Chapter Note: Characteristics & Classification of Living Organisms | Biology for GCSE/IGCSE - Year 11 PDF Download

 Page 1


Characteristics of life
? Movement
? It is the change in direction/position
? Respiration
? It is the chemical process by which glucose molecules breakdown to release energy
? Sensitivity
? A living organisms respond to stimuli
? Growth
? It is the ability of living organisms to irreversible increase in size and volume
? Reproduction
? The ability to produce other living organisms of the same kind
? Excretion
? The ability to remove metabolic waste products from the body
? Nutrition
? It is the supply of food required by living organisms to stay alive
? Glucose + oxygen ? Carbon dioxide + water + energy
? Autotrophic
? An organism which produces its own food for example green plants
? Heterotrophic
? Cannot make their own food so get their nutrition by ready-made organic
compounds(animals/fruits)
Classification
? Plants
? They are multicellular
? Cells have a nucleus and contain chloroplasts
? Carry out processes like photosynthesis and therefore make their own food(autotrophic)
? Have cell walls made of cellulose
? Store sugar as starch
? They show movement but cannot locomote
? Animals
? They are multicellular
? Get their nutrition from feeding on other organisms(heterotrophic)
? They are capable of movement and locomotion
? Store sugar in the form of glycogen
? Cells have nucleus
? No cell wall or chloroplast
Page 2


Characteristics of life
? Movement
? It is the change in direction/position
? Respiration
? It is the chemical process by which glucose molecules breakdown to release energy
? Sensitivity
? A living organisms respond to stimuli
? Growth
? It is the ability of living organisms to irreversible increase in size and volume
? Reproduction
? The ability to produce other living organisms of the same kind
? Excretion
? The ability to remove metabolic waste products from the body
? Nutrition
? It is the supply of food required by living organisms to stay alive
? Glucose + oxygen ? Carbon dioxide + water + energy
? Autotrophic
? An organism which produces its own food for example green plants
? Heterotrophic
? Cannot make their own food so get their nutrition by ready-made organic
compounds(animals/fruits)
Classification
? Plants
? They are multicellular
? Cells have a nucleus and contain chloroplasts
? Carry out processes like photosynthesis and therefore make their own food(autotrophic)
? Have cell walls made of cellulose
? Store sugar as starch
? They show movement but cannot locomote
? Animals
? They are multicellular
? Get their nutrition from feeding on other organisms(heterotrophic)
? They are capable of movement and locomotion
? Store sugar in the form of glycogen
? Cells have nucleus
? No cell wall or chloroplast
? Fungi
? Can be multicellular or unicellular
? Have many nucleus(nuclei) and do not have chloroplast
? Have cell walls made of chitin
? Made of a network of fibres called a mycelium of hyphae
? Feed by saprophytic nutrition(absorbs the food) using extracellular enzymes
? Protoctists
? Multicellular or unicellular but mostly unicellular
? Cells have nucleus
? May or may not have cell wall and chloroplast
? They are either heterotrophic or autotrophic
? E.g Protozoa like amoeba or algae
? Knows as Dustbin kingdom
? Bacteria/Prokaryotes
? Small single celled organisms
? 3 basic shapes- spheres, rods and spirals
? Cell wall made of polysaccharides and proteins(peptidoglycan)
? Some have a capsule or slime layer
? Has primitive nucleus(not a proper nucleus-no nuclear membrane- contents of nucleus flows
freely in cytoplasm)
? Cell walls are made of cellulose and they don't have mitochondria
? Some species have flagella(locomotory organ)
? Some contain plasmids(loops of DNA) which we can use in genetic engineering
? Viruses
? All are parasites
? Much smaller than bacteria cells
? Not made of cells and do not carry out the normal characteristics of living organisms
? Made of genetic material surrounded by a protein coat
? All natural viruses cause disease
Classifying animals
? Binomial naming system
? International naming system where the name of the
organism consists of 2 parts
? Binomial naming system is written in italics where the first
letter is the genus and is capital and the second word is
species where all letters are small.
Page 3


Characteristics of life
? Movement
? It is the change in direction/position
? Respiration
? It is the chemical process by which glucose molecules breakdown to release energy
? Sensitivity
? A living organisms respond to stimuli
? Growth
? It is the ability of living organisms to irreversible increase in size and volume
? Reproduction
? The ability to produce other living organisms of the same kind
? Excretion
? The ability to remove metabolic waste products from the body
? Nutrition
? It is the supply of food required by living organisms to stay alive
? Glucose + oxygen ? Carbon dioxide + water + energy
? Autotrophic
? An organism which produces its own food for example green plants
? Heterotrophic
? Cannot make their own food so get their nutrition by ready-made organic
compounds(animals/fruits)
Classification
? Plants
? They are multicellular
? Cells have a nucleus and contain chloroplasts
? Carry out processes like photosynthesis and therefore make their own food(autotrophic)
? Have cell walls made of cellulose
? Store sugar as starch
? They show movement but cannot locomote
? Animals
? They are multicellular
? Get their nutrition from feeding on other organisms(heterotrophic)
? They are capable of movement and locomotion
? Store sugar in the form of glycogen
? Cells have nucleus
? No cell wall or chloroplast
? Fungi
? Can be multicellular or unicellular
? Have many nucleus(nuclei) and do not have chloroplast
? Have cell walls made of chitin
? Made of a network of fibres called a mycelium of hyphae
? Feed by saprophytic nutrition(absorbs the food) using extracellular enzymes
? Protoctists
? Multicellular or unicellular but mostly unicellular
? Cells have nucleus
? May or may not have cell wall and chloroplast
? They are either heterotrophic or autotrophic
? E.g Protozoa like amoeba or algae
? Knows as Dustbin kingdom
? Bacteria/Prokaryotes
? Small single celled organisms
? 3 basic shapes- spheres, rods and spirals
? Cell wall made of polysaccharides and proteins(peptidoglycan)
? Some have a capsule or slime layer
? Has primitive nucleus(not a proper nucleus-no nuclear membrane- contents of nucleus flows
freely in cytoplasm)
? Cell walls are made of cellulose and they don't have mitochondria
? Some species have flagella(locomotory organ)
? Some contain plasmids(loops of DNA) which we can use in genetic engineering
? Viruses
? All are parasites
? Much smaller than bacteria cells
? Not made of cells and do not carry out the normal characteristics of living organisms
? Made of genetic material surrounded by a protein coat
? All natural viruses cause disease
Classifying animals
? Binomial naming system
? International naming system where the name of the
organism consists of 2 parts
? Binomial naming system is written in italics where the first
letter is the genus and is capital and the second word is
species where all letters are small.
? Wolf is Canis lupus, Canis being the genus and lupus being a species
Kingdom Animal Animal
Phylum Arthropods Vertebrates
Class Insects Mammals
Order Lepidoptera(butterflies,moths) Pholidota
Family Danaidae Manidae
Genus Danus Manis
Species Danaus plexippus Manis gigantea
Phylum Vertebrates
Animals which have a backbone
? Fish
? Vertebrates with scaly skin
? Have gills
? Have fins
? Class Amphibians
? Vertebrates with moist scale-less skin
? Eggs laid in water, larva(tadpole) lives in water
? Adult often lives on land
? Larva has gills, adult has lungs
? Class Reptiles
? Vertebrates with scaly skin
? Lay eggs with rubbery shells
? Class Birds
? Vertebrates with feathers
? Heart has 4 chambers
? Endothermic
? Lay eggs with hard shells
? Class Mammals
? Vertebrates with hair
? Have a placenta
? Endothermic
? Have diaphragm
Page 4


Characteristics of life
? Movement
? It is the change in direction/position
? Respiration
? It is the chemical process by which glucose molecules breakdown to release energy
? Sensitivity
? A living organisms respond to stimuli
? Growth
? It is the ability of living organisms to irreversible increase in size and volume
? Reproduction
? The ability to produce other living organisms of the same kind
? Excretion
? The ability to remove metabolic waste products from the body
? Nutrition
? It is the supply of food required by living organisms to stay alive
? Glucose + oxygen ? Carbon dioxide + water + energy
? Autotrophic
? An organism which produces its own food for example green plants
? Heterotrophic
? Cannot make their own food so get their nutrition by ready-made organic
compounds(animals/fruits)
Classification
? Plants
? They are multicellular
? Cells have a nucleus and contain chloroplasts
? Carry out processes like photosynthesis and therefore make their own food(autotrophic)
? Have cell walls made of cellulose
? Store sugar as starch
? They show movement but cannot locomote
? Animals
? They are multicellular
? Get their nutrition from feeding on other organisms(heterotrophic)
? They are capable of movement and locomotion
? Store sugar in the form of glycogen
? Cells have nucleus
? No cell wall or chloroplast
? Fungi
? Can be multicellular or unicellular
? Have many nucleus(nuclei) and do not have chloroplast
? Have cell walls made of chitin
? Made of a network of fibres called a mycelium of hyphae
? Feed by saprophytic nutrition(absorbs the food) using extracellular enzymes
? Protoctists
? Multicellular or unicellular but mostly unicellular
? Cells have nucleus
? May or may not have cell wall and chloroplast
? They are either heterotrophic or autotrophic
? E.g Protozoa like amoeba or algae
? Knows as Dustbin kingdom
? Bacteria/Prokaryotes
? Small single celled organisms
? 3 basic shapes- spheres, rods and spirals
? Cell wall made of polysaccharides and proteins(peptidoglycan)
? Some have a capsule or slime layer
? Has primitive nucleus(not a proper nucleus-no nuclear membrane- contents of nucleus flows
freely in cytoplasm)
? Cell walls are made of cellulose and they don't have mitochondria
? Some species have flagella(locomotory organ)
? Some contain plasmids(loops of DNA) which we can use in genetic engineering
? Viruses
? All are parasites
? Much smaller than bacteria cells
? Not made of cells and do not carry out the normal characteristics of living organisms
? Made of genetic material surrounded by a protein coat
? All natural viruses cause disease
Classifying animals
? Binomial naming system
? International naming system where the name of the
organism consists of 2 parts
? Binomial naming system is written in italics where the first
letter is the genus and is capital and the second word is
species where all letters are small.
? Wolf is Canis lupus, Canis being the genus and lupus being a species
Kingdom Animal Animal
Phylum Arthropods Vertebrates
Class Insects Mammals
Order Lepidoptera(butterflies,moths) Pholidota
Family Danaidae Manidae
Genus Danus Manis
Species Danaus plexippus Manis gigantea
Phylum Vertebrates
Animals which have a backbone
? Fish
? Vertebrates with scaly skin
? Have gills
? Have fins
? Class Amphibians
? Vertebrates with moist scale-less skin
? Eggs laid in water, larva(tadpole) lives in water
? Adult often lives on land
? Larva has gills, adult has lungs
? Class Reptiles
? Vertebrates with scaly skin
? Lay eggs with rubbery shells
? Class Birds
? Vertebrates with feathers
? Heart has 4 chambers
? Endothermic
? Lay eggs with hard shells
? Class Mammals
? Vertebrates with hair
? Have a placenta
? Endothermic
? Have diaphragm
? 4 heart chambers
? Have different type of teeth
? Bacterial cell
? Often unicellular
? Have no nucleus
? Have cell walls, not made of cellulose
? Have no mitochondria
Phylum Arthropods
Several pairs of jointed legs
Have exoskeleton
? Insects
? Arthropods with 3 pairs of jointed legs
? 2 pairs of wings
? Breathe through trachea
? Head, thorax and abdomen
? Crustaceans
? Arthropods with more than 4 pair of jointed legs
? Not millepied or centipedes
? Breathe through gills
? Arachnids
? Arthropods with 4 pairs of jointed legs
? Breathe through gills called book lungs
? Myriapods
? Body consists of many segments
? Each segment has jointed legs
? Ferns
? Plants with roots, stems and leaves
? Have leaves called fronds
? Do not produce flowers
? Reproduce by spores
? Flowering plants
? Plants with roots, stems and leaves
? Reproduce sexually by means of flower and seeds
Page 5


Characteristics of life
? Movement
? It is the change in direction/position
? Respiration
? It is the chemical process by which glucose molecules breakdown to release energy
? Sensitivity
? A living organisms respond to stimuli
? Growth
? It is the ability of living organisms to irreversible increase in size and volume
? Reproduction
? The ability to produce other living organisms of the same kind
? Excretion
? The ability to remove metabolic waste products from the body
? Nutrition
? It is the supply of food required by living organisms to stay alive
? Glucose + oxygen ? Carbon dioxide + water + energy
? Autotrophic
? An organism which produces its own food for example green plants
? Heterotrophic
? Cannot make their own food so get their nutrition by ready-made organic
compounds(animals/fruits)
Classification
? Plants
? They are multicellular
? Cells have a nucleus and contain chloroplasts
? Carry out processes like photosynthesis and therefore make their own food(autotrophic)
? Have cell walls made of cellulose
? Store sugar as starch
? They show movement but cannot locomote
? Animals
? They are multicellular
? Get their nutrition from feeding on other organisms(heterotrophic)
? They are capable of movement and locomotion
? Store sugar in the form of glycogen
? Cells have nucleus
? No cell wall or chloroplast
? Fungi
? Can be multicellular or unicellular
? Have many nucleus(nuclei) and do not have chloroplast
? Have cell walls made of chitin
? Made of a network of fibres called a mycelium of hyphae
? Feed by saprophytic nutrition(absorbs the food) using extracellular enzymes
? Protoctists
? Multicellular or unicellular but mostly unicellular
? Cells have nucleus
? May or may not have cell wall and chloroplast
? They are either heterotrophic or autotrophic
? E.g Protozoa like amoeba or algae
? Knows as Dustbin kingdom
? Bacteria/Prokaryotes
? Small single celled organisms
? 3 basic shapes- spheres, rods and spirals
? Cell wall made of polysaccharides and proteins(peptidoglycan)
? Some have a capsule or slime layer
? Has primitive nucleus(not a proper nucleus-no nuclear membrane- contents of nucleus flows
freely in cytoplasm)
? Cell walls are made of cellulose and they don't have mitochondria
? Some species have flagella(locomotory organ)
? Some contain plasmids(loops of DNA) which we can use in genetic engineering
? Viruses
? All are parasites
? Much smaller than bacteria cells
? Not made of cells and do not carry out the normal characteristics of living organisms
? Made of genetic material surrounded by a protein coat
? All natural viruses cause disease
Classifying animals
? Binomial naming system
? International naming system where the name of the
organism consists of 2 parts
? Binomial naming system is written in italics where the first
letter is the genus and is capital and the second word is
species where all letters are small.
? Wolf is Canis lupus, Canis being the genus and lupus being a species
Kingdom Animal Animal
Phylum Arthropods Vertebrates
Class Insects Mammals
Order Lepidoptera(butterflies,moths) Pholidota
Family Danaidae Manidae
Genus Danus Manis
Species Danaus plexippus Manis gigantea
Phylum Vertebrates
Animals which have a backbone
? Fish
? Vertebrates with scaly skin
? Have gills
? Have fins
? Class Amphibians
? Vertebrates with moist scale-less skin
? Eggs laid in water, larva(tadpole) lives in water
? Adult often lives on land
? Larva has gills, adult has lungs
? Class Reptiles
? Vertebrates with scaly skin
? Lay eggs with rubbery shells
? Class Birds
? Vertebrates with feathers
? Heart has 4 chambers
? Endothermic
? Lay eggs with hard shells
? Class Mammals
? Vertebrates with hair
? Have a placenta
? Endothermic
? Have diaphragm
? 4 heart chambers
? Have different type of teeth
? Bacterial cell
? Often unicellular
? Have no nucleus
? Have cell walls, not made of cellulose
? Have no mitochondria
Phylum Arthropods
Several pairs of jointed legs
Have exoskeleton
? Insects
? Arthropods with 3 pairs of jointed legs
? 2 pairs of wings
? Breathe through trachea
? Head, thorax and abdomen
? Crustaceans
? Arthropods with more than 4 pair of jointed legs
? Not millepied or centipedes
? Breathe through gills
? Arachnids
? Arthropods with 4 pairs of jointed legs
? Breathe through gills called book lungs
? Myriapods
? Body consists of many segments
? Each segment has jointed legs
? Ferns
? Plants with roots, stems and leaves
? Have leaves called fronds
? Do not produce flowers
? Reproduce by spores
? Flowering plants
? Plants with roots, stems and leaves
? Reproduce sexually by means of flower and seeds
? Seeds are produced inside the ovary, in the flower
Monocots Dicots
Monocots have 1 cotyledon Dicots have 2 cotyledons
Petals are arranged in multiples of 3 Petals are arranged in multiples of 4 or 5
Secondary growth is absent Secondary growth is present
Fibrous roots Tap roots
Veins parallel to the midrib Dicots not parallel
Leaves are slender Leaves are broad
Have scattered vascular bundle Dicots have ring shaped
Have 1 pore in the pollen grain Have 3 pores in the pollen grain
Stems in monocots are non-woody Dicots are woody and branched
Procaryotes Fungi
Single-celled Multi-celled
No nucleus Nucleus present
No organelles Have organelles
Need host to grow Grow on their own
Simple cell structure Complex cell structure
Plants Animals
Cannot locomote Can locomote
Contains cell wall Doesn’t have cell wall
Autotrophic Heterotrophic
Store sugar as starch Store sugar as glycogen