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The Characteristics of Living

Things
What is called the characteristic of living things?
A feature that could be used to decide whether something was living or not is
called The Characteristic of Living Things

There are eight characteristics of living things. An object must possess all
eight
characteristics to be considered living. If an organism possesses seven out
of the eight characteristics, it is not a Living thing. What are those eight
features?

They

grow

move

reproduce

react to surroundings

excrete

obtain nutrition

respire

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 are cellular

All living organisms are composed of cells and the substances they
produce.

The following image contains cells from animals, plants, fungi, and bacteria:

Biologists study objects that vary enormously in size. It is partly because

of this that biologists use a number of different techniques and instruments
to examine organisms. What are the instruments that we can you to examine
organisms?

Naked Eye

Light Microscope

Electron Microscope

Magnifying Glass

How does a tree view the Naked eye and the other instruments?

📌Naked Eye - The whole organism

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 📌Magnifying Glass - A flower

📌Light Microscope - Cells inside the flower

📌Electron Microscope - Starch granules inside the plant’s cell

Hook’s Microscope

In 1665, Robert Hooke used a primitive light microscope to examine thin

slices of cork taken from the bark of an oak tree.

The cork (which was dead) was made up of small regions that he called
cells as they resembled the rooms, or cells, occupied by monks in
monasteries.

It has since been discovered that all living organisms are made up of
cells.

Cells vary in shape and size. The structure of a cell determines its function.

The sperm cell has a tail so that it can swim quickly through the water

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 The fat cell has a very large compartment that it uses to store fat.

The nerve cell is very long so it can carry signals over great distances.

The potato cell contains compartments for storing starch

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 Parts of a Light Microscope

1. Eyepiece: The eyepiece magnifies the image. By using lenses in both the
eyepiece and the objective, the microscope magnifies images to over 100
times their normal size.

2. Coarse focus: The coarse focus moves the lenses to bring the object into
focus.

3. Fine focus: To get the perfect image, use the fine focus to make very small
adjustments to the focus of the microscope.

4. Arm: The arm is the best place to pick up the microscope if you need to lift
it.

5. Mirror: The mirror directs light from the light source onto the specimen.

6. Iris diaphragm: The iris diaphragm is used to control how much light goes
from the light source to the specimen.

7. Condenser: The condenser focuses the light from the light source onto the
specimen.

8. Stage: The specimen is placed on the stage so that it can be observed. With
this type of microscope, the specimen is always placed on a piece of glass
called a microscope slide.

9. Stage clip: The stage clip holds the specimen in position.

10. High power objective: Use a high power objective lens when you want to
magnify an object as much as possible.

11. Low power objective: Use a low power objective lens when searching for
your specimen or want to use less magnification than the high power
objective.

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 What is called Magnification?

Magnification is how much larger an object appears compared to its real

size.

If an object is magnified by a factor of five (x5), it will appear five times

as large as its real size.

How to calculate the magnification of a microscope?

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 Light from the specimen passes through two lenses before it reaches your
eye: the objective lens and the eyepiece.

Each lens has a magnification factor. For example, the eyepiece has a
magnification factor of x10 and the objective lens has a magnification
of x40.

If you used the eyepiece on its own, the specimen would appear ten
times as large as its real size.

If you used the objective lens on its own, the specimen would appear
forty times as large as its real size.

The total magnification of the microscope is equal to the magnification

of the eyepiece multiplied by the magnification of the objective. Total
magnification = 10 x 40.

Therefore, the total magnification of the microscope is 400 times. In

other words, a one-centimetre tall object would appear to be 4 metres
tall through this microscope (if the whole object could be viewed at once).

Field of view

If an image under a light microscope has a magnification of x 300 this

means the image viewed by the person is 300 times the object's

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 original size.

The area that you see when looking down a microscope is the field of
view.

The simplest way to determine the diameter of the field of view for a
particular magnification is by placing a ruler on the stage.

Magnifying your field of view

As magnification increases the diameter of the field of view decreases.

In the diagram below the field of view is 3.2 mm wide when the magnification is x
40. The field of view is only 1.3mm wide when the magnification is x 100.

What are the things you should know to calculate the diameter of the field
of view?

the magnification of the field of view that you are interested in -

magnification (new);

the size of the field of view at another magnification - field of view (old),
and;

the other magnification (magnification - old).

The formula for calculating the diameter of the field of view?

field of view (new) = field of view (old) x magnification (old) / magnification (new)

Determining the size of a magnified object: What is the actual size of an

object we are looking at in a picture taken using a microscope?

The size of an object in a magnified picture must be determined

mathematically.

To do this calculation you need to know:

the size of the object in the picture

the magnification of the picture

The formula for determining the size of a magnified object

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 size (actual) = size (image) / magnification

What is the quote we use to quote the size of a cell?

micrometre.

A micrometre (µm) is one-millionth of a meter.

The size of cells varies within the same organism and between organisms.

The human cheek cell and leaf cells have lengths of 56mm and 90mm
respectively. Plant cells tend to be larger than animal cells.

A typical animal cell

The diagram below shown a typical animal cell.

With a light microscope, you can see several structures inside the cell.

The Nucleus

Very few living cells do not possess a nucleus, although a nucleus has an
important role to play in the cell.

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The cell membrane

The cell membrane is very good at absorbing substances from outside

and retaining them in the cell. These useful substances are kept inside

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 the cell by the membrane. Some substances are able to pass freely
through the cell membrane such as water.

The membrane has special channels so that these substances can enter
the cell.

The cell membrane is very good at removing harmful substances or

blocking their entry into the cell.

The membrane has special channels so that these harmful substances

can leave the cell.

Cytoplasm

The cytoplasm is the name given to everything in the cell apart from the
nucleus and the cell membrane.

It is within the cytoplasm that most of the cell’s chemical reactions occur.

Most of the cytoplasm is a “jelly-like” substance.

Many important reactions take place in this “jelly-like” substance.

There are also numerous small structures called organelles that carry out
specific functions.

Mitochondria

Most organelles are too small to be seen with a light microscope but one
organelle called mitochondria can be seen with a very high-powered light
microscope.

Mitochondria are often referred to as the “powerhouse” of the cell as they

undergo a chemical process called aerobic respiration producing most of
a cell’s energy.

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Structure and function of animal cells

Animal cells are very enormously in shape, size and function but they all
have the same basic components.

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