Biology

• Movement


  Action by an organism or part of an organism causing a change of position or place
• Respiration


  The chemical reactions that break down nutrient molecules in living cells to release energy
• Sensitivity


  Ability to detect or sense changes in the environment (stimuli) and to make responses
• Growth


  Permanent increase in size and dry mass by an increase in cell number or cell size or both
• Reproduction


  Processes that make more of the same kind of organism
• Excretion


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


  Taking in of nutrients which are organic substances and mineral ions, containing raw materials or energy for growth and tissue repair, absorbing and assimilating them
• Levels of classification


  • Kingdom
  • Phylum
  • Class
  • Order
  • Family
  • Genus
  • Species
• Species


  Organisms which can reproduce successfully
• Binomial system


  A system of naming species in which the scientific name of an organism is made up of two parts showing the genus (starting with a capitol letter) and species (starting with a lower-case letter), written in italics when printed (therefore underlined when handwritten)
• Kingdoms


  • Animal
  • Plant
  • Fungi
  • Monera (bacteria)
  • Protista
• Animal kingdom


  • Multi-cellular ingestive heterotrophs (eat living organisms)
• Plant kingdom


  • Multi-cellular photosynthetic autotrophic (make their own food) organism with a cellulose cell wall
• Fungi kingdom


  • Single celled or multicellular heterotrophic organism with a cell wall not made of cellulose, saprotrophs (feed off dead organisms) or parasites
• Monera (bacteria) kingdom


  • Single celled organism with no true nucleus
• Protista kingdom


  • Single celled organism with a nucleus
• Vertebrate groups


  • Bony fish
  • Amphibians
  • Birds
  • Reptiles
  • Mammals
• Bony fish


  • Wet scales
  • External fertilization and soft eggs
  • Gills to breathe
• Amphibians


  • Smooth, moist skin
  • External fertilization and soft eggs
  • Gills/lungs to breathe
  • Can live on land and in water
  • 4 legs
• Birds


  • Feathers on body and scales on legs
  • Have 2 legs and 2 wings
  • Lungs to breathe
  • Hard eggs
• Reptiles


  • Scales on skin
  • Usually 4 legs
  • Lungs to breathe
  • Hard eggs
• Mammals


  • Fur/hair on skin
  • Can live on land and in water
  • 4 legs
  • Lungs to breathe
  • Give birth to live young
• Arthropod groups


  • Crustaceans
  • Arachnids
  • Myriapods
  • Insects
• Crustaceans


  • Have an exoskeleton
  • 1 pair of compound eyes
  • 2 body segment – cephalothorax and abdomen
  • More than four pairs of legs
  • 2 pairs of antennae sensitive to touch and chemicals
• Arachnids


  • 2 body segment – cephalothorax and abdomen
  • Four pairs of legs
  • Pair of chelicerae to hold prey
  • Two pedipalps for reproduction
  • Simple eyes
• Myriapods


  • Segmented body
  • Additional segments formed
  • One pair of antennae
  • 70+ pairs of legs – 1 or 2 pairs on each segment
  • Fused head and thorax and segmented abdomen
  • Simple eyes
• Insects


  • 3 body segments – head, thorax and abdomen
  • 3 pairs of legs
  • 1 pair of antennae
  • 1 or 2 pairs of wings
  • Compound and simple eyes
• Differences between viruses and bacteria

  • Viruses: Covered by protein coat, no cytoplasm, DNA or RNA - only a few genes, non-living unless in host
  • Bacteria: Cell wall, cell membrane, cytoplasm, DNA - enough for several 100 genes, living
• Fungi


  • Multicellular except for yeast
  • Fungi spread by the spreading of spores
  • The environment needs to be moist, warm, have a nutrient source but light is not necessary, darker environments have less evaporation (so moister)

  
• Monocotyledons


  • One cotyledon
  • Parallel veins
  • Fibrous root
  • Floral parts in 3s
• Dicotyledons


  • Two cotyledons
  • Veins netlike
  • Taproot present
  • Floral parts in 4s or 5s
• There are other classification systems e.g. cladistics (based on RNA/DNA sequencing data)/ morphology/ anatomy
• Dichotomous key


  Uses visible features to classify organisms. It is which gives you a choice of two features and you follow the one that applies: each choice leads to another choice until the organism is narrowed down to its genus and finally species.
• Components of a typical cell

  • Cell membrane
  • Cytoplasm
  • Nucleus
  • Mitochondria
• Additional components of a plant cell

  • Vacuole
  • Cell wall
  • Chloroplasts
• Levels of organization


  • Organelle
  • Cell
  • Tissue
  • Organ
  • Organ system
  • Organism
• Magnification


  Size of drawing / size of specimen = image / actual
• Diffusion


  The movement of molecules from a region of high concentration to a region of low concentration down the concentration gradient, resulting in random movement of molecules until equilibrium is reached
• Active transport


  Movement of ions in or out of a cell through the cell membrane, from a region of lower concentration to a region of higher concentration against a concentration gradient, using energy released during respiration
• Osmosis


  Diffusion of water molecules from a region of their higher water potential to a region of their lower water potential, through a partially permeable membrane