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Herbert Morrison Technical High School

Biology
Grade 7 Study Guide

TERM 1
DEFINITION OF TERMS
- What is Science? Systematic and logical way of learning about the natural world.
- Biology- The study of life.
- Areas of Biology
 Genetics: Study of heredity

 Taxonomy: Placing living things into groups.

 Zoology: Study of animals
 Botany: Study of Plants
 Pharmacology: Study of Medicine
 Ecology: Study of the environment
 Cytology: Study of cell
 Bacteriology: Study of Bacteria
 Immunology: Study of how the immune system fights against diseases.
 Anatomy: Study of how organs in the body work
 Marine Biology: Study of Marine plants and animals

Local scientist:
 T.P Lecky: He worked in the field of agriculture and created various breeds of cattle in Jamaica eg.
Jamaica Hope, Jamaica Red etc. ( From the Parish of Portland)
 AJ Thomas: He was a marine biologist and is known for his work with the Tilapia Fish ( From the
Parish of Westmoreland)
 Manley West: He is known for his work with the Marijuana Plant. Created two medicines from the
plant. Canasol and Asthmasol from marijuana for treating of Glaucoma and Asthma. ( From the
Parish of Portland)
 Cicely Williams: Did extensive work with children and discovered kwashiorkor. ( From the Parish of
Westmoreland)
 Paula Tennant: She is a botanist. Work with the papaya plant and eliminated a disease that was
destroying the plant. ( From the Parish of Kingston)
 Errol Morrison: He is an endocrinologist. Know for his work with Diabetes. ( From the Parish of
Kingston)
 Louis Grant: Work with dengue fever and leptospirosis. (From the Parish of Clarendon.)
 Lawrence Williams: Discovered a compound in the guinea hen weed that can cure cancer. ( He is from
the parish of St. Elizabeth)

International Scientist (Biologist):

 Carl Linneus: Known as the father of Taxonomy. He was a Swedish Biologist
 Charles Darwin: Know for his theory of evolution. Work with Finches, a species of birds. He was an
English Scientist.
 James Watson (from America) and Francis Crick: They both worked on the DNA double Helix
Model.
 Gregor Mendel: Was an Austrian Scientist and he is the founder of Genetics. He worked with the pea
plant.
 Louis Pasteur: He was a microbiologist. French Scientist who did discovered vaccination and
pasteurization as well as dispelling the theory of spontaneous generation.
 Robert Hooke: He discovered the Cell. He discovered the cell when he was observing the body of a
dead organism called the cork.
 
Lab Safety

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- Some of the lab rules

 Do not play in the lab.
 Keep your work area clean.
 No eating in the lab
 Report all accidents to your teacher
 Do not enter the lab without your teacher.
 Wash apparatus after completing an experiment
 Do not use broken glassware.

Safety Symbols
- Flammable
- Oxidizing
- Toxic/ Poisonous
- Explosive
- Corrosive
- Harmful
- Radioactive

- Lab Apparatus and Equipment

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- First Aid
First aid is the treatment that is administered to an injured individual before they obtain medical aid. First aid is
geared at trying to preserve life.
First Aid Treatment for the following injuries was done.
- Sprains
- Choking
- Electric Shock
- Eye Injury

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- Burns
- Cuts
- Nose Bleeds

The Scientific Method

The steps in the Scientific Method are:
1. Ask a question about something in Nature that is seen.
2. Do a research
3. From a Hypothesis ( an intelligent guess)
4. Conduct an experiment
5. Record observations
6. Analyze your results
7. Communicate your results

Variables

There are three types of variables. They are:

Independent Variable/Manipulating Variable: The condition in the experiment that you are modifying of
changing.
Dependent/Responding Variable: The result obtained due to the modifications made in a specific
condition.
Constant Variable: These are conditions in the experiment that do not change.

Examples of variables in the scenarios below:

A farmer has the same species of rose plants. He applies the same amounts of fertilizer to them but the
amount of water they obtain varies due to the various sites were they are located. The rose plants that obtain
ideal amounts of water grew faster than those plants that did not obtain much water. What is the:

1. Manipulating Variable: Amount of Water

2. Responding Variable: The Growth of Plants
3. Constant Variable: Same Amount of Fertilizer, Same Rose Plants.

The Lab Report

Steps in writing the lab report

- Aim (Tells the objective of the experiment. For eg. To determine if plants need light to make food.)
- Variables (Conditions that are to be in the experiment –manipulating variable: light, responding
variable: if the plant made food.)
- Materials/ Apparatus (These are all things that are needed to conduct the experiment.)
- Procedure/ Method (Tells how the experiment should be done.)
- Observation (Record your results, data etc, in form pictures, tables, drawings ect. The observation
states what took place in the experiment.)
- Discussion (Explain, or justify why you got the results you got.)
- Conclusion (This is a statement that answers the aim)

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TERM 2
CLASSIFICATION
The science of placing living things into groups is classification. The branch of biology that classification
falls under is taxonomy.

Why do we group things?

We group things because it allows us to find things easier, allows things to be more organized and we are able
to compare and contrast their similarities and differences.

How are living things Group?

There are 7 characteristics that are used to determine if a “thing” is living or not. The characteristics of living
things are: Movement, Respiration, Sensitivity, Growth, Reproduction, Excretion and Nutrition. We use
the acronym MRS. GREN to remember the characteristics of living things.

All living things are first placed into a Kingdom, then Phylum, then Class, then Order, then Family,
then Genus and finally Species. We use the mnemonics King Phillip Came Over For Grape Soda to
remember the levels of classification.

The Scientific Name

The Scientific Name of any organism is obtained when the species name and the genus names are used.
The process of using these two names to create the
scientific name of organisms is referred to as the
Binominal System.

The scientific name of every organism is recognized

worldwide. It is important because it prevents confusion.
When writing the scientific name of any organism,
capitalize the first letter in the Genus name and
underline or write all the words in italics.

Eg. Homo sapiens

Let’s look at the kingdoms that all living things are first
placed into. There are five kingdoms. For our course, we will go in details with the plant and the animal
kingdom.

Remember, Multi cellular means that they are made up of many cells. A cell is the basic building block of all
living things.

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The Plant Kingdom

The plant kingdom is divided into the phyla flowering and fern, mosses, conifers and bryophytes (which
are referred to as non-flowering). Plants that are in the phyla flowering produces true flowers and true
seeds. Non flowering plants do not produce seeds or flowers. Instead, some produce spores, while others
produces naked seeds. The flowering plants phylum is then divided into two classes, monocotyledons and
dicotyledons.

- Table 1.1 Summary of the key features of monocots and dicots

Features Monocotyledon Dicotyledon

Leaf shape Long and narrow Broad

Leaf veins Parallel Branching
Cotyledons One seed leaf Two seed
leaves
Grouping of Threes Fives
flowerin
gparts
Roots Fibrous Tap Root

Classes of Non Flowering Plants

Grouping Animals

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The animal kingdom is divided into vertebrates and invertebrates. There are five classes of organisms with
back bone (vertebrates) and eight phyla of organisms without backbone (invertebrates).

Classes of Vertebrates

Classes of Vertebrates

There are several groups of invertebrates. The ones that we will be focusing for this course will be listed
below.

PHYLUM OF INVERTEBRATES
1. Coelenterates/ Cnidarians (sea anemones, jellyfish, hydra, corals)
2. Sponges
3. Flatworms eg. Tapeworm,
4. Nematode ( round worms)
5. Annelids (segmented worms)
6. Arthropods- ( CLASS of Arthropods):
- Crustaceans (crabs, shrimps, lobster)
- Insects (ants, flies, bees)
- Arachnids (spiders and mites)
- Myriapods (centipedes and millipedes)
7. Molluscs (snails, slugs, mussels, octopus)
8. Echinoderms (starfish, sea urchins)

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Sponges

(Body is
loosely made
up of cells)

PARTS OF A FLOWERING PLANT

All flowering plants have the same basic structure. They consist of four main parts:
stem, leaves, roots and flowers.

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PARTS OF A FLOWERING
All flowers have stems, sepals, petals and male and female structures. The stem is a long green part which
grows out of the ground and holds the flower above the ground.

The petals are the often highly colored and scented sections which surround the inner parts of the flower. The
sepals are found at the base of the petals. They are green and are attached to the stem. Their function is to
protect the flower when it in the bud stage.

Diagram of the flower

Sexual Reproduction in the Flowering Plant

In order for the plant to reproduction, it first has to go through pollination and then fertilization.

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Pollination
Pollination is the transfer of pollen grains from the anther to the stigma of a flower. Two types of pollination:
 Self-pollination
 Cross-pollination
Self-pollination
Transfer of pollen grains within one flower:
 Pollen grains from the anther of a plant are transferred onto the stigma of the same plant.
Cross-pollination
Transfer of pollen grains from one flower to the stigma of another flower of the same species:
 Pollen grains from the anther of one flower are transferred onto the stigma of the other flower.

Agents of pollination

 Insects (bees)
 Other animals (birds and bats)
 Wind

 Insects
Pollen will stick to parts of insects’ bodies, e.g. pollen “bags” situated on the legs of bees. When the
bees feed, the pollen grains will be transferred to the stigma.
 Other animals (birds)
These animals are usually nectar-drinking animals like sunbirds. When the bees feed, the pollen grainswill
be transferred to the stigma.
 Wind
Pollen tends to be smaller and lighter in order to be carried by the wind

Fertilization
Fertilization in flowering plants happens through a process called pollination. Pollination occurs
when pollen grains from the anther land on a stigma.
- After pollen grains land on the stigma, a pollen tube grows from the pollen grain, through the
style, and into the ovary.
- Sperm cells inside the pollen grain travel down the pollen tube and into the ovary which
contains the ovules.
- Fertilization occurs when one of the sperm cells fuses with the egg inside of an ovule.
- After fertilization occurs, each ovule develops into a seed.
- • Each seed contains a tiny, undeveloped plant called an embryo.
• The ovary surrounding the ovules develops into a fruit that contains one or more seeds.

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PARTS OF THE SEED AND THEIR FUNCTIONS

Plumule

Hilum: Area on the seed that shows a scar of where the ovule was attached to the ovary.

Testa: Protective covering of the seed

Micropyle: Small hole in the seed that allows water to enter

Embryo: The embryo is divided into three parts. They are

- Plumule: This is the part of the embryo that will grow into the shoot.

- Radicle: This is the part that will grow into the roots

- Cotyledons: This contains the food store for the seed when it starts to germinate.

The embryo is the part of the seed that will grow into a new plant.

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Seed Dispersal

Seed dispersal is the movement of a seed from the parent plant to another location. Seed dispersal is

important because it prevents overcrowding of plants. If seed stay together in the same area as the parent

plant, there will be overcrowding. These seeds will compete for light, water, nutrients and space.

Wind
Seeds that are dispersed by the wind have the following adaptations which include smaller seeds that have wings or
other hair-like or feather-like structures.

Animals
Animals disperse seeds in several ways, either by having them eaten or by sticking to the fur of organisms. Seeds
that are dispersed by animals have the following adaptations.

Water- Any aquatic (water) plants and plants that live near water have seeds that can float, and are carried by
water. Seeds that are dispersed by water have a lot of air spaces, they are buoyant and are waterproof.

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Explosive Mechanism- The fruit of plants that use this mechanism are always dry and hard.

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