CHAPTER - 6

LIFE PROCESSES
Introduction
life process ( Definition )
Classification of process
1) Nutrition and its types
2) Respiration and its classification
3) Transportation in plants and animals
4) Excretion
 Gist of the lesson
 Chapter 3

Life processes

Biology is the science that

deals with living things.
Sometimes it is necessary
to make a difference
between organisms that
are alive, and other things
that are not alive.
Characteristics of living things
 Living things react to stimuli.

 Living things interact with

their environment, which includes members
of the same and other species.

 Living things have a metabolism: they take

in food which they convert to the energy
they need.

 Living things reproduce: they give birth to

others of the same species. This is not true
of all individual organisms.
In eusocial organisms, some castes cannot
reproduce. But, since the sterile workers are
all the produce of a single queen, they are
one collective.
2) Life processes :-
●Life processes are the basic processes in living organisms which
are necessary for maintaining their life. The basic life processes are –
nutrition, respiration, transportation, and excretion.
●i) Nutrition :– is the process of taking food by an organism and its

utilization by the body for life processes.

●ii) Respiration :– is the process by which food is burnt in the cells of

the body with the help of oxygen to release energy.

●iii) Transportation :– is the process by which food, oxygen, water,

waste products are carried from one part of the body to the other,
●iv) Excretion :- is the process by which waste products are removed

from the body.

The process by which an organism takes
food and utilizes it is called nutrition.

Need of nutrition: Organisms need energy

to perform various activities. The energy is
supplied by the nutrients. Organisms need
various raw materials for growth and
repair. These raw materials are provided by
nutrients.

Nutrients: Materials which provide

nutrition to organisms are called nutrients.
Carbohydrates, proteins and fats are the
main nutrients and are called
macronutrients. Minerals and vitamins are
required in small amounts and hence are
called micronutrients.
Life on earth depends on carbon based molecules and most of
the food are also carbon based molecules. The outside raw
materials used by living organisms are food, water and air.
●a) Modes of nutrition :- There are two main modes of nutrition.

They are autotrophic nutrition and heterotrophic nutrition.

●i) Autotrophic nutrition :- is nutrition in which organisms

prepare their own food from simple inorganic substances like

carbon dioxide and water in the presence of sunlight and
chlorophyll.
● Eg :- all green plants and some bacteria.

●ii) Heterotrophic nutrition :- is nutrition in which organisms

get their food directly or indirectly from plants.

● Eg :- all animals fungi and some bacteria.

●b) Types of heterotrophic nutrition :- There are three main

types of heterotrophic nutrition. They are saprophytic,

parasitic and holozoic nutritions.
●i) Saprohytic nutrition :- is nutrition in which organisms get their food
from dead and decaying organisms. They break down the food material
outside their body and then absorbs it. Eg :- mushroom, bread mould,
yeast, some bacteria etc.
●ii) Parasitic nutrition :- is nutrition in which organisms get their food

from living organisms (host) without killing them. Eg :- cuscuta,

orchids, ticks, lice, leeches, round worm, tape worm, plasmodium etc.
●iii) Holozoic nutrition :- is nutrition in which organisms take food

directly and then digests and absorbs it. Eg :- amoeba, paramaecium,

birds, fishes, humans etc.
 4) Nutrition in plants :-
●Photosynthesis :- is the process by which plants prepare food by
using carbon dioxide and water in the presence of sunlight and
chlorophyll. The food prepared is carbohydrate which is stored in the
form of starch. Oxygen is released in this process.

● Equation of photosynthesis :-
● Sunlight
● 6CO2 + 12H2O C6H12O6 + 6H2O + 6O2
● Chlorophyll

● Process of photosynthesis :-
● Photosynthesis takes place in three main steps. They are :-
● i) Absorption of light energy by chlorophyll.

● ii) Conversion of light energy into chemical energy and splitting up

of water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen.
●iii) Reduction of carbon dioxide by hydrogen to form carbohydrates.
●Chlorophyll :- are the green pigments present in the leaves. If we
observe a cross section of a leaf under a microscope, we can see cells
containing green dot like structures called chloroplasts which contain
chlorophyll.
●Stomata :- are tiny pores present in the leaves through which
exchange of gases takes place. Each stoma has a pair of guard cells
which controls the opening and closing of the stomatal pore. When
water enters the guard cells, it swells and the pore opens and when the
guard cells lose water, it shrinks and the pore closes.
5a) Activity to show that chlorophyll is necessary
for photosynthesis :-
Take a potted plant having variegated leaves (croton plant). Keep it in
●

a dark room for three days so that all the starch is used up. Then keep
it in sunlight for 6 hours. Then take a leaf from the plant and mark the
green areas of the leaf on a sheet of paper. Then dip the leaf in boiling
water to make it soft. Then dip the leaf in alcohol and heat it in a water
bath to decolourise it and remove the chlorophyll. Then wash the leaf
in water and dip it in dilute iodine solution. It will be seen that only the
green parts of the leaf turns blue black. This shows that chlorophyll is
necessary for photosynthesis.
b) Activity to show that carbon dioxide is
●
necessary for photosynthesis :-
Take two potted plants of the same size and keep them in a dark room
for three days so that all the starch is used up. Then keep the plants
on separate glass plates. Keep a watch glass containing some
potassium hydroxide near one plant to absorb carbon dioxide. Cover
both the plants with bell jars and seal the bottom of the jars with
vaseline to make it air tight. Keep the plants in sunlight for three hours.
Then take a leaf from each plant and test for starch. The leaf of the
plant kept in the jar containing potassium hydroxide does not show the
presence of starch. This shows that carbon dioxide is necessary for
photosynthesis.
 Significance of Photosynthesis:
 Photosynthesis is the main way through which the solar
energy is made available for different living beings.

 Green plants are the main producers of food in the

ecosystem. All other organisms directly or indirectly
depend on green plants for food.

 The process of photosynthesis also helps in maintaining

the balance of carbon dioxide and oxygen in the air.
 Steps involved Holozoic nutrition
 Ingestion: Taking in complex organic food through
mouth opening.

 Digestion: Change of complex food into simple form

by action of enzymes.

 Absorption: Passing of simple, soluble nutrients

through blood or lymph.

 Assimilation: Utilization of absorbed food for various

metabolic processes.

 Egestion: Expelling out the undigested food

 6) Nutrition in animals :-
●a) Nutrition in amoeba :-
●Amoeba is a unicellular animal living in water. It takes in food by

forming finger like projections called pseudopodia and forms a food

vacuole. Inside the food vacuole the food is digested and absorbed.
The undigested food is then sent out through the surface of the cell.
 Nutrition in Amoeba
 Amoeba is a unicellular animal which follows holozoic mode of
nutrition. The cell membrane of amoeba keeps on protruding into
pseudopodia.

 Amoeba surrounds a food particle with pseudopodia and makes

a food vacuole.

 The food vacuole contains the food particle and water.

 Digestive enzymes are secreted in the food vacuole and digestion

takes place.

 After that, digested food is absorbed from the food vacuole.

 Finally, the food vacuole moves near the cell membrane and
undigested food is expelled out.
Human beings are The alimentary canal is
complex animals; divided into several parts,
which have a viz. oesophagus,
complex digestive stomach, small intestine,
system. The human large intestine, rectum
digestive system is and anus. Salivary gland,
composed of an liver and pancreas are
alimentary canal the accessory glands
and some which lie outside the
accessory glands. alimentary canal.
Mouth or Buccal Cavity: The mouth has teeth and tongue. Salivary glands are
also present in the mouth. The tongue has gustatory receptors which perceive
the sense of taste. Tongue helps in turning over the food, so that saliva can be
properly mixed in it.

Teeth help in breaking down the food into smaller particles so that swallowing
of food becomes easier. There are four types of teeth in human beings. The
incisor teeth are used for cutting the food. The canine teeth are used for tearing
the food and for cracking hard substances. The premolars are used for coarse
grinding of food. The molars are used for fine grinding of food.

Salivary glands secrete saliva. Saliva makes the food slippery which makes it
easy to swallow the food. Saliva also contains the enzyme salivary amylase or
ptyalin. Salivary amylase digests starch and converts it into sucrose.
 Stomach: Stomach is a bag-like organ. Highly muscular
walls of the stomach help in churning the food. The walls
of stomach secrete hydrochloric acid.

 Hydrochloric acid kills the germs which may be present

in food. Moreover, it makes the medium inside stomach
as acidic.

 The acidic medium is necessary for gastric enzymes to

work. The enzyme pepsin; secreted in stomach; does
partial digestion of protein.

 The mucus; secreted by the walls of the stomach saves

the inner lining of stomach from getting damaged from
hydrochloric acid.
Small Intestine: It is a highly coiled tube-like
structure. The small intestine is longer than the large
intestine but its lumen is smaller than that of the large
intestine. The small intestine is divided into three
parts, viz. duodenum, jejunum and ileum.

Liver: Liver is the largest organ in the human body.

Liver manufactures bile; which gets stored in gall
bladder. From the gall bladder, bile is released as
and when required.

Pancreas: Pancreas is situated below the stomach.

It secretes pancreatic juice which contains many
digestive enzymes.
• Bile and pancreatic juice go to the duodenum through a
hepato-pancreatic duct.

• Bile breaks down fat into smaller particles. This process is

called emulsification of fat.

• After that, the enzyme lipase digests fat into fatty acids and
glycerol. Trypsin and chymotrypsin are enzymes which digest
protein into amino acids.

• Complex carbohydrates are digested into glucose.

• The inner wall in the ileum is projected into numerous finger-

like structures; called villi.

• Villi increase the surface area inside the ileum so that optimum
absorption can take place. Digested food is absorbed by villi.
 Large Intestine

Large intestine is smaller than

small intestine. Undigested food
goes into the large intestine.
Some water and salt are absorbed
by the walls of the large
intestine. After that, the
undigested food goes to the
rectum; from where it is expelled
out through the anus.
 The process by which a living being
utilizes the food to get energy is called
respiration.

 Respiration is an oxidation reaction in

which carbohydrate is oxidized to
produce energy.

 Mitochondrion is the site of respiration

and the energy released is stored in the
form of ATP (Adenosine
triphosphate).

 ATP is stored in mitochondria and is

released as per need.
 Types of respiration

Aerobic Anaerobic

Presence of oxygen Absence of oxygen

Yeast
Humans and
other animals
 Aerobic respiration

This type of respiration

happens in the presence
of oxygen. Pyruvic acid is
converted into carbon
dioxide. Energy is
released and water
molecule is also formed
at the end of this
process.
Then what is anaerobic
respiration ?
 Anaerobic Respiration
 This type of respiration happens
in the absence of oxygen. Pyruvic
acid is either converted into ethyl
alcohol or lactic acid.

 Ethyl alcohol is usually formed in

case of anaerobic respiration in
microbes; like yeast or bacteria.

 Lactic acid is formed in some

microbes as well as in the muscle
cells.
 Why do we get pain in
our leg muscles when we
are running ?
When someone runs too fast, he
may experience a throbbing
pain the leg muscles. This
happens because of anaerobic
respiration taking place in the
muscles. During running, the
energy demand from the
muscle cells increases. This is
compensated by anaerobic
respiration and lactic acid is
formed in the process. The
deposition of lactic acid causes
the pain the leg muscles. The
pain subsides after taking rest
for some time.
 Breakdown of glucose by various pathways :-

presence
of oxygen
CO2 + H2O + Energy
(in mitochondria)

presence absence
of oxygen of oxygen
Glucose Pyruvate Lactic acid + Energy
in cytoplasm + (in muscle
Energy cells)

absence
of oxygen
Ethanol + CO2 + Energy
(in yeast)
 For aerobic respiration; organisms need a continuous
supply of oxygen, and carbon dioxide produced
during the process needs to be removed from the
body.

 Different organisms use different methods for intake

of oxygen and expulsion of carbon dioxide.

 Diffusion is the method which is utilized by

unicellular and some simple organisms for this
purpose. In plants also, diffusion is utilized for
exchange of gases.

 In complex animals, respiratory system does the job

of exchange of gases. Gills are the respiratory organs
for fishes.

 Fishes take in oxygen; which is dissolved in water;

through gills. Since availability of oxygen is less in
the aquatic environment so the breathing rate of
aquatic organisms is faster.

 Insects have a system of spiracles and tracheae which

is used for taking in oxygen.
Structure of Alveoli
The human respiratory
system is composed of
a pair of lungs. These
are attached to a
system of tubes which
open on the outside
through the nostrils.
Nostrils: There two nostrils which converge to form a
nasal passage. The inner lining of the nostrils is lined
by hairs and remains wet due to mucus secretion. The
mucus and the hairs help in filtering the dust particles
out from inhaled air. Further, air is warmed up when it
enters the nasal passage.

Pharynx: It is a tube like structure which continues

after the nasal passage.

Larynx: This part comes after the pharynx. This is

also called the voice box.
Trachea :- This is composed of rings of
cartilage. Cartilaginous rings prevent the
collapse of trachea in the absence of air.

Bronchi :- A pair of bronchi comes out

from the trachea; with one bronchus going
to each lung.

Bronchioles :- A bronchus divides into

branches and sub- branches; inside the lung.
 Mecahanism of breathing :-
●When we breathe in air, the muscles of the diaphragm contracts and
moves downward and the chest cavity expands and air enters into the
lungs.
●When we breathe out air, the muscles of the diaphragm relaxes and

moves upward and the chest cavity contracts and air goes out of the
lungs.
 8) Transportation :-
● a) Transportation in Human beings :-
● The main transport system in human beings is the circulatory
● system. It consists of blood, arteries, veins capillaries and heart.
● i) Blood :- transports food, oxygen and waste products. It consists
of
● plasma, red blood cells (RBC), white blood cells (WBC) and platelets.

● Plasma transports food, water, carbondioxide, nitrogenous waste etc.

● Red blood cells transports oxygen. White blood cells kills harmful

●microbes and protects the body. Platelets help in clotting of blood

and
● prevents loss of blood during injury.

● ii) Arteries :- carry pure blood from the heart to all parts of the body.
● They are thick walled and do not have valves.

● iii) Veins :- carry impure blood from all parts of the body to the heart.

● They are thin walled and have valves.

● iv) Capillaries :- are very narrow blood vessels which connects

● arteries and veins together. The exchange of food, water, oxygen,

● carbon dioxide etc. between the blood and cells take place through

● the capillaries.
●v) Heart :- is a muscular organ which pumps blood to all parts of the
body. It has four chambers. The upper chambers are called atria and the
lower chambers are called ventricles. Since the ventricles pump blood
to the different organs its walls are thicker than the atria. The right and
left chambers are separated by a septum. It prevents the mixing of
oxygenated and deoxygenated blood The atria and ventricles have
valves between them to prevent blood flowing backward.

xxxx
vein

xxxxxxxx
artery

xxxxx heart
Working of the heart (Circulation of blood) :-
● Working of the heart ( Circulation of blood ) :-
●When the left atrium relaxes oxygenated blood from the lungs flows
into it through the pulmonary vein. When it contracts, the left ventricle
expands and the blood flows into it. Then the left ventricle contracts
and the oxygenated blood is pumped out through the aorta to all parts
of the body. After circulating through all parts of the body the
deoxygenated blood enters the right atrium through the vena cava.
When the right atrium contracts, the right ventricle expands and the
blood flows into it. Then the right ventricle contracts and the blood is
pumped to the lungs through the pulmonary artery. In the lungs carbon
dioxide is removed and oxygen is absorbed and the oxygenated blood
again enters the left atrium and the process repeats.
● Since blood flows through the heart twice in one cycle, it is called
double circulation.

●Lymph :- is a colourless fluid present in intercellular spaces. It is

formed from the plasma which escapes from the capillaries. Lymph
drains into lymphatic capillaries which forms lymph vessels and joins
into large veins.
●Lymph transports digested fats and drains excess fluids from
intercellular spaces back into the blood. It contains lymphocytes which
kills germs and protects the body
 Hearts of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fishes :-
●i) The heart in mammals :- and birds have four chambers and the right and left
sides of the heart is separated by a septum. This prevents mixing of oxygenated
and deoxygenated blood and provides efficient supply of oxygen. This is
necessary because they need more energy to maintain their body temperature.
●ii) The heart in amphibians and reptiles :- have three chambers and allows some

mixing of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood because the do not use energy to
maintain their body temperature. Their body temperature is the same as the
temperature of the surroundings.
●iii) The heart in fishes :- have only two chambers and blood is oxygenated in the

gills.
●
 Double Circulation
 In the human heart, blood passes through the
heart twice in one cardiac cycle. This type of
circulation is called double circulation.

 One complete heart beat in which all the

chambers of the heart contract and relax
once is called cardiac cycle.

 The heart beats about 72 times per minute

in a normal adult. In one cardiac cycle, the
heart pumps out 70 mL blood and thus about
4900 mL blood in a minute.

 Double circulation ensures complete

segregation of oxygenated and
deoxygenated blood which is necessary for
optimum energy production in warm-
blooded animals.
 Transportation in Plants

For transportation in plants, two things

occurs

Transport of water and minerals

Transport of food and other
substances
Plants havetissuestotransport
water, nutrientsandminerals. Xylem
transports water and mineral salts
fromtherootsupto other partsof
theplant, while phloemtransports
sucroseand aminoacidsbetweenthe
leavesandother partsof theplant.
 Glossary of transportation in
plants
 Amino acid - The building blocks that make up a protein
molecule.

 Osmosis - The movement of water molecules across a

partially-permeable membrane from a region of low solute
concentration to a region of high solute concentration

 Translocation - The transport of dissolved material within a

plant.

 Transpiration - The loss of water from leaves by evaporation.

It is much faster when stomata are open than when they are
closed.

 Vascular bundles - Groups of xylem and phloem tissue in a

plant.
Root Pressure

The walls of cells of root hairs are very thin.

Water; from soil; enters the root hairs because of
osmosis. Root pressure is responsible for
movement of water up to the base of the stem.

Capillary Action

A very fine tube is called capillary. Water; or any

liquid; rises in the capillary because of physical
forces and this phenomenon is called capillary
action. Water; in stem; rises up to some height
because of capillary action
Adhesion-cohesion of Water Molecules: Water molecules
make a continuous column in the xylem because of forces of
adhesion and cohesion among the molecules.

Transpiration Pull: Loss of water vapour through stomata

and lenticels; in plants; is called transpiration. Transpiration
through stomata creates vacuum which creates a suction;
called transpiration pull. The transpiration pull sucks the
water column from the xylem tubes and thus water is able to
rise to great heights in even the tallest plants.

Transport of Food: Transport of food in plants happens

because of utilization of energy. Thus, unlike the transport
through xylem; it is a form of active transport. Moreover, the
flow of substances through phloem takes place in both
directions, i.e. it is a two-way traffic in phloem
 Excretion
Removal of harmful waste from the body is called
excretion. Many wastes are produced during various
metabolic activities. These need to be removed in
time because their accumulation in the body can be
harmful and even lethal for an organism.
a) Excretion in Human beings :-
●The excretory system consists of a pair of kidneys , a pair of
ureters, urinary bladder and urethra. Each kidney has a
number of excretory units called nephrons.
 Filtration in Glomerulus
 Filtration happens because of very high pressure
inside the glomerulus. The lumen of efferent
arteriole is smaller than that of afferent arteriole.

 Due to this, the blood entering the glomerulus

experiences very high pressure and due to this, the
waste products are filtered out through the thin
membrane of capillaries in the glomerulus.

 The filtered blood is sent to the systemic

circulation through efferent arteriole and the filtrate
goes to the Bowman’s capsule. That is how urine is
formed inside the kidneys.

 Reabsorption of water and some other filtrates

takes place in the tubular part of the nephron. This
increases the concentration of urine. The human
urine is mainly composed of water and urea.
Excretion in plants
• Plants eliminate some waste through
diffusion. During the day, excess oxygen
gas produced by photosynthesis is
released through the stomata. Carbon
dioxide produced by respiration is
normally used up during photosynthesis.
At night, however, as photosynthesis
slows, carbon dioxide is not used up as
fast as it is produced, and it is released as
a waste product.