Section 1: The nature and variety of living organisms
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a) Characteristics of living organisms
1.1: Recall that living organisms share eight basic characteristics
Living organisms share eight basic characteristics. They can be remembered by a simple acronym, "Mrs H Gren":
Movement
Respiration
Sensitivity
Homeostasis
Growth
Reproduction
Excretion
Nutrition
Living organisms share eight basic characteristics. They can be remembered by a simple acronym, "Mrs H Gren":
Movement
Respiration
Sensitivity
Homeostasis
Growth
Reproduction
Excretion
Nutrition
b) Variety of living organisms
1.2: Describe the common features shared by the organisms within the following main groups: plants, animals, fungi, bacteria, protoctists, and viruses, and for each group describe examples and their features
Plants: These are multicellular organisms; their cells contain chloroplasts and are able to carry out photosynthesis; their cells have cellulose cell walls; they store carbohydrates as starch or sucrose.
Examples include flowering plants, such as a cereal (for example maize), and a herbaceous legume (for example peas or beans)
Examples include flowering plants, such as a cereal (for example maize), and a herbaceous legume (for example peas or beans)
Animals: These are multicellular organisms; their cells do not contain chloroplasts and are not able to carry out photosynthesis; they have no cell walls; they usually have nervous coordination and are able to move from one place to another; they often store carbohydrates as glycogen.
Examples include mammals (for example humans) and insects (for example housefly and mosquito)
Examples include mammals (for example humans) and insects (for example housefly and mosquito)
Fungi: These are organisms that are not able to carry out photosynthesis; their body is usually organized into a mycelium made from thread-like structures called hyphae, which contain many nuclei; some examples are single-celled; their cells have walls made of chitin; they feed by extracellular secretion of digestive enzymes onto food material and absorption of the organic products; this is known as saprotrophic nutrition; they may store carbohydrates as glycogen.
Examples include Mucor, which has the typical fungal hyphal structure, and yeast, which is single-celled
Examples include Mucor, which has the typical fungal hyphal structure, and yeast, which is single-celled
Bacteria: These are microscopic single-celled organisms; they have a cell wall, cell membrane, cytoplasm and plasmids; they lack a nucleus but contain a circular chromosome of DNA; some bacteria can carry out photosynthesis but most feed off other living or dead organisms.
Examples include Lactobacillus bulgaricus, a rod-shaped bacterium used in the production of yoghurt from milk, and Pneumococcus, a spherical bacterium that acts as the pathogen causing pneumonia.
Examples include Lactobacillus bulgaricus, a rod-shaped bacterium used in the production of yoghurt from milk, and Pneumococcus, a spherical bacterium that acts as the pathogen causing pneumonia.
Protoctists: These are microscopic single-celled organisms. Some, like amoeba, that live in pond water, have features like an animal cell, while others, like Chlorella, have chloroplasts and are more like plants. A pathogenic example is Plasmodium, responsible for causing malaria.
Viruses: These are small particles, smaller than bacteria; they are parasitic and can reproduce only inside living cells; they infect every type of living organism. They have a wide variety of shapes and sizes; they have no cellular structure but have a protein coat and contain one type of nucleic acid, either DNA or RNA
Examples include the tobacco mosaic virus that causes discolouring of the leaves of tobacco plants by preventing the formation of chloroplasts, the influenza virus that causes ‘flu’ and the HIV virus that causes AIDS
Examples include the tobacco mosaic virus that causes discolouring of the leaves of tobacco plants by preventing the formation of chloroplasts, the influenza virus that causes ‘flu’ and the HIV virus that causes AIDS
1.3: Recall the term 'pathogen' and know that pathogens may mean fungi, bacteria protoctists, or viruses
Pathogens are microorganisms that can cause disease. They may appear in the form of fungi, bacteria, protoctists, or viruses.
Pathogens are microorganisms that can cause disease. They may appear in the form of fungi, bacteria, protoctists, or viruses.