biology is life and life is biology, Lecture notes of Biology

Download biology is life and life is biology and more Lecture notes Biology in PDF only on Docsity! #14 Cell structure Most living things are made of cells. Cell shape varies according to its function. Plant and animal cells differ in size, shape and structure (plants cells are usually larger than animal cells). Similarities and differences between animal cell and plant cell Mnemonic Animal cell Membrane Nucleus Cytoplasm mnemonic: Mice Nibble Cheese Animal cell features 1. Irregular shape as does not have a rigid cell wall. 2. Vacuoles: may have several small, temporary vacuoles, for digestion or the excretion of excess water. 3. Denser cytoplasm: contain more dissolved substances and organelles (¢.g. more mitochondria where respiration take place to realease more energy for fast movement). 4. Store food (carbohydrates) in the form of glycogen Plant cell features 1. Regular shape as cell wall! (made of cellulose) is rigid (stiff). 2. Vacuoles: large, permanent vacuoles, contains H20 and dissolved substances (cell sap). Helps to maintain pressure in the cell. 3. Chloroplasts: contain chlorophyll and enzymes for photosynthesis. 4, Store food: Glucose produced by photosynthesis is converted into starch and stored in the cytoplasm. 4. Root hair cell (plants) Features: the hair gives a large surface area Function: absorb water and mineral ions; anchor the plant firmly in soil 5. Xylem cells Features: long, thin cells arranged end-to-end to form vessels (tubes). The cells lack end wall and cell contents such as cytolplasm and nucleus. The walls become lignified (woody). Function: conduction (transport water and mineral ions from roots to leaves) support (Ligmin provides strength for the stem). Common misconceptions Xylem and phloem tissue are often confused. Xylem carries water and mineral salts, while Phloem transports sugars and amino acids. In a vascular bundle in a stem, Phloem is on the outside and Xylem is on the inside. Examiner's tips 1. You need to be able to give examples of tissues, organs and organ systems in both plants and animals. A leaf is an organ made up of a number of tissues, e.g. upper epidermis, palisade, mesophyll. 2. If you draw a diagram to support an exam answer, make sure you refer to its in your written answer. Annotation is more likely to help you gain extra mark. Example of annotation Action of phagocyte #16 Tissues, Organs and organ Systems Cells are organized to form tissue, organs, and organ systems. In a healthy organism, all the systems work together. SPECIALIZED CELLS  A specialized cell is designed to do a particular job.  Nerve cells have long fibres to carry massages.  Muscle cells can contract and relax.  White blood cells attack bacteria.  Platelets help clotting. TISSUES  Large numbers of specialized cells make up tissue.  Muscles, blood and nerves are all tissues.  Blood tissue contains red cells for carrying oxygen, white cells for destroying harmful bacteria, and platelets to cause clotting in cuts ORGANS  Various tissues together make up an organ.  Each organ has its own specific job.  The heart, the stomach and the brain are all organs.  The heart has to pump blood around the body. It is made up of muscle tissue, blood vessels and nerves.  Arteries and veins are usually thought of as organ as they consist of several tissue layers. ORGAN SYSTEMS Various organs together make up an organ system. E.g. the circulatory system carries blood to all parts of the body. It is made up of heart, arteries, veins, capillaries and blood. Importance of gaseous and solute diffusion Diffusion helps living organisms to:  obtain many of their requirements  get rid of many of their waste products  gas exchange for respiration Examples  CO2 uses by plants for photosynthesis is diffuses from the air into the leaves, through the stomata (pores at the surface of leaves). There is a lower concentration of CO2 inside the leaf, as the cells are using it up. O2 (waste product of photosynthesis diffuses out in the same way).  Flowering plants use diffusion to attract pollinators like bees.  Some of the products of digestion are absorbed from the ileum of mammals by diffusion. Site of diffusion Substance Description Alveoli of lungs O2 Alveoli à Blood capillaries CO2 Blood capillaries à Alveoli Stomata of leaf O2 Air spaces of leaf à Atmosphere Factors favoring diffusion  Distance (the shorter the better), e.g. thin walls of alveoli and capillaries.  Concentration gradient (the bigger the better). This can be maintained by removing the substance as it passes across the diffusion surface. (Think about oxygenated blood being carried away from the surface of alveoli).  Size of the molecules (the smaller the better).  Surface area for diffusion (the larger the better).  Temperature (molecules have more kinetic energy at higher temperature). Importance of water as a solvent  Most cells contain about 75% of wate.  Many substances move around a cell dissolved in water.  Many important reactions take place in water. What is a concentration gradient? High Concentration Carbon Dioxide Low Concentration Carbon Dioxide Concentration of Carbon Dioxide Blood Lungs Location in Body The gas particles are more concentrated in the blood than in the lungs. Thus there is a concentration difference between these 2 points. If you join the concentrations in the blood and in the lungs (their points on the graph), you get a straight line which is sloped or has a gradient. This line is the concentration gradient between the 2 points. The difference in concentration between 2 regions is known as the concentration gradient. The particles of fluids (liquids and gases) possess kinetic energy. They are continually moving about. As their movementis random, the particles will move (diffuse) down the concentration gradient and become evenly spread out after some time. (So if you spray perfume in one corner of your room, eventually you can smell it from the other side of the room.) The steeper the concentration gradient, the faster the particles will move. The steeper the concentration gradient for a substance, the faster the rate of diffusion is for that substance! From http://askmichellebiology. blogspot.com Additional resource: http://askmichellebiology.blogspot.com #18 Osmosis Osmosis is the diffusion of water molecules from a region of their higher concentration to a region of their lower concentration, through a partially permeable membrane. Osmosis is a special form of diffusion and always involves the movement of H2O across a membrane. Osmosis is:  the movement of H2O  across a selectively permeable membrane  down a water potential gradient. In the picture below - The concentration of sugar molecules is higher on the concentrated solution (L) and lower on the diluted one (R). - The concentration of water molecules is higher on the (R) and lower on the (L) (a lot of place is taken up by sugar molecules). It is confusing to talk about the 'concentration of water', so we can say that a diluted solution (R) has a high water potential and a concentrated solution (L) has a low water potential.  plant cells become flaccid (soft and limp), cytoplasm is no longer pressed against the cell wall. The plant loses it firmness and begin to wilt.  animal cells shrink, become crenated.  Common misconceptions Sugar and salt do not move by osmosis. Cell membranes prevent them entering or leaving the cell. Try this A potato was set up as shown in the figure below (left-hand side). The investigation was left for several hours. The results are shown on the right- hand side of the figure. 1. Describe what happened to a. the water in the disk b. the salt solution in the hollow in the potato. [2 marks] 2. a. Name the process that is responsible for the changes that have occurred. [1 mark] b. Explain why these changes have occurred. [3 mark] c. Where does this process occur in a plant? [1 mark] d. What is the importance to the plant of this process? [1 mark] Answers 1. a. The volume of water in the dish decreased. b. The volume of salt solution in the potato increased. 2. a. Osmosis b. 3 points from: - there was a higher concentration of water in the dish than in the potato - so water moved into the potato. - from a high concentration of water to a lower concentration of water - by osmosis. c. Root hairs, or in the roots. d. Osmosis enables the plant to absorb water to maintain cell turgidity (or to replace water lost by transpiration). #19 Active transport Sometimes substances are required to be move against the Concentration Gradient, or faster than they would by Passive Transport. In these cases, Active Processes are used, which require energy. There are many occasions when cells need to take in substances which are only present in small quantities around them. E.g. root hair cells in plants take in nitrate ions from the soil. Their concentration are often higher inside the root hair cell than in the soil, so the diffusion gradient is from the root hair à the soil. Despite this, the root hair cells still can take nitrate ions in, by active transport. #20 Sum mary of Cells Structure  Cells are the smallest units of living things. They are too small to be seen with the naked eye, so we need to use microscopes to see their structures.  Cells have a cell membrane, cytoplasm and a nucleus. Plant cells also have a cell wall, and oft en have chloroplasts and a large vacuole containing cell sap.  The cell membrane is partially permeable, and it controls what enters and leaves the cell.  The cytoplasm is a jelly-like solution of many different substances in water. It is the site of many different metabolic reactions.  The nucleus contains the chromosomes, which are made of DNA. This is the genetic information and it controls the activities of the cell.  The cell wall of a plant cell is made of criss-crossing fibres of cellulose. It is fully permeable. It helps to support the cell, and prevents the cell bursting if it absorbs a lot of water.  The vacuole of a plant cell contains cell sap, which is a solution of sugars and other substances in water.  Chloroplasts contain the green pigment chlorophyll, which absorbs sunlight for photosynthesis. There may be starch grains inside the chloroplasts, which are the form in which plants store the food that they make in photosynthesis.  A tissue is a group of similar cells which work together to carry out a particular function. Tissues are grouped into organs, and organs are grouped into organ systems. Movement in and out of cells  Particles in gases, liquids and solutions are in constant random motion. As a result of this, there is a net movement from where they are in a high concentration to where they are in a low concentration. This is diffusion.  Diffusion is important to cells. For example, oxygen enters a respiring cell by diffusion, and carbon dioxide diffuses out of it.  Water molecules are small and can diffuse through a partially permeable membrane. Larger molecules dissolved in the water cannot do this. The diffusion of water through a partially permeable membrane is called osmosis.  Osmosis is important to cells. In a dilute solution, water passes into a cell through its partially permeable cell membrane. The cell gets bigger. Animal cells may burst, but plant cells do not because of their strong cell wall.  In a concentrated solution, water passes out of a cell by osmosis through its partially permeable membrane. The cell shrinks. Plant cells may become plasmolysed – that is, the cell membrane pulls away from the cell wall.  A solution containing a lot of water is said to have a high water potential. A solution containing only a little water has a low water potential. Water moves by osmosis down a water potential gradient, from a high water potential to a low water potential.  Cells can use energy to move substances up their concentration gradient, from a low concentration to a high concentration. This is called active transport. It uses energy that the cells release by respiration.