion of worn out cells organelles and
even can digest entire damage cell containing them so
they are also called suicidal bags.
Functions
• They help in inter cellular and intra cellular
digestion of food particles.
• They cause digestion of worn out and damages cell
organelles.
• They destroy foreign substances.
• They help in the digestion of bones by digesting
cartilage.
Mitochondria
Structure
• They are rod shaped structure
bounded by double
membrane .outer membrane
is very porous while inner is
deeply folded. These folds
create a large surface area for
ATP generating chemical
reaction. They are called
strange organelles because
they have there own DNA and
ribosome. Therefore they are
able to make some of their
proteins. It is called power
house of cell because they
release energy required for
various activities in the cell.
Functions
Second largest organelle with unique genetic structure.
Double-layered outer membrane with inner folds
called cristae
Energy-producing chemical reactions take place on cristae
Controls level of water and other materials in cell
Recycles and decomposes proteins, fats, and
carbohydrates, and forms urea
Vacuoles

Structure
•They are the solid
sacs for solid and
liquid contents.
They are of small
size animal calls
and very large in
plant cell.
Functions
They help in storage of food ,water and waste
substance.
Contractile vacuoles help in the eliminations of excess
water from the cell.
Plastids
Structure
• Plastids consists of numerous membrane layers
embedded in a material called the strome.
• Plastids are of three types:
1) Chromoplast-they are colored plastids except
green. They are present in flavors to attract
insects for pollination.
2) Leucoplast-They are colorless or white
plastids. They store strach,oils and proteins
granules.
3) Chloroplast-They are green colored plastids
which are important for photosynthesis for
plants. They contain green colour pigments
chlorophyll. They are known as kitchen of
cell.
Functions
❖They manufacture food through photosynthesis.
❖They provide colors to fruits and flowers to attract insect for
pollination.
❖It store strach,oil and proteins granules.
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