cell organisation

• unicellular organisms

  consist of one cell which performs all the vital functions for the organism to survive -- takes in nutrients, removes waste, exchanges gas, reproduces

  ALL prokaryotes are unicellular but NOT all unicellular organisms are prokaryotes
• colonial organisms


  a group of unicellular organisms living together

  while the cells can survive individually there is a higher chance of survival if they live together -- safety in numbers
• multicellular organisms


  cells are specialised, can't survive individually, communicate, have the same DNA (only specific part are activated)

  reuires more energy and evolution is slower due to larger cell population

  energy efficient

  ALL multicellular organisms are made up of eukaryotic cells
• cell specialisation


  each cell has its own job and it has a unique structure that allows it to do the job
• cell differentiation


  the process by which cells become specialised -- occurs after fertilisation

  cells continually divide after fertilisation and certain genes are activated
• tissues


  groups of similar cells working together for a particular function
• organ


  2+ tissues working together to perform a specialised function
• organ system


  group of organs that work together to perform a vital task
• organism


  any living thing that functions as an individual made up of multiple organ systems