Life Processes and Organisation Flashcards
Life Processes
Respiratory
Nervous
Immune
Circulatory
Endocrine
Digestive
Reproductive
Movement
Move by themselves
Respiration
- Convert food into energy
- Not breathing
- A chemical process that turns oxygen food into energy
- A chemical process that transforms glucose (from food) and oxygen into energy
- All cells need energy, and all living things are made up of cells - so its an important life process
- Only living things can carry out respiration
Sensitivity
- Respond to the environment
- All living things are sensitive to the environment around them
- If you sense something hot, it would burn your hand and you would move it away quickly
- Animals generally respond and adapt quickly to changes in their environment
- Plants also respond, but they are slower than animals
- Human senses
□ Touch
□ Taste
□ See
□ Hear
□ Smell
□ Proprioception
Growth
- Grow and develop
Reproduction
- Reproduce
□ Sexual reproduction
□ Asexual reproduction
Excretion
- Excrete waste
- Respiration and photosynthesis create waste products
- Waste must be moved while also not harming the organism
□ Carbon dioxide is a waste product of respiration and too much carbon dioxide in your blood could kill you so it must be removed - All organisms have ways to dispose of their waste products through a process called excretion
Nutrition
- Take in food
- Process of taking in food and converting it into energy and other vital nutrients required for life
- Autotrophic nutrition
□ Photosynthesis - Heterotrophic nutrition
□ The organisms that cannot produce food on their own and depend on other sources/organisms are called heterotrophs
Hierarchy of structural organisation
○ Each level of these build upon one another to make up the next level
- Chemical level
- Cellular
- Tissue
- Organ
- System
-Organism
Organisation of an organism
- Atom
- Molecule
- Organelles
- Cells
- Tissues
- Organs
- Organ system
- Organism (human)
- Population
Generalised cells
- A generalised cell can perform all of the functions required for life
- There are a very few ‘generalised’
- A generalised cell can perform all of the functions required for life
- There are very few ‘generalised’ cells in the human body, most have differentiated (change shape/function) to specialise (become good at / concentrate on doing) in a particular function
- This means that most cells rely on other cells to survive
- For example, cells in the lining of the lungs are specialised at diffusing oxygen and carbon dioxide but are not ‘good’ at movement. Muscle cells in the diaphragm are good at movement but are not designed for rapid diffusion of gases
Why are humans classified as vertebrates
○ Backbone
○ Notochord
- Flexible rod formed of a material similar to cartilage
- If a species has a notochord at any stage of its life cycle, it is, by definition, a chordate
○ Gills during embryo stage
○ Post and tail during embryo stage
Why are humans classified as mammals
○ Are homeothermic (constant body temperature)
○ Have a four-chambered heart
○ Have hair on the body
○ Young develop within a uterus
○ Females have glands that secrete milk
