Chapter 1: Life Processes

Textbook pages
3–24

Chapter overview
This chapter covers many of the fundamental topics and concepts that underpin much of the
specification. Topics include:

 characteristics of living organisms

 cell structures
 transport across membranes by osmosis, diffusion and active transport
 enzymes.

This chapter also provides an excellent opportunity for developing practical skills in terms of the AO3
skills required and the practicals listed in the specification.

What to expect
Specification areas covered:
1.1 understand how living organisms share certain characteristics
2.1 describe the levels of organisation in organisms: organelles, cells, tissues, organs and systems
2.2 describe cell structures, including the nucleus, cytoplasm, cell membrane, cell wall,
mitochondria, chloroplasts, ribosomes and vacuole
2.3 describe the functions of the nucleus, cytoplasm, cell membrane, cell wall, mitochondria,
chloroplasts, ribosomes and vacuole
2.4 know the similarities and differences in the structure of plant and animal cells
2.5B explain the importance of cell differentiation in the development of specialised cells
2.6B understand the advantages and disadvantages of using stem cells in medicine
2.10 understand the role of enzymes as biological catalysts in metabolic reactions
2.11 understand how temperature changes can affect enzyme function, including changes to the
shape of active site
2.12 practical: investigate how enzyme activity can be affected by changes in temperature
2.13 understand how enzyme function can be affected by changes in pH altering the active site
2.14B practical: investigate how enzyme activity can be affected by changes in pH
2.15 understand the processes of diffusion, osmosis and active transport by which substances
move into and out of cells
2.16 understand how factors affect the rate of movement of substances into and out of cells,
including the effects of surface area to volume ratio, distance, temperature and concentration
gradient
2.17 practical: investigate diffusion and osmosis using living and non-living systems
2.34 understand how the process of respiration produces ATP in living organisms
2.35 know that ATP provides energy for cells
2.36 describe the differences between aerobic and anaerobic respiration
2.37 know the word equation and the balanced chemical symbol equation for aerobic
respiration in living organisms
2.38 know the word equation for anaerobic respiration in plants and in animals
2.39 practical: investigate the evolution of carbon dioxide and heat from respiring seeds or other
suitable living organisms.

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The topics covered are generally straightforward but it is important that a significant amount of time
is spent as an understanding of them underpins many other topics. These topics should be covered
early in the course but they will be revisited many times when studying other topics. For example, a
theoretical explanation of diffusion should be covered here but it will be revisited when studying
topics such as gas exchange in plants and humans.

Many effective homework exercises can be set on topics in this chapter. Typical tasks could include:

 answering theoretical questions such as the questions on the TRP worksheet

 writing up or planning practicals
 researching topics such as finding out about stem cell uses.

Teaching notes
1.1 Characteristi cs of life

 This is a very straightforward section. Students need to be able to state the characteristics of
living things. They could compare how named animals and plants meet the characteristics of
life and why viruses and non-living objects (such as a car) do not.

2(a) and (b) Levels of organisati on and cells

 As a starter activity, give students cards with the names and diagrams of different structures
(e.g. individual cells, muscle and bone tissue, leaf, kidney) and place them into the correct
group of cell, tissue, organ or system. This can be differentiated by putting organs such as a
diagram of an artery with several tissue types.
 Use microscopes to observe and draw onion epidermis cells, human cheek cells (if it is not
possible to prepare human cheek cells in the school laboratory, prepared slides can be
purchased) and pondweed leaf cells. The onion cells should be stained with iodine solution
to see nuclei and cell membranes. Cheek cells should be stained with a small amount of
methylene blue solution, drawn under the coverslip with filter paper. Pondweed (e.g.
Elodea) cells or moss leaf cells do not need staining and students should be able to observe
the chloroplasts. Students should draw a few cells of each tissue type and compare the
animal and plant cells.
 Students (particularly those who find the subject challenging) can be given the task of
creating models of cell types (this often elicits some very creative responses).
 To understand cell differentiation, students can be given diagrams of a range of cells (e.g.
egg, sperm, xylem, palisade, root hair, motor neurone, red blood) and asked to explain the
function of each and how it is adapted.
 Students can research the role of stem cells in medicine and produce a leaflet or poster
explaining their findings. The ABPI has a good web page with many resources, including
display posters (https://www.abpischools.org.uk/topic/stem-cells/1/1).

2(c) Biological molecules

 Many enzyme practicals can be carried out (see practicals) as demonstrations or as class
practicals. These practicals are useful as planning exercises to stress the need for control
variables and reliability.
 To illustrate the idea of denaturation, raw egg white can be heated until it goes solid and
white. This demonstrates the change to the proteins and also shows that the process is
irreversible.

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  Clay models of enzymes with active sites can be made that illustrate the idea of lock and key.
They can also be used to illustrate denaturation.
 It may be more appropriate to introduce this topic when covering work on digestion and
diet.

2(d) Movement of substances into and out of cells

 Diffusion can be demonstrated by placing a tea bag or chemical substance such as potassium
permanganate in a large glass container with hot water. Perfume can be sprayed at one
corner of the room to illustrate the movement from high concentration to a low
concentration.
 Many practicals can be done (see practical section) using ‘pink agar’ and acid to show the
effect of different factors on diffusion rate.
 There are many practicals that classes can carry out on osmosis (see practicals). An
osmometer can be easily constructed by attaching Visking tubing filled with sugar solution to
a glass capillary tube. The Visking tubing can be placed into water to show osmosis
occurring.
 A useful discussion point for a lesson on active transport is for students to think about why
waterlogged soil can lead to the death of plants.

2(f) Respirati on

 The topic could start with the difference between breathing and respiration and it could be
taught as part of the section on gas exchange.
 A comparison of Olympic Games winning times before and after the 1968 Mexico City
Olympics is a good starter or homework activity. Students should try to spot which games
had unusual times and then explain why the sprinters were very fast and the distance
runners slow. This should be linked to respiration.
 To demonstrate the effect of anaerobic respiration, students could be asked to hold up one
hand and keep opening and closing the hand until their forearm hurts due to fatigue.
 There are several practicals that can be demonstrated or carried out as class practicals (see
practicals).

Possible misunderstandings
 Many students think that plant cells have a cell wall but not a membrane. This should be
emphasised on diagrams and can be illustrated when looking at red onion cells that have
undergone plasmolysis.
 Many students mix up the colours of the biochemical tests and forget that Benedict’s
solution requires heating. It helps them if they can carry out the practical, if no practical
equipment is available, some of the tests are available on video on the internet.
 Some students do not understand the term denaturation and will often say that enzymes
die. When teaching, teachers should emphasise that this is important.
 Many students give incorrect definitions of diffusion, osmosis and active transport. They
should be encouraged to use the terms precisely. Stress that osmosis only applies to the
passage of water across a selectively permeable membrane. Students should explain the
processes when writing conclusions to practicals.
 Some students refer to large surface areas when they should refer to large surface
area:volume ratios. It is useful to get students to calculate surface area:volume ratios of
shapes as part of practicals and also when carrying out theoretical questions.

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  Emphasis should be placed on the use of oxygen in aerobic respiration rather than ‘air’.
 Some students mix up the equations for photosynthesis and respiration.

Differentiation
 The Olympic Games winning times experiment can be differentiated effectively. More-able
students can just be given the times and the task of explaining them (keeping it very open-
ended), while less-able students should be given ‘scaffolding’, such as identifying the
anomalous times and explaining why less oxygen affects the times.
 Many of the practicals on enzymes and diffusion can be extended to include different
variables. For example, after investigating the effect of temperature on diffusion rate,
students could then plan and carry out a practical on the effect of concentration gradient.
 Fick’s Law could be introduced as extension material and then students can use it to explain
exchange in different systems.
 ATP production and breakdown is a challenging topic for many. Students can make a simple
model of an ATP molecule using pipe cleaners for chemical bonds and items such as
polystyrene labelled A and Pi. They can then model the breakdown of ATP into ADP and P i
during activity and production of ATP from respiration.
 Making plant and animal cell models is useful to help less-able students appreciate the
differences between them.
 To model diffusion, less-able students could use a kinaesthetic model. They should have a
piece of paper with a line drawn down the centre and a four-sided die (or any other method
of selecting four directions). They place 20 counters on one half of the paper and role the die
for each counter to decide in which direction each one will move (up, down, left, right). This
is then repeated several times until no gradient is left across the paper. This should help
them to appreciate that particles move in both directions but if there are more counters on
one side, there is more chance of some of them moving to the opposite side.
 Enzyme activity showing the idea of the ‘lock and key’ hypothesis and reuse of enzymes can
be modelled on a poster.

Practicals
Practi cals in the textbook

Activity 1: An investigation into the effect of temperatures on the activity of amylase

 Students often find organising taking samples for each well of the spotting tiles difficult.
 The amylase and starch should be tested before the experiment. Amylase can be
unpredictable and an optimal concentration should be identified before the practical so that
the reaction is neither too fast nor too slow. Different types of amylase may have different
denaturation temperatures and so they should be trialled before the practical. Salivary
amylase can be used by students using their own saliva – this represents a biohazard and so
all equipment should be sterilised afterwards with a suitable sterilising agent such as Virkon.
 It is important that students do not cross-contaminate solutions. It is advisable to place
amylase and starch solutions into lots of separate beakers and not use one stock of each for
the whole class. If a student uses a pipette for amylase and then places it into the starch
stock, it will all be digested before the practical starts.
 This practical offers an opportunity to discuss:
o accuracy: detecting the end point based on a colour change and the time intervals at
which samples were taken

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 o reliability: carrying out repeats – this is best done by collating class data to look for
similar patterns and identifying anomalies
o validity: ensuring that all other variables are kept constant (e.g. concentration of
starch suspension, amylase solution, volume of iodine, pH).
 This practical offers an opportunity to use mathematical skills by:
o calculating a rate of reaction
o drawing a graph with a curve of best fit or joining points with straight lines.

Activity 2: An investigation into the effect of pH on the activity of catalase

 Ready-made buffer solutions may be available, although they can be made up from scratch.
 Care should be taken with high concentrations of hydrogen peroxide as it is hazardous to the
eyes.
 If potato extract is not available, yeast suspensions can be used.
 This practical offers a useful opportunity for students to modify the apparatus to give more
valid data by:
o using a water bath
o collecting a known volume of gas in an inverted measuring cylinder or using a gas
syringe.

Activity 3: Demonstration of the production of carbon dioxide by small living organisms

 Organisms such as woodlice, blowfly larvae or germinated seeds can be used, but others
may be substituted. Seeds will take longer to change the colour of the hydrogen carbonate
indicator.
 When using animals, students should be instructed to use them in a humane way and so not
leave them in anaerobic conditions for long, prevent them touching the chemicals and
handle them carefully.
 This practical is best carried out as a demonstration and can be done at the same time as
Activity 4.
 Lime water can be used if sodium hydrogen carbonate indicator is not available.
 If laboratory conditions are cold, it may take a long time to detect a colour change.
 For extension work, a simple respirometer could be used.

Activity 4: Demonstration that heat is produced by respiration

 This practical usually works well as long as there is minimal contamination of the peas.
 Students should take notes and explain the purpose of the sterilising fluid, the cotton wool
and the control experiment.
 The temperature should be taken daily for a period of seven days.
 This experiment is a good opportunity to discuss the need for a control experiment and the
results from it are used when calculating a net temperature increase.

Activity 5: Demonstration of diffusion in a jelly

 This practical can also be carried out by using agar containing ammonium hydroxide stained
with phenolphthalein (changes from pink to colourless as acid diffused in) or cresol red
(changes from red to orange as acid diffuses in).
 Students should cut a range of sizes of agar block (different shapes can also be used) and
calculate the surface area:volume ratios. Drinking straws can be used to cut out cylinders of
agar.

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  The basic method of timing how long agar takes to go colourless can be used to investigate
the effect of concentration of acid and temperature on the rate of diffusion. This can be
carried out as part of a planning exercise getting students to identify independent,
dependent and control variables.
 This practical is a good opportunity to use several maths skills:
o calculating surface areas, volumes and surface area:volume ratios
o calculating rates of diffusion.

Additional practicals and demonstrations

Specification reference: 2(b) Cell structure

 Using microscopes to observe and draw onion epidermis cells (iodine stain), cheek cells
(scraped from cheek using sterile cotton bud – dispose of in Virkon as this is a potential
biohazard), pondweed cells (e.g. Elodea with no stain). Red onion epidermis is good for
illustrating the membrane peeling away from the cell walls.

Specification reference: 2(c) Biological molecules

 The effect of starch concentration and amylase concentration on rate of starch digestion by
amylase can be investigated by modifying Activity 1.
 The effect of hydrogen peroxide concentration or temperature on catalase activity can be
investigated by modifying Activity 2.
 Students can investigate the effect of boiling pieces of liver (lamb’s) by placing raw and
boiled liver into 10 cm3 hydrogen peroxide in a boiling tube and timing how long it takes for
the bubbles to reach the top of the boiling tube. This is a good introductory enzyme
practical. Potato or yeast can be used instead of liver.
 The effect of pH on digestion of casein (reconstituted dried milk protein) by trypsin and
pepsin can be investigated. An X can be drawn on one side of a test tube, casein solution
placed in the tube with buffer and enzyme and the time taken to be able to see the X
through the solution recorded.
 The digestion of gelatine plates and agar (starch) plates by biological washing powders can
be investigated.
 The use of cellulase and pectinase in fruit juice production can be investigated by adding the
enzymes to apple pulp in a filter funnel. Addition of the enzymes will increase the volume of
juice released.

Specification reference: 2(d) Movement into and out of cells

 The effect of concentration of acid and temperature on diffusion can be investigated by

placing agar containing ammonium hydroxide and cresol red indicator (or phenolphthalein)
into dilute hydrochloric acid.
 The diffusion of ammonium along a tube containing wet indicator paper can be
demonstrated.
 Osmosis practicals on plant cells are listed in Chapter 11 (Transport in Plants).
 Raw eggs can be ‘deshelled’ by placing them in hydrochloric acid. The resultant eggs with no
shells can be weighed and then placed into solutions of different salt concentration for 24
hours. The eggs are then re-weighed and cut open to reveal how osmosis has caused water
movement.

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  An osmometer can be set up (see page 152 of text book). This can be demonstrated to the
class by placing it into different concentrations of sucrose and calculating the rate of water
movement.
 Sterile horse blood can be placed into hypertonic, hypotonic and isotonic saline solutions
and examined under the microscope.
 As an extension practical, the selective nature of the cell membrane can be demonstrated.
Washed beetroot discs can be placed into water baths of different temperatures for one
minute and then transferred into 10 cm 3 distilled water. The amount of pigment that leaks
into the water can then be compared.

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