Biology

• organism


  a living thing
• Characteristics of organisms


  • Growth
  • Movement
  • Sensitivity
  • Excretion
  • Reproduction
  • Nutrition
  • Respiration
• movement


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


  • Most animals can move their whole body from one place to another
  • Plants can only move parts of themselves
• Biology is the study of organisms
• An organism is a complete living thing - such as yourself, a platypus, a bacterium or a mango tree
• There are very many different kinds of organism on Earth, but all of them share seven characteristics
• Some non-living things have some of these characteristics, but no non-living thing has all of them
• Growth


  • All organisms begin small and get larger by the growth of their cells and by adding new cells to their bodies
• Sensitivity


  • All organisms pick up information about changes in their environment and react to the changes
• Excretion


  • All organisms produce unwanted or toxic waste products as a result of their metabolic reactions, and these must be removed from the body
• Reproduction


  • Organisms are able to make new organisms of the same species as themselves
• Nutrition


  • Organisms take substances from their environment and use them to provide energy or materials to make new cells
• Respiration


  • All organisms break down glucose and other substances inside their cells, to release energy that they can use
• Endocrine glands include the pituitary gland, thyroid gland, parathyroid glands, adrenal glands (including the adrenal medulla), pancreas, ovaries/testes, and pineal gland.
• Respiration


  The chemical reactions in cells that break down nutrient molecules and release energy for metabolism
• Metabolism


  The chemical reactions that take place in living organisms
• Sensitivity


  The ability to detect and respond to changes in the internal or external environment
• Growth


  A permanent increase in size and dry mass
• Dry mass


  The mass of an organism after it has been killed and all water removed from it
• Reproduction


  The processes that make more of the same kind of organism
• Nutrition


  Taking in materials for energy, growth and development
• Excretion


  The removal of the waste products of metabolism and substances in excess of requirements
• There are many different chemical reactions going on inside every living cell
• Some of the products that are formed in these reactions are not needed by the cells
• Waste products are removed from the organism in a process called excretion
• Excretion also removes substances in excess of requirements, for example, extra water
• All living organisms need chemicals to build their cells, and also as a source of energy
• Plants and animals have very different methods of nutrition
• Classification


  Putting things into groups
• Biologists try to classify organisms according to how closely they think they are related
• Common ancestor


  A species that lived in the past, and is thought to have given rise to several different species alive today
• When we classify organisms, we look for features that they share with others, which suggest that they are related to one another
• Species


  A group of organisms that can reproduce with each other to produce fertile offspring
• Horses and donkeys belong to different species, as they cannot reproduce to produce fertile offspring
• Mules are the result of reproduction between horses and donkeys, but they are infertile
• Binomial naming system


  The system where each species is given a two-word scientific name, with the first word being the genus and the second the species
• Yakolos


  Offspring of a yak and a buffalo
• Yakolos are unable to reproduce
• Yakolos being unable to reproduce

  Suggests that yaks and buffalo belong to different species