characteristics of living organisms Flashcards
(27 cards)
what are the 8 characteristics all organisms have that keep the alive?
M.R R.C GREN
Move, Respond, Respire, Control, Grow and develop, Reproduce, Excrete and Nutrition.
Move
using muscles in animals or by means of growth in plants.
Respond
to their surroundings, they can detect changes or stimuli.
Respire
they get energy from food.
Control
their internal conditions.
Grow and develop
they increase in size and mass, using materials from food.
Reproduce
to make offspring.
Excrete
they get rid of toxic wastes.
Nutrition
they either make their own food as plants do, or they eat other organisms as animals do.
What are the 6 main groups organism can be classified in?
Plants, Animals, Fungi, Bacteria, Protoctists, Viruses.
Features of Plants
- they are multicellular organisms.
- they have a cell wall made of cellulose.
- some cells contain chloroplasts which carry our photosynthesis.
- plants store food in the form of carbohydrates eg. starch and sucrose.
Features of Animals
- they are multicellular organisms.
- they use nervous coordination and muscles to find and catch food.
- most animals store food in carbohydrate glycogen.
Features of Fungi
- they can be single-celled organism but most are multicellular.
- made of thread-like hyphae which form a body called mycelium.
- their cell walls are made of chitin.
- they feed by saprotrophic nutrition.
- they store the carbohydrate glycogen.
- some are pathogens.
What is saprotrophic nutrition?
this is when fungi secrete digestive enzymes on to dead food materials to break them down and the products are absorbed.
Features of Bacteria
- they are microscopic single-celled organisms.
- they have a cell wall, cell membrane, cytoplasm, plasmids and a large circular chromosome of DNA.
- some bacteria can photosynthesis but most feed off other living or dead organisms.
- some are pathogens
Features of Protoctists
- they are microscopic single-celled organisms.
- their cells are larger and more complex then bacterial cells as they have a nucleus contains several chromosomes of DNA.
- some don’t have chloroplasts ex. Amoeba. others are more like plants bc they contain chloroplasts and can photosynthesis ex. Chlorella.
- some are pathogens
Features of Viruses
- these are tiny particles, smaller and simpler than bacteria.
- made of protein coat enclosing wither DNA or RNA.
- They are parasitic and can only reproduce inside living cells infecting every type of living organism.
eg plant
flowering plants, trees and herbs.
eg animal
humans, insects and birds.
eg Fungi
yeasts, moulds, mushrooms.
eg bacteria
E. coli, Salmonella and pneumococcus
eg protoctists
Amoeba, Chlorella and Plasmodium
eg viruses
Tobacco mosaic virus, HIV.
Which of the 6 groups have cells with cell walls?
Plant, fungi, protoctists and bacteria
