YEAR 10 BIOLOGY
BIOLOGY WITH MR.DONALD
BIOLOGY IGCSE
CHARACTERISTICS AND CLASSIFICATION OF LIVING ORGANISMS
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Living things: Their characteristics
1. Respiration: the chemical reactions that break down nutrient molecules in
living cell to release energy.
Food+Oxygen energy+water+carbon dioxide
2. Growth: a permanent increase in size and dry mass by an increase in cell
number or cell size or both.
3. Movement: an action by an organism or a part of an organism causing in a
change of position or place.
4. Excretion: removal from organisms of toxic materials,the waste products
of metabolism(chemical reactions in cells including respiration) and
substances in excess.
5. Nutrition: the process of taking in materials for energy,growth and
development.Plants require light,carbon dioxide,water and ions;animals
need organic compounds,ions and water.
6. Reproduction: the process that makes more of the same kind of organism.
7. Sensitivity: the ability to detect or sense changes in the
environment(stimuli) and to make responses.
8. Key term: a species is a group of organisms that can reproduce to produce
fertile offspring.
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The variety of living organisms
A LIVING ORGANISM will show some or all the characteristics of life. You can
find out which type of living organism it is by observing the following:
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Five kingdoms
1) It is possible to place any living organism into one of five very large
groups. These groups, distinguished from one another by obvious
characteristics of morphology and anatomy, are called the five kingdoms.
2) Each of these kingdoms contains an enormous number of different
species, and keys can be used within a kingdom to place any individual
species into further groups.
3) The 5 kingdom consist of :-
a) Prokaryotes
b) Protoctistans
c) Plants
d) Fungi
e) Animals
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BIOLOGY WITH MR.DONALD
Hierarchy of classification example for Animal
All animals are ingestive heterotophs
ll chordates have a notochord (becomes
thebackbone)
All mammals have fur andmammary
glands
All carnivores have welldeveloped
carnassial (flesh-cutting) teeth
ll Felidae have retractable claws.
Panthera leo ll Panthera (big cats) can roar but cannot
purr
All lions belong to the samespecies. Members
of the same species can mate and produce
fertile offspring with other members of the
same species
1) The sequence of kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus and
species is called a hierarchy of classification.
Notice that each classification group is given a name. Lions belong to the
class Mammalia and the order Carnivora, for example. The final two group
names are written in italics — this is a worldwide convention amongst
scientists.
2) This convention of giving organisms a two-part name made up of their
genus and species was introduced by the Swedish biologist Carolus
Linnaeus. He gave every organism known to science a two-part name
based entirely on the body structure of the organism. This binomial
system of nomenclature is still in use today (binomial = ‘two name’).
3) New species today may be classified based on characteristics such as protein
structure, chromosome number or gene (DNA or RNA) sequence, which
Linnaeus knew nothing about. Each organism, even each individual, has its
own DNA profile. Scientists can compare the DNA profiles of different
species.
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4) Naming the organisms
Homo sapiens(human)
Panthera leo (Lion)
Mimosa pudica (Touch me not plant)
How this helps in classification
1) Protein structure: organisms which are closely related (share a more recent
ancestor) have very similar amino acid sequences in proteins such as
haemoglobin.
2) Organisms that are closely related have very similar DNA profiles — humans and
chimpanzees, for example, share 98.6% of their genes!
3) DNA structure: closely related organisms have very similar base sequences in
DNA because there has been less ‘evolutionary time’ for mutation to change
these base sequences.
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The Diversity of Life
Animal –Vertebrates
1) Fish(all aquatic)
Scales
Fins
Eyes and lateral line
Jelly-covered eggs;usually use external fertilization
Ectothermic
Gills for gas exchange
2) Amphibians(always breed in water)
Moist skin
Four limbs
Eyes and ears
Jelly-covered eggs;external fertilization
Ectothermic
Lungs/skin for gas exchange
3) Reptiles(lays eggs on land)
Dry,scaly skin
Four limbs(except snakes)
Eyes and ears
Soft-shelled eggs;internal fertilization
Ectothermic
Lungs for gas exchange
4) Birds(very few are aquatic)
Feathers(scales on legs)
Two wings,two legs
Eyes and ears
Hard-shelled eggs;internal fertilisation
Endothermic
Lungs for gas exchange
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5) Mammals(very few are aquatic)
Fur or hair
Four limbs
Eyes and ears
Nipples
Live young(a few lays eggs)
Endothermic
Lungs for gas exchange
Feed young with milk from mammary glands
Animal-Invertebrates
1) Divided into 4 Groups:-
a) Nematodes b) Annelids
Earthworm
Hookworm
c) Molluscs
Snail
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d) Arthropods
Are the most numerous among all animals.
Insects
Three body parts-head, thorax and abdomen
Three pairs of legs Mosquitoe
Usually one or two pair of wings
Metamorphosis the characteristics that allow
them to use the resources of their habitat to
the maximum. Thus it do not compete for the
House flies
same food source and can be highly specialized for
different function. Larva for feeding and growth
but adult for locomotion and reproduction.
Crustaceans
Many segments,usually with each legs,claws or
feelers
Breathe via gills,as live in water
Has hard exoskeleton for protection
Crab Lobster
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Arachnids
Two body parts,eight legs and no wings
All have piercing jaws as all are predators
Spider
Myriapods
Long,thin body with many segments to move through soil easily
Antennae as sense organs in dark habitats
Millipedes
Centipedes
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