Importance of Biology

What is biology?
- The science of life
- It is the study of all living things
- We get to know how everything is dependent on each other.

Why is biology important?

- To understand our body, its functions, diseases, resemblance and differences from other organisms.
- Interaction of organisms with each other and the environment
- Preservation of food

Organisms: all living things are called organisms

- First from of life arose on earth about 3.5 billion years ago
- Earth is home to as many as 40 million types of organisms (species)
- Many not yet identified
- Over time organisms change (evolution)
- Even most extreme places on earth contain life e.g. Antarctic.

Diversity: Variety of life

- Don’t exist alone
- Interact with each other or the environment

Biosphere: all the land, air, water in which organisms live, the environment, sunlight, atmospheric gasses, water
& minerals.
Earth rotates in space and everything we need is on earth, we only get energy from the sun. We have everything
in limited amount.

Biology affects five areas of everyday life

1) Food: 95% of our food comes from 20 types of plants e.g. wheat, rice etc
2) Clothing: wool, leather, silk from animals, cotton & linen from plants and fabric e.g. polyester, nylon
derived from petroleum.
3) Shelter: houses made of wood, bamboo thatch
4) Health many medicines derived from plants e.g. morphine, cocaine, digitalis, antibiotics (extracts also
used to make paint, plastic, adhesives, soaps, rubber, wax dyes, paper).
5) Fuel: essential for coking, heating, to run cars, machines e.g. wood from plants. Coal: fossilised plant
remains, oil gas: decayed remains of tiny marine organisms.

Characteristics of life
Characteristics of life are those that can be applied to all living things. Features that distinguish a living person
from a non living thing are;
 Reproduction
 Nutrition
 Respiration
 Excretion
 Growth, made of cells
 Movement
 Sensitivity
 Adaptability
Cellular structure
 All organisms are made of a developed from of cells
 Some are unicellular(bacteria , yeast, amoeba)
 Most are multi-cellular
 Cells are small but highly organised
 Contain organelles (ribosome, mitochondria)
 cells→ tissues→ organs→ organ system →organism

Nutrition
 All living things have to feed to survive, grow, carry out daily activities, reproduce etc
 All living things feed to gain energy& materials needed to make the living matter protoplasm of their
bodies. This is nutrition
 different types of nutrition:
o Autotrophic: this type of nutrition where the organism manufactures its own food e.g. plants (by
photosynthesis), algae
o Heterotrophic: the type of nutrition where the organism cannot manufacture its own food. It has
to take in readymade organic material e.g. all fungi, all animals, some bacteria

Respiration
 Every living organism requires energy to carry out vital activities e.g. growth, movement
 Plants photosynthesise glucose and starch
 Animals ingest complex foods
 Both plants and animals break down glucose in cellular respiration to produce O2 ,H2O and ATP
energy. *ATP =adenosine triphosphate*

C6H12O6 + 6O2 → 6CO2 + 6H2O + Energy

(Glucose) (Oxygen) (Carbon dioxide) (Water) (ATP)

Excretion:
 Removal of metabolic waste products that have been produced as a result of chemical reactions
occurring inside the cells of an organ.
Metabolism: all the chemical reactions going on in the body of an organism.
Two kinds of metabolic (metabolism = catabolism +anabolism) reactions:
o Catabolism: breaking down reactions e.g. respiration. In a catabolic reaction, large molecules are
broken down into smaller molecules.
o Anabolism: building up reactions e.g. photosynthesis. In an aerobic reaction, small molecules are joined
together to make a large molecule.
o Egestion: removal of substances that have not undergone any chemical reactions inside the body cells
e.g. faeces
o 6 CO2 + 6 H2O + light energy → C6H12O6 + 6 O2

Growth:
 Increase in mass and volume of an organism
 Brought about by increase in number of cells and cell mass
 Animals grow until maturity
 Plants grow throughout life
 Metamorphosis: major transformation in form and complexity e.g. caterpillar→ butterfly, tadpole→ frog.
Movement:
 Animals move to feed, avoid situations- danger, to find mates etc
 Move their whole bodies
 Have locomotory organs e.g. Fins, wings, legs
 Plants only move part of their bodies e.g. grow towards sunlight
 Sessile: animals that cannot move e.g. barnacle, motile: animals that can move e.g. humans.

Sensitivity (also called irritability)

 It is being aware of and able to respond to your environment
 Have sensory receptors or organs e.g. eyes, tongue, ears etc
 A stimulus is any change in the environment (internal or external)
 A response is produced by an effector organ
 Petals, leaves, respond to light touch e.g. mimosa plant
 Plant shoots grow towards light- roots grow downwards→ respond to gravity

Reproduction:
 Necessary for perpetuation of species
 Individuals die (old age, diseases, accidents)
 Species’ live on
 Genetic material is passed on
 Two types: sexual & asexual
o Sexual: two parents, gametes (eggs, sperm), zygote (genetic, material different from parents)
→ grow and matures.
o Asexual: vegetative, 1 parent, no gametes, identical genetic material e.g. binary fission in
bacteria

Adaptability:
- Living organisms are able to adjust or adapt to changes in the environment.
- Adaptability increases their chances of survival
o E.g. a plant can grow very straight or tall to be above the plants around it. (To get more
sunlight).
o Birds migrate in winter to places where it is warmer or where more food is available.

Classification
1) Millions of living organisms on earth
2) We classify organisms:
- For easy reference or identification
- To show relationships between organisms
- To trace the possible origin of organisms
3) System of classification was started by a Swede,( Carolus Linnaeus -1773) based on structural
similarities.
4) Living things put into kingdoms (based on similarities)
5) Each kingdom is divided into several phyla (sl. Phylum)
6) Each phylum consists of organisms that are basically similar (though similarities may not be similar)
7) Phylum is made up of classes
8) Classes are made up of orders
9) In each order are families in which the resemblance among organisms is fairly close,
10) Families are divided into genera (sl. Genus)
 11) Each genus is divided into several species, as we go further down the scale of classification the
organisms become much closer. Organisms in a species are so similar that they can mate/breed
together & produce fertile young
*King Philip Came Over For Green Spaghetti*

Binomial system of naming species

1) It is a system of naming organisms
2) The common name given to an organism varies around the world
3) This can cause confusion
4) Linnaeus gave two names to each organism so scientists around the world know immediately which
organism was being referred to
5) The first name refers to the genus to which the organism belongs and is written with a capital letter.
6) The second name is the species name & is written with a small letter
E.g. dog: Canis familiaris
Cat: Felis domestica
Human: Homo sapien

Five Kingdoms of Living Organisms

1) Prokaryote(monera) - the bacteria (prokaryotes)

{2¿ protoctista−single celled organismsand some muticellular ¿3 ¿ fungi−mus hrooms , yeast mo

(Viruses are not living, they are in no kingdom)

Kingdom prokaryotae

 Contains organisms whose cells lack a membrane-bound nucleus and membrane bound organelles
 Bacteria are prokaryotes
 Nuclear material lies in the cytoplasm in the nuclear region

Kingdom protoctista
 Organisms whose cells contain a membrane-bound nucleus and membrane bound & membrane-bound
organelles i.e. eukaryotes
 Some are unicellular e.g. amoeba; euglena paramecium
 Some are multi-cellular e.g. algae, diatoms
 Animal like protoctists are called protozoa:
amoeba
- r h izopaods {pseudopodia
- flagellates{ englena
paramecium
- ciliates
{ cilia
¿
feed / move ¿

 plant like protoctists are called algae: green and brown algae are multi cellular & diatoms are
unicellular

Kingdom plantae
 eukaryotes, multi-cellular
 autotrophic nutrition, photosynthesize
  cells have cellulose walls
 Cells are specialized for photosynthesis, support, transport of materials. Includes: mosses, fens,
conifers, flowering plants.
Kingdom Fungi
 Eukaryotic
 Most are multi-cellular
 Some are unicellular (yeast)
 Act as decomposers or parasites
 Saprophytes, have saprotrophic nutrition
 Cells have cell walls made of CHITIN

Kingdom Animalia
 Eukaryotes, multi-cellular
 Heterotrophic nutrition
 No cell walls
 Most can move
 Sponges, barnacles attached to a surface can move parts of their body
 Animals divided into two groups
1. Vertebrates: have an internal skeleton and backbone
2. Invertebrates: lack a backbone

Examples of vertebrates
Vertebrates are divided into 5 classes
a fis h ¿ b ¿ amph ibia ¿ c ¿ reptilia ¿ Cold blooded
¿ }
d aves ¿ e ¿ mammals ¿ Warm blooded
¿ }
a-d: reproduce by laying eggs, e: produce live young

Examples of invertebrates
Arthropods- insects, lobsters, have no skeleton
Arachnids- spiders
Molluscs- snails
Echinoderms- starfish

Characteristics of mammals
1) don’t lay eggs except platypus, spiny anteater
2) Eggs fertilised internally
3) Embryos grow in female body
4) Born fully formed
5) Young feed on mil from mammary glands
6) Have hair, fur on bodies
7) Have a thorax and abdomen separated by diaphragm
8) In most 1st set of teeth is shed or replaced by a permanent set
9) Teeth are of different shapes/size sand adapted for their functioning
10) Have sweat glands – except whales, and cats have it in their feet
11) Have ear pinnae
12) Much greater development of brain cerebral hemispheres responsible for learning and
intelligence