1: characteristics and classification of living organisms

Question 1

movement

Answer 1

an action by an organism or part of an organism causing a change of position or place

Question 2

respiration

Answer 2

the chemical reactions that break down nutrient molecules in living cells to release energy for metabolism

Question 3

sensitivity

Answer 3

the ability to detect or sense stimuli in the internal or external environment and to make appropriate responses

Question 4

growth

Answer 4

a permanent increase in size and dry mass by an increase in cell number or cell size or both

Question 5

reproduction

Answer 5

the processes that make more of the same kind of organism

Question 6

excretion

Answer 6

the removal from organisms of toxic materials, the waste products of metabolism (chemical reactions in cells including respiration) and substances in excess of requirements

Question 7

nutrition

Answer 7

the taking in of materials for energy, growth and development; plants require light, carbon dioxide, water and ions; animals need organic compounds, ions and usually need water

Question 8

binomial system

Answer 8

the scientific name of an organism is made up of two parts starting with the genus (always given a capital letter) and followed by the species (starting with a lower case letter).

Question 9

the sequence of classification

Answer 9

Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species

Question 10

common cell structure

Answer 10

cytoplasm, cell membrane, DNA as genetic material (either found in the nucleus or free in the cytoplasm)

Question 11

typical animal cell

Answer 11

nucleus, cell membrane, ribosomes (rough endoplasmic reticulum), mitochondria, cytoplasm

Question 12

typical plant cell

Answer 12

cell membrane, chloroplast, cell wall (made from cellulose), nucleus, ribosomes on rough endoplasmic reticulum, permanent vacuole, cytoplasm, mitochondrion

Question 13

typical prokaryotic cell

Answer 13

cell membrane, circular loop of DNA, plasmid, ribosomes, cytoplasm, cell wall made from peptidoglycan

Question 14

ribosomes

Answer 14

all cells contain ribosomes for protein synthesis

Question 15

enzymes

Answer 15

all cells contain enzymes for respiration (in many, but not all types of cells, found in mitochondria)

Question 16

the five kingdoms

Answer 16

animals, plants, fungi, protoctists, prokaryotes

Question 17

main features of all animals

Answer 17

multicellular, cells contain a nucleus but no cell walls or chloroplasts, feed on organic substances made by other living things

Question 18

main features of all plants

Answer 18

multicellular, cells contain a nucleus, chloroplasts and cellulose cell walls, all feed by photosynthesis

Question 19

main features of all fungi (e.g. moulds, mushrooms, yeast)

Answer 19

usually multicellular, cells have nuclei and cells walls not made from cellulose, do not photosynthesize but feed by saprophytic (on dead or decaying material) or parasitic (on live material) nutrition

Question 20

main features of all protoctists (e.g. amoeba, paramecium, plasmodium)

Answer 20

most are unicellular but some are multicellular, all have a nucleus, some may have cell walls and chloroplasts, meaning some protoctists photosynthesize and some feed on organic substances made by other living things

Question 21

main features of all prokaryotes (bacteria, blue-green algae)

Answer 21

often unicellular, cells have cell walls (not made of cellulose) and cytoplasm but no nucleus or mitochondria

Question 22

vertebrates

Answer 22

all vertebrates have a backbone

Question 23

5 classes of vertebrates

Answer 23

mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish

Question 24

invertebrates

Answer 24

all invertebrates with jointed legs are part of the phylum arthropods

Question 25

4 classes of arthropods

Answer 25

myriapods, insects, arachnids, crustaceans

Question 26

why are at least some parts of any plant green?

Answer 26

caused by the presence of the pigment chlorophyll which absorbs energy from sunlight for the process of photosynthesis

Question 27

ferns

Answer 27

have leaves called fronds, do not produce flowers but instead reproduce by spores produced on the underside of fronds

Question 28

flowering plants

Answer 28

reproduce sexually by means of flowers and seeds, seeds are produced inside the ovary found at the base of the flower, can be divided into two groups - monocotyledons and dicotyledons

Question 29

monocotyledons example

Answer 29

wheat plants

Question 30

dicotyledons example

Answer 30

sunflowers

Question 31

monocotyledons

Answer 31

flowers from monocotyledons contain petals in multiples of 3, leaves from monocotyledons have parallel leaf veins

Question 32

dicotyledons

Answer 32

flowers from dicotyledons contain petals in multiples of 4 or 5, leaves from dicotyledons have reticulated leaf veins (meaning that they are all interconnected and form a web-like network throughout the leaf

Question 33

viruses

Answer 33

viruses are not part of any classification system as they are not considered as living things, they do not carry out the seven life processes for themselves, instead they take over a host cell’s metabolic pathways in order to make multiple copies of themselves

Question 34

virus structure

Answer 34

genetic material (RNA or DNA) inside a protein coat

Question 35

dichotomous keys

Answer 35

used to identify organisms based on a series of questions about their features