JAI GURU DEV

MAHARISHI VIDYA MANDIR, HYD

CLASS X BIOLOGY – LIFE PROCESSES NOTES
WHAT ARE LIFE PROCESSES ?
The processes which work together to keep an organism alive.
How unicellular organisms are different from multicellular ?
UNICELLULAR
• No specific organs for taking in food, exchange of gases or removal of
wastes may be needed because the entire surface of the organism is
in contact with the environment.
• Simple diffusion is enough.
MULTICELLULAR
• In multi-cellular organisms, all the cells are not in direct contact with
the surrounding environment.
• Simple diffusion is not enough.
• So, various body parts have specialised tissues/organs to perform
the function.
1. LIFE PROCESS – NUTRITION
It is the process by which an organism takes food and utilizes it to get energy, for
growth, repair, maintenance, etc.
AUTOTROPHIC
• Some organisms use simple food material obtained from inorganic
sources in the form of carbon dioxide and water.
• E.g. Green plants, cyanobacteria
HETEROTROPHIC
• Other organisms depend directly or indirectly on autotrophs.
• All animals, human and fungi.
AUTOTROPHIC – PHOTOSYNTHESIS
DEFINITION -
• It is the process by which autotrophs take in substances from the outside
(carbon dioxide and water) and convert them into stored forms of energy
(carbohydrate – glucose) in the presence of sunlight and chlorophyll.
WHY DO PLANTS PERFORM PHOTOSYNTHESIS?
• Plants need carbohydrate to produce energy.
• This energy is utilised by them for performing different life processes.
• The carbohydrates which are not used immediately are stored in the form of
starch, which serves as the internal energy reserve to be used as and when
required by the plant.
• While in humans, the energy derived from the food we eat is stored in our
body in the form of glycogen.

EVENTS DURING PHOTOSYNTHESIS

(i) Absorption of light energy by chlorophyll.
(ii) Conversion of light energy to chemical energy and splitting of water molecules
into hydrogen and oxygen.
(iii) Reduction of carbon dioxide to carbohydrates.
PHOTOSYNTHESIS IN DESERT PLANTS –
• Desert plants keep their stomata closed during day-time and opens it during
night.
• So, they take up carbon dioxide at night and prepare an intermediate.
• this intermediate product is then acted upon by the energy absorbed by the
chlorophyll during the day.
• They do this to reduce loss of water through their stomata by the process of
transpiration.

CROSS SECTION OF A LEAF –

STOMATA -
They are tiny pores present on the surface (epidermis) of the leaves.
How do stomata open and close ?
• The opening and closing of the pore is a function of the guard cells.
• The guard cells swell when water flows into them, causing the stomatal
pore to open.
• Similarly, the pore closes when water leaves the guard cells making them
shrink.

FUNCTIONS OF STOMATA –
Massive amounts of gaseous exchange takes place in the leaves through these
pores for the purpose of photosynthesis and respiration.
Large amounts of water can also be lost through these stomata for transpiration.
HETEROTROPHIC NUTRITION –
Saproptrophic - Some organisms break-down the food material outside the body
and then absorb it.
Examples are fungi like bread moulds, yeast and mushrooms.
Holozoic - Others take in whole material and break it down inside their bodies.
Human, Amoeba, Paramecium etc.
Parasitic - Some other organisms derive nutrition from plants or animals without
killing them. This strategy is used by organisms like cuscuta (amar-bel), ticks, lice,
leeches and tape-worms.
HOW DO AMOEBA OBTAIN FOOD ?
1. Amoeba takes in food using temporary finger-like extensions (pseudopodia)
of the cell surface which fuse over the food particle forming a food-vacuole.
2. Inside the food vacuole, complex substances are broken down into simpler
ones (digestion) which then diffuse into the cytoplasm (absorption).
3. The remaining undigested material is moved to the surface of the cell and
thrown out (egestion).
Paramoecium, which is also a unicellular organism, the cell has a definite shape
and food is taken in at a specific spot. Food is moved to this spot by the movement
of cilia which cover the entire surface of the cell.
HOLOZOIC NUTRITION IN HUMAN BEINGS
DIGESTION:
Enzymes are the biological catalysts that break down complex substances present
in our food into smaller simpler molecules, so that we can absorb these molecules.
This process is called as digestion.

Human digestive system

MOUTH -
Teeth break down food into particles and of the same texture.
Since the lining of the canal is soft, the food is also wetted to make its passage
smooth which is done by saliva secreted by the salivary glands.
The saliva contains an enzyme called salivary amylase that breaks down starch
which is a complex molecule to give sugar.
The food is mixed thoroughly with saliva and moved around the mouth by the
muscular tongue.

PERISTALSIS OR PERISTALTIC MOVEMENT –

The lining of digestive system/gut has muscles that contract rhythmically in order
to push the food forward.

STOMACH –
The stomach is a large organ which expands when food enters it.
The wall of the stomach is muscular which contract and help in mixing the food
with digestive juices.
DIGESTION IN STOMACH –
• Gastric glands are present in the wall of the stomach.
• These release hydrochloric acid, a protein digesting enzyme called pepsin,
and mucus.
• The hydrochloric acid creates an acidic medium which facilitates the
action of the enzyme pepsin. And also helps in killing microbes.
 • The mucus protects the inner lining of the stomach from the action of the
acid under normal conditions.
• And pepsin enzyme digests protein.

HOW IS THE EXIT OF FOOD FROM THE STOMACH REGULATED ?

• The exit of food from the stomach is regulated by a sphincter muscle which
releases food in small amounts into the small intestine.

SMALL INTESTINE –

● This is the longest part which is fitted into a compact space because of
extensive coiling.
• Herbivores eating grass need a longer small intestine to allow the cellulose
to be digested. Meat is easier to digest, hence carnivores like tigers have a
shorter small intestine.

DIGESTION IN SMALL INTESTINE –

• The small intestine is the site of the complete digestion of carbohydrates,
proteins and fats.
• It receives the secretions from the liver and pancreas.
Role of Liver –
1. It secretes bile which makes the acidic food coming from the stomach,
alkaline/basic.
2. Bile salts break them down into smaller globules increasing the efficiency of
enzyme action (emulsification of fats).
Role of Pancreas –
1. The pancreas secretes pancreatic juice which contains enzymes like trypsin
for digesting proteins and lipase for breaking down emulsified fats/lipids.
Role of Intestinal Juice -
1. The walls of the small intestine contain glands which secrete intestinal
juice. These enzymes finally convert the

⮚ proteins to amino acids,

⮚ complex carbohydrates into glucose

⮚ fats into fatty acids and glycerol.

HOW IS OUR SMALL INTESTINE MODIFIED FOR THE ABSORPTION OF
NUTRIENTS ?
• The inner lining of the small intestine wall has numerous finger-like
projections called villi which increase the surface area for absorption.
• The villi are richly supplied with blood vessels which take the absorbed food
to each and every cell of the body, where it is utilised for obtaining energy,
building up new tissues and the repair of old tissues.

2. LIFE PROCESS – RESPIRATION

• The food material taken in during the process of nutrition (glucose) is used
in cells to provide energy for various life processes.
• Some use oxygen to break-down glucose completely into carbon dioxide and
water (aerobic), some do not involve oxygen (anaerobic).
• Respiration can be defined as the process of breakdown of food (glucose) in
the presence or absence of oxygen to release energy inside a cell.

• In all cases, the first step is the break-down of glucose, a six-carbon

molecule, into a three-carbon molecule called pyruvate. This process takes
place in the cytoplasm. Then the pyruvate may be converted into the
following -
 PATHWAYS OF GLUCOSE BREAKDOWN

RESPIRATION IN PLANTS
• In plants, exchange of gases takes through stomata by the process of
diffusion.
• Diffusion is the movement of gas molecules from a region of higher
concentration to a region of lower concentration.
• At night,
When there is no photosynthesis taking place, only respiration occurs. Where the
plants take in O2 and give out CO2.
• During the day,
CO2 is generated during respiration but is used up for photosynthesis, hence
there is no CO2 release. Instead, oxygen is released as a by-product of
photosynthesis.

RESPIRATION IN TERRESTRIAL VS AQUATIC ORGANISMS -

• The amount of dissolved oxygen is low in water as compared to the amount
of oxygen in the air, the rate of breathing in aquatic organisms is much
faster than that seen in terrestrial organisms.

HUMAN RESPIRATORY SYSTEM –

1. NOSE/NOSTRILS
Air is filtered by fine hairs that line the nasal passage.
The passage is also lined with mucus which helps in filtering air and trapping
germs.
2. WINDPIPE/TRACHEA/THROAT
Rings of cartilage are present in the throat.
These ensure that the air-passage does not collapse.
3. BRONCHI
The trachea divides into two tubes called bronchi, one enters each lung.
They are also lined by rings of cartilage.
4. LUNGS
Within the lungs, the bronchi divides into smaller and smaller tubes (bronchioles)
which finally terminate in balloon-like structures called as alveoli.

EXCHANGE OF GASES INSIDE OUR LUNG -

The alveoli provide a surface where the exchange of gases can take place.
The walls of the alveoli contain an extensive network of blood-vessels.
O2 moves from alveoli to blood, CO2 from blood to alveoli.

MECHANISM OF BREATHING
During Inhalation –
When we breathe in, we lift our ribs (move out)and flatten our diaphragm, and the
chest cavity becomes larger.
Because of this, air is sucked into the lungs and fills the expanded alveoli.

During Exhalation –
When we breathe out, our ribs move down and in and our diaphragm moves up,
and the chest cavity becomes smaller.
Because of this, air is pushed out of the lungs.
RESIDUAL VOLUME OF AIR
The lungs always contain a residual volume/amount of air, so that there is
sufficient time for oxygen to be absorbed and for the carbon dioxide to be released.
IS DIFFUSION ENOUGH TO TRANSPORT GASES THROUGHOUT OUR BODY?
When the body size of animals is large, the diffusion pressure alone cannot
transport oxygen to all parts of the body.
Instead, respiratory pigments take up oxygen from the lungs and carry it to
tissues which are oxygen deficient.
RESPIRATORY PIGMENTS IN HUMANS -
In human beings, the respiratory pigment is haemoglobin which has a very high
affinity for oxygen.
This pigment is present in the red blood corpuscles.
Carbon dioxide is more soluble in water than oxygen and hence is mostly
transported in the dissolved form in our blood.

3. LIFE PROCESS – TRANSPORTATION/CIRCULATION

In Humans, it consists of –
1. Blood
2. Heart
3. Blood vessels

TRANSPORTATION IN HUMANS –
BLOOD
Blood is a fluid connective tissue.
Blood consists of a fluid medium called plasma in which the cells are suspended.
FUNCTIONS OF BLOOD -
Plasma transports food, salts, hormones, oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogenous
wastes in dissolved form.
HEART – THE PUMPING ORGAN
The heart is a muscular organ which is as big as our fist.
The heart has 4 different chambers – Left side is completely separated from the
right side. Each side has one upper (atrium) and one lower chamber (ventricle).
DOUBLE CIRCULATION THROUGH HEART
DEFINITION –
When blood goes through the heart twice during each cycle.
Double circulation
• Oxygen-rich blood from the lungs comes to the left atrium.
• The left atrium relaxes when it is collecting this blood.
• It then contracts, while the left ventricle expands, so that the blood is
transferred to it.
• When the muscular left ventricle contracts in its turn, the blood is pumped
out to the body.
• De-oxygenated blood comes from the body to the right atrium, as it expands.
• As the right atrium now contracts, the corresponding right ventricle,
expands.
• This transfers blood to the right ventricle, which in turn pumps it to the
lungs for oxygenation.
• Since ventricles have to pump blood into various organs, they have thicker
muscular walls than the atria do.
• Valves ensure that blood does not flow backwards when the atria or
ventricles contract.
WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF COMPLETE SEPARATION OF LEFT SIDE
OF OUR HEART FROM THAT OF THE RIGHT SIDE ?
OR
WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF SEPARATE CHAMBERS?
• It is useful to keep oxygenated and deoxygenated blood from mixing.
• Such separation allows a highly efficient supply of oxygen to the body.
• This is useful in animals that have high energy needs, such as birds and
mammals.
• They constantly use energy to maintain their body temperature, as they
are warm blooded.

3-CHAMBERED HEART
• Animals, like amphibians or many reptiles have three-chambered hearts
and can tolerate some mixing of the oxygenated and de-oxygenated blood.
• As they are cold blooded, they do not need high energy to maintain a
constant body temperature.
2-CHAMBERED HEART
 • Fishes have only two chambers in their hearts, and the blood is pumped to
the gills, is oxygenated there, and passes directly to the rest of the body.
• Thus, blood goes only once through the heart in the fish during one cycle of
passage through the body – single circulation.

COMPARISON OF BLOOD VESSELS -

PLATELETS FOR BLOOD CLOTTING -

When we are injured and start bleeding, blood is lost from our body which reduces
blood pressure which can affect pumping action of blood.
Platelet cells in blood plug these leaks by helping to clot the blood at these points
of injury.

LYMPH –
Formation –
Through the pores present in the walls of capillaries some amount of plasma,
smaller proteins and white blood cells escape into intercellular spaces in the
tissues to form the tissue fluid or lymph.
Composition –
It is similar to the plasma of blood but colourless (no RBC) and contains less
protein.
Lymph circulation –
Lymph drains into lymphatic capillaries from the intercellular spaces, which join
to form large lymph vessels that finally open into larger veins.
Functions –
Lymph carries digested and absorbed fat from intestine and drains excess fluid
from extra cellular space back into the blood.

TRANSPORTATION IN PLANTS -

TRANSPORTATION OF WATER -
• At the roots, cells in contact with the soil actively take up ions. This creates
a concentration difference between the root and the soil.
• Water moves into the root cells from the soil to eliminate this difference.
• From here, the water continuously moves into root xylem, creating a column
of water that is steadily pushed upwards. This creates pressure within the
root called as root pressure.
• But this root pressure is not enough to move water over the heights of tall
plants against gravity.
TRANSPIRATION -
• Evaporation of excess water from ariel parts of the plants through stomata
is called Transpiration.
• This evaporation of water molecules from the cells of a leaf creates a suction
which pulls water from the xylem cells of roots.
• Thus, transpiration helps in the absorption and upward movement of water
and minerals dissolved in it from roots to the leaves.
• At night – root pressure is more important as transpiration rate slows
down.
 • In daytime - the stomata are open, the transpiration pull becomes the
major driving force in the movement of water in the xylem.

TRANSPORTATION OF FOOD -
• The products of photosynthesis (glucose then converted to sucrose) and
amino acids, are moved from leaves to other parts of the plant like roots,
stem, fruits and seeds. This transport of food is called translocation and it
occurs in phloem.
• The translocation of food takes place in the sieve tubes with the help of
adjacent companion cells of the phloem tissue.
• It takes place in both upward and downward directions.
• Translocation of food involves energy (ATP), while is xylem physical forces
are enough to transport water.
• This increases the osmotic pressure of the phloem tissue causing water to
move into it.

• This pressure moves the material in the phloem to tissues which have less
pressure.

4. LIFE PROCESS - EXCRETION

Organisms generate a lot of nitrogenous wastes during biological activities.
The biological process involved in the removal of these harmful metabolic wastes
from the body is called excretion.
HUMAN EXCRETORY SYSTEM
• Pair of kidneys
• Pair of ureters
• Urinary bladder
• Urethra
STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF EACH PART

KIDNEYS
• Located in the abdomen, one on either side of the backbone.
• Urine produced in the kidneys.
URETERS
• Urine passes through two long tubes called ureters, to the bladder.
URINARY BLADDER
• Urine is temporarily stored here.
URETHRA
• Urine is passed out of the body through urethra.

HOW IS URINE PRODUCED ?

1. Nephron is the filtration unit that consist of cluster of very thin-walled
blood capillaries.
2. Each capillary cluster in the kidney is associated with the cup-shaped
(Bowman’s capsule) at the end of a tube.
3. Bowman’s capsule collects the filtered urine (initial filtrate).
4. From Bowman’s capsule the filtered urine flows through the nephron
tubules.
5. From these tubes, some substances in the initial filtrate, such as glucose,
amino acids, salts and a major amount of water, are selectively re-absorbed.
6. The urine forming in each kidney eventually enters a long tube, the ureter,
which connects the kidneys with the urinary bladder.
7. Urine is stored in the urinary bladder until the pressure of the expanded
bladder leads to the urge to pass it out through the urethra.
 8. The bladder is muscular, so it is under nervous control (both voluntary and
involuntary).
9. As a result, we can usually control the urge to urinate.
10. The amount of water reabsorbed depends on how much excess water
there is in the body, and on how much of dissolved waste there is to be
excreted.

EXCRETION IN PLANTS -
• Plant tissues consist of many dead cells filled with waste, and they can lose
some parts such as leaves to remove these wastes.
• Many plant waste products are stored in cellular vacuoles.
• Other waste products are stored as resins and gums, especially in old
xylem.
• Plants also excrete some waste substances into the soil around them.