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Classification

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Harijani Soekar
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21 views45 pages

Classification

Uploaded by

Harijani Soekar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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CHAPTER 1:

CHARACTERISTICS AND CLASSIFICATION


OF LIVING ORGANISMS
1.1 Characteristics of Living Organisms
Instructional Objectives
1. Movement
• Defined as an action by an organism or part of an organism causing a
change of position or place
2. Respiration
• Defined as the chemical reactions in cells that break down nutrient
molecules and release energy for metabolism
3. Sensitivity
• Defined as the ability to detect or sense stimuli in the internal or external
environment and to make appropriate responses
4. Growth
• Defined as a permanent increase in size and dry mass by an increase in cell
number or cell size or both
5. Reproduction
• Defined as the processes that make more of the same kind of organism
6. Excretion
• Defined as removal from organisms of the waste products of metabolism
(chemical reactions in cells including respiration), toxic materials, and
substances in excess of requirements
7. Nutrition
• Defined as taking in of materials for energy, growth and development; plants
require light, carbon dioxide, water and ions; animals need organic
compounds and ions and usually need water
Hi !!!
EXERCISE 1

2
1.2 Concept and Uses of Classification System
Instructional Objectives
Classification of organisms
• Organisms can be classified into groups by the features that they share
What is species?
• Defined as a group of organisms that can reproduce to produce fertile
offspring
What is binomial system?
• Defined as naming species as an internationally agreed system in which the
scientific name of an organism is made up of two parts showing the genus
and species
UNIQUE MNEMONIC!!!
Importance of Classification
1. To identify organisms most at risk of extinction;
2. To identify potential sources of valuable products such as drugs (medicines);
3. To understand and reflect evolutionary relationships;
Classification
• Classification was traditionally based on studies of morphology and anatomy

• Then, the sequences of bases in DNA and amino acids in proteins are used
as a more accurate means of classification

• Organisms which share a more recent ancestor (are more closely related)
have base sequences in DNA that are more similar than those that share
only a distant ancestor
Dichotomous Keys
Constructing and Using a Key

• Keys are used to identify organisms based on a series of questions about their features

• Dichotomous means ‘branching into two’ and it leads the user through to the name of
the organism by giving two descriptions at a time and asking them to choose

• Each choice leads the user onto another two descriptions

• In order to successfully navigate a key, you need to pick a single organism to start with
and follow the statements from the beginning until you find the name

• You then pick another organism and start at the beginning of the key again, repeating
until all organisms are named
Example of a dichotomous key #1
Example of a dichotomous key #2
TIP
• Simple dichotomous keys almost always come up in the multiple
choice (MCQ) paper (Paper 22), so make sure you can use one

• Very occasionally they show up in the theory paper (Paper 42), and
when they do you almost always have to use one instead of
constructing one, so focus on this skill
1.3 Features of Organisms
Instructional Objectives
Common Cell Structures

• The cells of all living organisms


contain the following:

• Cytoplasm

• Cell membrane

• DNA as genetic material (either


found in the nucleus or free in
the cytoplasm) General cell features
A typical animal cell and plant cell
Cell Composition and Structure

• When viewed under an electron


microscope (at a much higher
Apparatus

resolution), all cells also observed


to contain the following:

• Ribosomes for protein synthesis;

• Enzymes for respiration (in many,


but not all types of cells, found in
mitochondria);
The Five Kingdoms
• The first division of living things in
the classification system is to put
them into one of five kingdoms.
They are:

• Animals

• Plants

• Fungi

• Protoctists

• Prokaryotes (organisms without


nuclear membrane and certain
structures)
A typical prokaryote/prokaryotic cell
Main features of all animals:
• they are multicellular

• their cells contain a nucleus but


no cell walls

• no chloroplasts

• they feed on organic substances


made by other living things

A typical animal cell


• Main features of all
plants:
• they are multicellular

• their cells contain a


nucleus, chloroplasts
and cellulose cell walls

• they all feed by


photosynthesis

A typical plant cell


Fungi, Protoctists and Prokaryotes
• Main features of all fungi (e.g.
moulds, mushrooms, yeast):

• usually multicellular

• Each cell has a nucleus


and chitin cell wall

• do not photosynthesise
but feed by saprophytic (on
dead or decaying
material) or parasitic (on live
tissues/organisms) nutrition
A typical fungal cell
• Main features of all Protoctists (e.g. Amoeba, Paramecium, Plasmodium):
• most are unicellular but some are multicellular

• all have a nucleus, some may have cell walls and chloroplasts
(meaning some protoctists photosynthesise) and

• some feed on organic substances made by other living things


• Main features of all Prokaryotes (bacteria, blue-green algae):

• often unicellular

• cells have peptidoglycan cell wall and cytoplasm but no nucleus (with
nuclear membrane) or mitochondria
• All vertebrates have a backbone. There are 5 classes of vertebrates:
Vertebrate classification
• One of the morphological
characteristics used to
classify invertebrates
is whether they have legs or
not

• All invertebrates with jointed


legs are part of the
phylum Arthropods

• They are classified further


into the following classes:
Arthropods classification
Ferns & Flowering Plants
• At least some parts of any plant are green, caused by the presence of the
pigment chlorophyll which absorbs energy from sunlight for the process
of photosynthesis

• The plant kingdom includes organisms such as ferns and flowering plants

• Ferns:
• Have leaves called fronds
• Do not produce flowers but instead reproduce by spores produced on the
underside of fronds

Ferns
Ferns reproduce by spores found in the underside of their fronds
• Flowering plants:

• Reproduce sexually by means of flowers and seeds

• Seeds are produced inside the ovary found at the base of the flower

• Can be divided into two groups – monocotyledons and dicotyledons

Wheat plants are monocotyledons


Sunflowers are dicotyledons
HOW TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN
MONOCOTYLEDONS AND DICOTYLEDONS:
1) FLOWERS
• Flowers from monocotyledons contain petals in multiples of 3
• Flowers from dicotyledons contain petals in multiples of 4 or 5

2) LEAVES
• Leaves from monocotyledons have parallel leaf veins
• Leaves from dicotyledons have reticulated leaf veins (meaning that they are
all interconnected and form a web-like network throughout the leaf)
Comparing monocots and dicots
TIP
• Identification of monocotyledons and dicotyledons comes up fairly
frequently in the multiple choice (MCQ) paper (Paper 22) and so it is worth
learning the two differences between their flowers and leaves.
Viruses

Features of Viruses
• Viruses are not part of any classification
system as they are not considered living
things

• They do not carry out the seven life


processes for themselves, instead they take
over a host cell’s metabolic pathways in
order to make multiple copies of themselves

• Virus structure is simply genetic


material (RNA or DNA) inside a protein coat Structure of a typical virus

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