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IGCSE Biology - The Nature And Variety Of Living Organisms > Characteristics Of Living Organisms > Flashcards

Characteristics Of Living Organisms Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the specific criteria that something must fulfil to be considered ‘living’?

A

M: Movement
R: Respiration
S: Sensitivity
C: Control
G: Growth
R: Reproduction
E: Excretion
N: Nutrition

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2
Q

What does it mean if something does not carry out the ‘MRS C GREN’ life processes?

A

If something does not carry out all of these life processes, it is either dead or non-living.

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3
Q

Give an example of a non-living particle

A

Viruses are a good example of non-living particle/agent

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4
Q

How can organisms get their nutrition and energy?

A

Organisms must obtain food to provide energy.

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5
Q

What is energy necessary for?

A

Energy is necessary to carry out life processes e.g. movement, respiration and excretion.

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6
Q

Explain nutrition in plants

A

Plants use sunlight, carbon dioxide and water to produce Oxygen and Glucose in the process of photosynthesis/

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7
Q

Are plants autotrophic, heterotrophic or sappotrophic and why?

A

Plants are autotrophic as they create their own food for energy.

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8
Q

What does it mean if plants create their own food for energy?

A

This means they are autotrophic organisms.

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9
Q

Describe nutrition in animals

A

Animals consume other living organisms in order to obtain the energy they require.

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10
Q

What is the process called when animals break down larger complex molecules into simpler molecules?

A

The process is called disgestion

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11
Q

What is digestion?

A

Digestion is when animals break down larger complex molecules into simpler molecules.

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12
Q

Are animals autotrophic, heterotropic or sappotrophic and why?

A

Animals are heterotrophic as they obtain their food from a range of different sources.

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13
Q

What does it mean if animals obtain their food from a range of different soures?

A

This means they are heterotophic organisms.

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14
Q

What is respiration?

A

Respiration is a chemical reaction carried out in all living organisms.

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15
Q

What are the two ways energy can be released from glucose/two types of respiration?

A

Energy is released from glucose either in the prescence of Oxygen (aerobic respiration) or the absence of Oxygen (anaerobic respiration).

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16
Q

What are the waste products of respiration?

A

The waste products of respiration are Carbon Dioxide and Water.

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17
Q

What form is energy transferred in (in respiration)?

A

Energy is tranferred in the form of ATP.

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18
Q

What is the word equation for aerobic respiration?

A

Glucose + Oxygen -> Carbon Dioxide + Water

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19
Q

What is the difference between gas exchange and respiration?

A

Gas exchange involves getting Oxygen into the cells and carbon dioxide out whereas respiration uses that Oxygen supplied from gas exchange to release energy in the form of ATP.

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20
Q

What are chemical reactions that take place inside living cells that produce waste products (some of which may be toxic) described as?

A

Metabolic reactions

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21
Q

What are metabolic reactions?

A

Metabolic reactions are chemical reactions that take place inside living cells, which produce waste products (some of which may be toxic).

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22
Q

What happens to the waste products from metabolic reactions in the body?

A

They are eliminated from the body (excretion).

23
Q

What is excretion?

A

Excretion is the removal of toxic materials and substances from organisms.

24
Q

What are examples of excretion of animals?

A

Carbon dioxide from respiration, water from respiration and other chemical reactions and urea which contains nitrogen resulting from the break down from proteins.

25
Q

What are examples of excretion in plants?

A

Oxygen from photosynthesis, Carbon Dioxide from respiration and water from respiration and other chemical actions.

26
Q

When is Carbon Dioxide excreted in plants?

A

Carbon Dioxide is excreted at night when the rate of respiration exceeds the rate of photosynthesis.

27
Q

When is Oxygen excreted in plants?

A

Oxygen is excreted in the day when the rate of photosynthesis exceeds the rate of respiration.

28
Q

What does the sensitivity of an organism refer to?

A

The sensitivity of an organism refers to its ability to detect and respond to stimuli in it’s surroundings.

29
Q

How does sensitivity in organisms assist them?

A

Responding to the environment around them gives the organisms the best chances of survival.

30
Q

Explain sensitivity responses in humans

A

In humans, the nervous system provides a complex system of receptors, neurones and effectors which detect and respond to different stimuli using electrical impulses. The endocrine system also allows a response a stimuli using chemical messengers, which travel in the blood, called hormones.

31
Q

Explain the sensitivity responses in plants.

A

In plants, responses are controlled by chemicals and are much slower than in animals. Geotropism describes a plants response to gravity which causes the roots to grow down into the soil. Phototropism describes a plant’s response to light which causes shoots to grow towards sunlight.

32
Q

What is movement?

A

Movement is an action by an organism causing a change of position or place.

33
Q

What is the movement of an organism from place to place called?

A

Locomotion

34
Q

Describe how plants move

A

Plants cannot move from place to place but can change their orientation. For example, sunflowers track the sun and so change their orientation throughout the day.

35
Q

Describe control in living organisms

A

Living organisms must control their internal environment in order to keep conditions within required limits, this is called homeostasis.

36
Q

What is thermoregulation?

A

Thermoregulation refers to the control of body temperature.

37
Q

What is the optimum human body temperature?

A

The optimum human body temperature is 37oC

38
Q

What happens if the body temperature increases for e.g. during exercise in humans?

A

If body temperatures e.g. during exercise, mechanisms for control will be initiated to return the temperature back to the optimum. Mechanisms include sweating or vasodilation and so on…

39
Q

What are examples of some mechanisms of control in humans?

A

Sweating or vasodilation, glucoregulation (control of blood glucose levels) and osmoregulation (control of water levels).

40
Q

What mechanism in the body is initiated when humans have a low body temperature?

A

Vasoconstriction - sweating

41
Q

What mechanism in the body is initiated when humans have a high body temperature?

A

Vasodilation - sweating

42
Q

Describe homeostasis in plants

A

Plants use transpiration to maintain a suitable temperature. Water evaporated from the stomata on the underside of the leaf, leading to heat loss.

43
Q

What is reproduction?

A

Reproduction is the process that leads to the production of more of the same kind of organism.

44
Q

What are the different types of reproduction?

A

Sexual and asexual

45
Q

Describe sexual reproduction

A

In this type of reproduction, the male and female gametes fuse together. The DNA of the offspring is composed of maternal and paternal DNA.

46
Q

What are the female and male gametes in humans?

A

In humans, the female gamete is the egg and the male gamete is the sperm.

47
Q

What is the female and male gamete in plants?

A

In plants, the female gamete is the ovule and the male gamete is the in the pollen grains.

48
Q

What is asexual reproduction?

A

Asexual reproduction is when only one parent is involved and so an exact clone is produced, the DNA of the offspring is identical to the parental DNA.

49
Q

Give an example of asexual reproduction

A

Mitosis

50
Q

How can plants reproduce asexually?

A

Plants can reproduce asexually through tubers, budding or runners.

51
Q

Give examples of single-celled organisms that reproduce asexually

A

Bacteria and Amoeba

52
Q

What is growth?

A

Growth is defined as a permanent increase in size.

53
Q

Describe growth in animals

A

In animals, an individual grows larger between the zygote and adult stage with changes in proportion or shape.

54
Q

Describe growth in plants

A

In plants, an individual grows larger throughout their whole life with new shoots, leaves, branches etc forming year after year.

IGCSE Biology - The Nature And Variety Of Living Organisms (3 decks)

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