Chilombe Biology Grade 12 Bio

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BIOLOGY GRADE 12
BIOLOGY VOLUME 3
0973396363/0964588457/0955922359. ianchilombe@gmail.com
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TOPIC 1: REPRODUCTION
- This is the process by which adult organisms produce the young ones of their own kind.
Types of reproduction
(i) Asexual
(ii) Sexual reproduction
The asexual reproduction
- This is a type of reproduction where one parent produces one or more genetically
identical offspring by mitosis without involving the fusion of gametes.
- Mitosis: This is the division of cells where one cell divides into two identical daughter
cells, each of which has the same number of chromosomes as the parent cell.
Advantages of asexual reproduction include:
- A mate is not required for offspring to be produced

- Large numbers of offspring can be produced in a short time
- Desirable features of parents are passed on to the offspring unchanged.
- It makes it possible to grow new plants of certain species even when seeds fail.
- It can take place even in harsh environmental conditions e.g. fungi such as mucor switch
to asexual reproduction when environmental conditions are harsh.
- No pollination and dispersal agents required for plants
Disadvantages of asexual reproduction include:
- It often leads to overcrowding and competition for resources.

- Undesirable features of parents are passed on to the offspring unchanged.
- Lack of genetic variation makes it difficult to adapt to a variety.
Asexual reproduction in unicellular organisms
1. Binary Fission: This is a type of asexual reproduction where one parent cell divides into two
daughter cells.
- The stages involved in binary fission are:

- The parent cell first grows bigger by increasing the amount of cytoplasm and
pseudopodia is withdrawn.
- The DNA replicates and the nucleus undergoes mitosis, resulting in the formation of two
daughter nuclei.
- The cell membrane constricts thereby dividing the cytoplasm in two so that each nucleus
is surrounded by its own cytoplasm.
- The two daughter cells separate.
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- This type of reproduction occurs in bacteria and Amoeba.

- The diagram below shows the process of binary fission in amoeba.
2. Budding (e.g. Yeast): This is a type of asexual reproduction where a parent cell or body of an
organism develops an outgrowth called a bud which increases in size and eventually detaches
from the parent to become an independent organism.
(i) Parent cell produces small outgrowth.
(ii) Outgrowth detaches from parent cell.
(iii) A new cell formed.
- Examples of organisms that carry out budding are yeast and hydra.
- A group of undetached buds is called a colony.
- The diagrams below show the process of budding in yeast.
3. Spore formation: This is a type of asexual reproduction where an organism forms spores.
- Spores are microscopic round structures produced asexually in very large numbers and are
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capable of germinating when conditions (temperature, moisture and food) are favourable.
- Sexually fungi reproduce by means of haploid cells from two different mycelia.
- The nuclei of the two different mycelia fuse to form a diploid zygote (zygospore) then
meiosis occurs to form haploid spores.
- The diagram below shows asexual reproduction in bread mould (Nshima mould).
The structure of the rhizopus
Importance of fungi and bacteria
- Decomposition of organic matter and nutrient recycling.

- Disease causing effects e.g. Ringworm and Bacillary dysentery.
- Production of food and alcohol.
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- Production of antibiotics.
- Source of food (mushroom).
4. Fragmentation: This is a type of asexual reproduction where pieces cut from an organism
develop into independent organisms e.g. in Spirogyra, some flatworms and sponges.
5. Vegetative Propagation: This term refers to asexual reproduction in flowering plants where
new plants are grown from vegetative parts of a plant such as roots, stems and leaves, without
involving seeds.
- Different methods of natural propagation: Runners, rhizomes, corms, buds, suckers,
stem tubers, root tubers and bulbs.
- Vegetative propagation can be either natural or artificial.
(a) Natural vegetative propagation: Type of propagation where flowering plants can naturally
propagate themselves using underground structures called perennating organs, which enable
them to survive from year to year.
- The features possessed by perennating organs include buds, adventitious roots and stored
food.
- Each bud can grow to form a single shoot.
- Buds that are located at the end of the stem are called apical buds while those located on
the sides of the stems are called lateral or axillary buds.
- The buds are protected by structures called scale leaves.
- Adventitious roots are either present on the perennating organ or they quickly develop
when conditions are favourable.
- Examples of perennating organs are root tubers, stem tubers, corms, suckers, bulbs and
rhizomes.
(i) Root tuber: This is a root that has become swollen because of stored food and is able
to grow into a new plant e.g. sweet potatoes and carrots.
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(ii) Stem tuber: This is an underground stem that has become swollen because of stored food and
contains eye buds that are able to grow into new plants e.g. Irish potatoes.
(iii) Corm: This is swollen underground and vertical short stem with apical and axillary buds that
can grow into new shoots e.g. Crocus sp.
(iv) Bulb: A bulb is made of underground fleshy leaves growing from a short stem e.g. garlic and
onion (Allium sp). The fleshy leaves contain food in them.
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(v) Rhizome: This is a swollen underground horizontal stem e.g. ginger. A rhizome has
adventitious roots and buds that can develop into new shoots at the nodes.
(vi) Suckers: These are underground lateral branches of stems having terminal buds and
adventitious roots e.g. bananas and plantains.
(vii) Runners, stolon and vines: These are horizontal stems growing above the ground and have
adventitious roots and buds at the nodes e.g. lawn grass, sweet potato vines.
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(viii) Leaves: Certain plants such as Bryophyllum have leaves that are swollen with stored food
and have buds and adventitious roots that can develop into new plants.
(b) Artificial Vegetative Propagation: This is the method of producing new plants from parts of
old one by human intervention.
- The different methods of artificial propagation are budding, cuttings, grafting, layering.
(i) Budding: This is a type of vegetative propagation where a bud is used as scion and the bark of
an entire plant used as a stock.
- The bud is cut in such a way that it has some cambium.

- A T-shaped cut is made in the scion reaching up to the cambium.
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- Then the bud (scion) is inserted into the T-shaped part of the stock in such a way that the
cambium from the two parts is in contact.
- The two parts are tied together and sealed with wax, leaving the bud exposed.
- The wax prevents excessive transpiration.
- Citrus fruits can be propagated using this method.
(ii) Stem Cuttings: These are stems cut just below the node and planted to produce new plants.
- Adventitious roots develop from the node and the buds on the stem develop into shoots,
giving rise to new plants.
- This method is enhanced by applying rooting powder to stimulate development of
adventitious roots.
- Leaves are also removed from the stem to reduce the rate of transpiration.
- If there is a cut end exposed to the air, it is coated with paint or another substance to
reduce water loss.
- Sugar cane and cassava can be propagated this way.
(iii) Grafting: This involves bringing together a stock and a scion coming from two closely
related plants i.e. plants of the same species or genus.
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- The stock is the part whose aerial (upper) parts have been cut off and it provides an
already established root system that is responsible for absorbing water and mineral salts.
- The scion is the aerial part that bears buds, which later form the shoot.
- This is the part that has the desired stem, leaves, flowers or fruits.
- The stock and scion are cut with complementary shapes that fit into each other before
being tied together.
- The method works well if the stock and scion have identical diameters.
- Roses can be propagated using this method.
(iv) Layering: method of propagating plants by covering a branch or shoot with soil so that it
takes root while still attached to the parent plant
- The involved in layering are: Bend the stem down to the ground and cover it with soil.
- Covering the wounded part of the branch with moist soil stimulates the development of
adventitious roots.
- Best done in autumn or spring seasons.
- Separating the branch from the parent plant once it has developed new roots and shoots.
- Bougainvillea and strawberry plants can be propagated using this method.
Advantages of vegetative propagation
- Rapid rate of reproduction

- Can retain desirable characters, as offspring are genetically identical to parent.
- Large food reserves are provided for daughter plants.
- Does not involve external agents or another plant.
- It is cheap
Disadvantages of vegetative propagation.
- Overcrowding may occur which leads to competition for water, space and light.
- No genetic variation occurs which decreases the ability to adapt to changes in the
surroundings.
- Diseases of the parent plant are rapidly transmitted to the offspring.
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TOPIC 2: SEXUAL REPRODUCTION IN FLOWERING PLANTS

The structure of a flower
Or
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- Flowers have male parts (stamens or androecium) and female parts (carpels or pistil or
gynoecium).
- The male parts of a flower include the filament and anther while the female parts include
the stigma, style and ovary.
- Pedicel or Flower Stalk: This part links the flower to the stem and conducts water,
nutrients and hormones between these two parts.
- Receptacle: This is the swollen end of the pedicel where other parts of the flower are
attached.
- Sepals: These are leaf-like structures that enclose the flower in the bud stage and protect
it from desiccation (drying up) and damage by pests and harsh weather conditions.
- A group of sepals from the flower is called a calyx.
- Petals: These are structures that are brightly coloured and scented in insect-pollinated
flowers to attract insects. In some flowers, the petals have nectar guidelines that lead to
the nectaries in the flowers.
- Anther: A structure made of pollen sacs where pollen grains are made and stored.
- Stigma: This is the part where pollen grains are deposited during pollination.
- Style: This holds the stigma in position and links it to the ovary. It is also used as a
passage for the pollen grain on its way from the stigma to the ovary through the pollen
tube.
- Ovary: This is the part that makes and contains ovules. It becomes the fruit after
fertilisation.
- Ovule: Ovules contain female gametes and they develop into seeds after fertilisation.
- Filament: This supports the anther and supplies it with water and nutrients.
Pollination
- This is the transfer of pollen grains from the anther to the stigma on the same plant or
different plants of the same species.
Types of pollination
1. Self-pollination: this is the transfer of pollen grains from the anthers to the stigma of the
same flower or different flower of the same plant .
2. Cross pollination: this is the transfer of pollen grains from the anthers to the stigma of another
plant of the same species.
characteristic features of self- pollinated flowers
- Bisexual, hermaphrodite flowers, for example marigold

- Anthers and stigmas ripen at the same time e.g. tomatoes
- Flowers remain closed until fertilisation has taken place e.g. garden peas
- The flowers are buried in the ground e.g. groundnuts
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Agents of pollination
1. Wind
2. Insects
Wind and insect pollinated flowers
- Insect-pollinated flowers are also called entomophilous flowers.

- Wind pollinated flowers are also called anemophilous flowers.
- The following table compares the structures present in insect and wind pollinated
flowers:
Insect pollination flowers Wind pollination flowers

Generally larger and conspicuous Generally small and inconspicuous
all
Brightly coloured, often with insect-guide Green or dull coloured, or no petals at all
petals
Nectaries often present at the base of No nectar
flower which produces nectar
Often strongly scented No scent
Anthers found inside the flower Anthers hanging out of the flower
Stigma found inside the flower Stigma is large and feathery, exposed for
catching pollen grains
Having small number of pollen grains Having large number of pollen grains which
which are rougher and heavier with spikes are lighter and with smooth surface
Flowers appear in warmer season Flowers sometimes appear in colder & drier
season
The process of fertilisation in flowers
- This is the fusion of male gamete and female gamete to form a zygote.
- pollen grain lands on a stigma and then absorbs moisture/ water and starts to germinate.
- The nucleus in the pollen grain divides to form two gametes, called sperm nuclei.
- Then the pollen tube nucleus (tube nucleus) germinates to form a pollen tube which grows
through the stigma, style and ovary until it reaches the embryo sac inside the ovule.
- To form the pollen tube, the pollen tube nucleus secretes enzymes that break down part of
the stigma, style and ovary.
- The tip of the pollen tube passes through an opening in the ovule called the micropyle.
- Male gamete in ovary and fuse with egg cell then fertilisation occurs.
- The diagram below shows the process of fertilisation.
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Ways in which seeds and fruits are dispersed and adaptation of fruits and seeds to mode of
dispersal
Dispersal: refers to the scattering of fruits or seeds from the parent plant to other places.
1. Water: Water-dispersed fruits have fibrous pericarps that enable them to float in water and
seeds have a membrane that encloses air e.g. coconut fruits and water lilies.
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2. Wind: Seeds are taken by wind over long distances before failing. They are small, light,
many seeds, wing like structure, parachute (pappus) and feathery hairs. E.g. milkweed and
dandelion seeds are small and light, pine seeds have wing.
3. Animals: This is where animals carry seeds from one place to another.
- The seeds that are carried by animals have the following characteristics:
(i) Hard testas to avoid digestion of seeds. E.g. guava and wild fruits.
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(ii) Colourful, juicy and smell good to attract animals and birds. E.g. oranges
(iii) Hooks and thorns that stick to the fur of animals. E.g. Blackjack (Bidens pilosa)
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4. Explosive (self-mechanism): This is a type of seed dispersal common in legumes (beans,

peanuts).
- Such fruits have fruit walls that develop tension and split to scatter seeds when dry.
- Such pods (fruit walls) are said to be dehiscent pod.
- The scattering of seeds some distance from the parent plant ensures that there is enough
space, water and sunlight for all the plants to grow.
Peanut
The importance of fruit and seed dispersal
- To ensure propagation
- For preservation and survival
- To prevent overcrowding and competition for food and oxygen.
- It protects new plants from pathogens.
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TOPIC 3: REPRODUCTION IN ANIMALS
Reproduction: This is the process by which adult organisms produce young ones of their own
kind.
The process of reproduction in a frog
- Frogs reproduce in water. This is because their eggs and larval stages are adapted to
obtain their oxygen from water and also eggs are kept hydrated.
- male frogs call females for mating by making croaking sounds to attract.
- It induces the female to release her eggs in water and the male frog releases the sperms
over the eggs.
- This is called external fertilisation because it takes place outside the females’ body.
- A female frog can lay up to 2500 – 4 000 eggs at goal.
- Frogs are oviparous animals. Oviparous is a form of sexual reproduction in which the
female lays eggs that hatch outside her body.
- Once the eggs have been laid, there is no parental care but they are left to develop on
their own.
Disadvantages of external fertilisation
- Needs water to lay eggs
- If the current is too much, sperm may be carried away leaving many eggs unfertilised.
- Eggs are less protected from predators and external environment.
- It requires large quantities of sperm and ova to be produced.
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The male and female reproductive organs in human beings
Male reproductive organs. Male reproductive system:
- Produces sperm in the male gonads.

- Produces the male sex hormone, testosterone.
- Delivers sperm cells in liquid medium (semen) into the vagina during copulation.
Part structure function

Epididymis Long narrow tube that lies on the side of the Stores sperms
testes
Sperm duct/ Muscular duct that is a continuation of epididymis carries spermatozoa from the epididymis
vans deferens passing through the prostate gland into the urethra to the urethra during ejaculation.
Urethra A duct that leads from the bladder and the carries semen from the sperm duct and
reproductive system to the exterior urine from the bladder
Prostate gland A gland at the neck of the bladder surrounding the Secretes an alkaline fluid that aids the
urethra transport of sperm.
The fluid contains an enzyme that makes
the sperm more active and neutralises the
acid in the urethra.
Penis An organ that consists of erectile tissue Deposits the semen into the vagina
during copulation so that internal
fertilisation can take place
Bulbourethral/ Two small glands that lie below the prostate gland Produces thick, clear mucus that forms
Cowper’s and open into the urethra at the base of the penis part of the semen
gland
Seminal A gland that secretes thick, clear mucus that forms Contains nutrients to nourish the sperm
vesicle part of the semen
Testes Two glands found outside the body. Held outside the Contain seminiferous tubules that
body in a sac-like structure called scrotum. produces testosterone and sperm cells
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Female reproductive organs
The female reproductive system:
- Produces the female sex cells (ova) in the ovaries.

- Delivers the ova to the oviduct where fertilisation may occur.
- Prepares the wall of the uterus so that implantation can take place for embryo to develop.
- Produces the female sex hormones oestrogen and progesterone
Part structure function

Ovaries These are a pair of gonads -To release eggs/ ova every 28 days
-To produce female hormones such
as oestrogen and progesterone.
Oviducts/ Two muscular tubes lined with cilia, connecting - Passage for an ovum
Fallopian tubes each ovary to the uterus. -Site for fertilisation
Uterus/ womb A hollow, muscular organ lined by the -This is where implantation and
endometrium, which is richly supplied with blood development of the foetus takes place
vessels. from.
Cervix This is the opening of the uterus that consists of -It secretes fluids/ mucus that lubricate
sphincter muscle the vagina during sexual intercourse.
-connects the vagina to the uterus
-part of the birth canal.
Vagina Muscular tube between the uterus and the outside -Receives penis that deposit sperms
of the body during sexual intercourse
-Birth canal
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THE BIOLOGICAL CHANGES ASSOCIATED WITH SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT IN HUMAN BEINGS
- Puberty: The period of development, that occurs in the human life cycle when a child’s
reproductive organs mature into an adult to become ready for sexual reproduction.
- During sexual development, the human being first develops the primary sexual
characteristics which include the sexual organs (Penis in males and vagina in females)
and the reproductive systems.
The role of testosterone, progesterone and oestrogen at puberty
- Testosterone: Male sex hormone produced by testes to develop secondary sexual

characteristics.
- Progesterone: Hormone produced by ovaries in females to prepare and maintain uterus
for pregnancy.
- Oestrogen: Female sex cell produced by ovaries in females to develop secondary sexual
characteristics.
Males
- Pubic hair grows at the base of the penis

- Hair in the armpit.
- The penis enlarges
- The testicles grow
- Wet dreams and the ability to ejaculate.
- Chest enlarges
- Voice deepens
- Skeletal and muscles develops fast
Females
- The breasts grow

- Pubic hair appears on the vulva
- Hair grows in the armpit
- The body grows in height
- The hips become wider than shoulders.
- The first menstruation occurs.
- Body odour.
- Increased body fat
- The skin becomes more tender and supple.
- Vagina grows in size
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THE MENSTRUAL CYCLE
- This is a cycle of about 28 days during which a woman experiences ovulation and
menstruation, one after the other.
- Menstruation and ovulation occur about 14 days (2 weeks) after each other.
- Ovulation is the release of an ovum from the ovary.
- Menstruation is the shedding of the uterus lining together with some blood through the
vagina which occurs when an ovum does not get fertilised.
- The menstrual cycle is controlled by hormones secreted by the pituitary gland and the
ovaries. The hormones from the pituitary gland are follicle stimulating hormone and
luteinising hormone. They act on the ovaries while those from the ovaries (oestrogen and
progesterone) act on the lining of the uterus (endometrium).
Follicular phase
- (i) The ovaries are activated on day one by rising concentration of follicle stimulating
hormone (FSH) from by the pituitary gland.
- (ii) Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) causes ripening of the eggs in the ovaries by
stimulating the development of Graafian follicles around them.
- Several follicles start to develop but only one takes over the dominance (most active)
while the rest become dormant (less active).
- (iii) The wall of the ovarian follicle becomes and endocrine gland and secretes oestrogen.
Oestrogen decreases the production of Follicle stimulating hormone and builds up the
lining of the uterus, stimulates secretion of luteinising hormone.
Ovulatory phase
- (i) The concentration of oestrogen reaches the peak and triggers a rise of Luteinising
Hormone (LH)
- (iii) Luteinising Hormone (LH) is secreted by the pituitary gland. It stimulates ovulation
and the development of the corpus luteum (yellow body) from the remains of the
Graafian follicle.
- (iv) Progesterone is secreted by the corpus luteum in the ovaries. It maintains the growth
of the uterus lining and increases blood supply to it in readiness for implantation in case
fertilisation occurs. It also inhibits secretion of FSH and LH by the pituitary gland.
However, the corpus luteum gets progressively smaller until it completely degenerates
and there is no more progesterone being secreted. When this happens, lining of the uterus
breaks down and the pituitary gland starts secreting FSH to begin the cycle all over again.
On the other hand, if the egg gets fertilised, the corpus luteum takes longer to degenerate
until the placenta has developed in the uterus.
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- The figure below shows the levels of various hormones fluctuate during the menstrual
cycle.
- The figure below shows when a female is fertile and when menstruation takes place
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THE PROCESSES OF FERTILISATION AND IMPLANTATION IN HUMAN BEINGS
(i) Fertilisation: Fertilisation is the fusion of the nucleus of a male gamete with the
nucleus
of a female gamete to form a single cell called a zygote.
- Copulation is also called coitus or sexual intercourse.
- During this process the penis moves into the vagina in order to deposit semen which
contains sperm cells.
- The depositing of the semen is called insemination
- After insemination the sperm will move up the vagina, uterus and finally the fallopian
tubes.
- If ovulation has occurred and an egg is present, the egg will release a chemical that
attracts the sperm. This is called chemotaxis.
- The sperm that reaches the egg will use an enzyme in its acrosomes to make an opening
in the membrane of the egg.
- Enzymes from the sperm cell’s head digest the jelly layer and the sperm cells wriggles
through the membrane.
- Once one sperm enters (only the head enters) the egg, morula (which later becomes
blastocyst) is formed, egg loses its tail and the egg forms a membrane trophoblast that
prevents other sperm cells from entering.
- The nucleus of the egg fuses with the nucleus of the egg. A diploid zygote forms.
- Fertilisation may take place during days 11-16 of the menstrual cycle.
(ii) Implantation: Implantation is the process by which an embryo (blastocyst) gets
attached to the wall of the uterus (endometrium) about 11 or 12 days after
fertilisation.
- The blastocyst makes contact with the endometrium (lining of uterus).
- It secretes the enzymes that partially dissolve the endometrium at the site of implantation
and this brings the blood vessels into close contact with the blood vessels of the mother.
- The corpus luteum is maintained and this shows that endometrium is not shed off and this
protects the developing embryo and prevents menstruation.
- Absence of menstruation shows that a female is pregnant.
- If the corpus luteum breaks down, it leads to the degeneration of the endometrium and
this promotes miscarriage.
- Miscarriage is the termination of pregnancy before the foetus is viable.
The infertility in human beings
- Infertility: this is the inability to conceive despite having carefully timed unprotected sex for one
year.
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Causes of infertility in females
- Damage to the fallopian tube

- Egg cell formation or ovulation may not occur due to a hormone imbalance
- Endometriosis: Implantation outside the uterus that may cause internal bleeding and pain.
- Medical conditions such as diabetes, epilepsy thyroid and bowel diseases.
- Lifestyle factors such as stress, poor eating habits and smoking.
- Age: The older the woman is, the less fertile she becomes
- Alcohol abuse reduces the production of health ova.
- Fibroids: These are non-cancerous growths in the uterus that develop during a woman’s
childbearing years.
Causes of infertility in males
- low sperm production.

- Stress, alcohol and drug abuse
- high temperature of the testes
- low testosterone production
- Diabetes
- Age
- Sexually transmitted infections
- Having hard inflamed testes or mumps
- Problems getting erection and ejaculation
- Problems with tubes that transports sperm cells
- Surgery treatment for correcting hernia
- Lifestyle such as poor eating habits, smoking, alcohol
- Having a job that involves contact with chemicals (toluene, xylene, pesticides and
herbicides) or radiations.
Development of the embryo in the uterus
- The zygote divides many times by cleavage (increase in the number of cells by division but no
overall increase in size) to double its cell number.
- A solid clump of about 100 cells called the morula is formed.
- About 5 days after fertilisation the morula develops into a hollow ball called a blastocyst. The
outer cells of the blastocyst form the trophoblast (chorion and amnion).
- Chorion develops finger-like structures called villi that forms part of the placenta.
- Amnion membrane encloses the foetus and the amniotic fluid.
- Amniotic fluid is a watery that protects the foetus from physical damage by cushioning it.
It also makes the movement of foetus possible.
- The inner cells of blastocyst called the inner mass will become the embryo.
- The blastocyst is pushed down the fallopian tube and into the uterus for implantation
- The zygote has now become an embryo.
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The Placenta
- Trophoblast changes into placenta.
- Placenta has the following functions
(i) Secretion of hormones. It secretes progesterone to maintain the thickness of the uterus lining
during pregnancy. It also secretes human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) which prolongs the
activity of the corpus luteum.
- The presence of HCG in the urine of a woman is a sign that she is pregnant. The two red lines in
the pregnant test kits below indicates the presence of HCG while a single line indicates the
absence of HCG.
(ii) Attaching the foetus to the uterus of the mother
(iii) Protecting the foetus from the mother’s immune system, mother’s blood pressure and
pathogens. It does this by forming a barrier that prevents mixing of the blood of the mother and
the blood of the foetus.
(iv) Exchange of materials between foetus and mother by the process of diffusion.
- The villi unite into foetal arteries and veins and are very close to the maternal blood.
- Dissolved food and oxygen diffuse from the mother’s blood to the blood of the foetus
while carbon dioxide and urea diffuse from the blood of the foetus to the mother’s blood
- The placenta has finger-like projections called villi that increase the surface area for
exchange of substances.
- From the villi, the blood flows from the umbilical vein in the umbilical cord to the foetal
heart.
The umbilical cord
- The umbilical cord contains blood vessels (umbilical artery and umbilical vein) that
transport blood between the foetus and the placenta.
- The umbilical artery carries blood rich in metabolic wastes (mainly carbon dioxide and
urea) from the foetus to the placenta
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- Umbilical vein carries blood rich in oxygen and dissolved food nutrients such as glucose,
amino acids, fatty acids essential mineral ions and vitamin from the placenta to the
foetus.
- The diagram below shows the developing foetus, placenta and the umbilical cord
- The 5 months old embryo will look like the one in the diagram below
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Health risks associated with foetal development
- Cigarette smoking: Cigarette contain carbon monoxide that combines with haemoglobin
irreversibly, thereby reducing the amount of oxygen available to the cells of the foetus. This leads
to low birth weights.
- Drugs such as alcohol and herbal medicines: Alcohol makes a baby be born with a condition
called foetalalcoholic syndrome (FAS) which is characterised by mental retardation and
deformation of the baby
- Poor food diet during pregnancy denies a developing foetus essential nutrients.
Healthy pregnancy and safe child birth
- Antenatal (prenatal) services: These services are:

(i) Screening the high risk cases
(ii) Prevention and detection and treatment of earliest complications.
(iii) Education of the mother about the physiology of the pregnancy and labour
demonstration.
(iv) Ensuring of continued medical surveillance.
- Good nutrition: This provides necessary nutrients for both the mother and the developing foetus.
Fresh fruits and vegetables provide vitamins and minerals, beef or chicken to provide proteins,
carbohydrates for energy.
- Exercise: This lowers the risk of excess weight gain, gestational diabetes and depression in
parents.
- Giving birth at a health facility: This is significant because skilled labourers attends to both the
mother and the baby so as to reduce the maternal and perinatal mortality. They provide
emergency obstetric and newborn care, offer information and postnatal care, offering of family
planning services and HIV test, trained workers have drugs needed for delivery.
- Avoid taking harmful substances into the body: These substances include carbon monoxide
from cigarette smoke, drugs such as alcohol and viruses. Carbon monoxide combines with
haemoglobin irreversibly, thereby reducing the amount of oxygen available to the cells of the
foetus. This leads to low birth weights. Alcohol makes a baby be born with a condition called
foetalalcoholic syndrome (FAS) which is characterized by mental retardation and deformation of
the baby.
Methods of birth control/ Methods of family planning.
- Family planning: This is any procedure that people take to prevent pregnancy so as to limit the
number of and spacing their birth.
- The methods of birth control are also called contraceptive methods because they are used to
prevent conception (fertilization and implantation).
- Contraceptive methods are divided into two groups, namely natural methods and artificial
methods.
- Natural methods include the withdrawal method (coitus interruptus), abstinence and the rhythm
(safe period) method.
- The main advantage of natural methods is that they cost no money. They are unreliable and
require a lot of discipline.
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- Artificial methods include barrier methods (condom, diaphragm and intra-uterine device),
chemical methods (spermicides and hormones such as those found in the oral contraceptive pill)
and surgical methods (vasectomy and tubal ligation or laparotomy)
(i) Withdrawal Method: This is the removal of the penis from the vagina just before ejaculation.
It is an unreliable method because the fluids that a man releases before ejaculation contain
traces of spermatozoa that may still fertilize an ovum.
(ii) Abstinence: This means not having sex at all. It is the only method that is 100% effective.
(iii) Rhythm Method: This is a contraceptive method where a couple only copulates during the
safe period of the menstrual cycle when fertilization is less likely to occur. This method is
also unreliable because the length of the menstrual cycle is modified by factors such as type
of diet, stress and physical exercise.
(iv) Condoms: A condom is a thin latex sheath that is fitted around an erect penis or inserted into
the vagina before intercourse so as to keep semen from being deposited directly into the
vagina. It is the only contraceptive method that prevents the transmission of sexually
transmitted infections (STI‟s) such as syphilis, gonorrhoea and AIDS. However, if expired or
not properly used, they can break or leak. Some people complain that they reduce enjoyment
of sex and cannot be used more than once.
(v) Diaphragm (cap): This is a thin latex cap fitted over the cervix before intercourse so as to
block spermatozoa from entering the uterus. It is more reliable if used in conjunction with
spermicides.
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(vi) Intra-uterine Device (IUD): This is a device made of plastic and copper wire that is inserted
into the uterus to prevent implantation by irritating the lining of the uterus. The device can
only be fitted by experts and it may cause discomfort if wrongly placed.
(vii) Spermicides: These are chemical substances that are applied inside the vagina before
sexual intercourse in order to kill spermatozoa. They are normally used together with
the diaphragm.
(viii) Hormones: Hormones such as oestrogen and progesterone are administered in the
form of pills or injections to prevent ovulation and implantation.IUD
They are only
reliable if taken according to prescription and may have side effects such as
interfering with the pattern of the menstrual cycle, nausea and weight gain. It’s one
the most effective methods of birth control.
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(ix) Vasectomy: This is the cutting and tying of sperm ducts to block passage of
spermatozoa from the testicles. The man is still able to engage in sexual intercourse
but ejaculates seminal fluids that have no spermatozoa. The method is highly reliable
but may be irreversible.
(x) Tubal Ligation (Laparotomy): Oviducts are cut and tied to prevent passage of eggs
from the ovaries to the uterus. This method is also highly reliable and usually
irreversible.
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Benefits of using contraceptives
- It helps prevent unwanted pregnancies and this promotes planned families.

- Women are empowered to decide when they are ready to have a baby.
- Smaller families have more money for their children’s education.
- Condoms (male and female) prevents sexually transmitted infections.
Possible risks of using contraceptives
- Disturbs menstrual cycle in the case of Intra-Uterine Device (IUD).

- Weight gain
- Hormonal imbalance: progesterone can take 6 months or longer to return fertility in women.
TOPIC 4: GENETICS
- Genetics is the study of the mechanisms involved in the control, transmission and
expression of inherited characteristics.
- It is the study of the mechanisms by which characteristics are passed from parents to
offspring.
- It is the study of heredity (inheritance).
- Heredity is the transmission of traits from parents to offspring.
The language of genetics
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA): Substances that make up chromosomes and it is a double helix
(strand) molecule that contains genes.
- DNA consists of nucleotides (inorganic phosphate, ribose sugar and a base) which
initiates and controls protein synthesis.
Gene: It is a unit of inheritance.
- It is the heredity factor which transmits traits from parents to offspring.
- Genes are located at fixed points on chromosomes. Each fixed point is called locus
Trait: It is a characteristic. It is a characteristic of an organism, e.g. colour of eyes. When a

characteristic is controlled by more than one gene it is called polygenic inheritance.
Allele (uh leel): It is one pair of an alternative form of a given gene occupying the corresponding
position on the homologous chromosomes controlling the same particular characteristic but in a
different way.
- Each sexually reproducing organisms has two alleles for characteristic (from both parents).
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- Alleles with more than two alternative forms are called multiple alleles e.g. the gene for blood
groups in humans has three alleles IA, IB and Io. Though three alleles, each human being can only
have two of the alleles.
- Alleles are represented by two letters. E.g. Bb, Tt, Ii
Chromosome: These are DNA threadlike structures found in the nuclei of cells of all plants and
animals.
- They carry genes which are hereditary materials.

- They consist of substances called DNA and proteins called histones.
- There are two types of chromosomes, namely sex chromosomes and autosomes
(non-sex chromosomes).
-Every somatic cell has two sex chromosomes while every gamete has only one sex
chromosome.
Complete dominance (Monohybrid inheritance): This is the study of one characteristic controlled
by only one gene.
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Polyhybrid inheritance: This is the study of one characteristics controlled by many genes.
Homologous gene: This is a gene that is inherited in two species from the same ancestor.
Genotype: This is the combination of alleles an organism has for a given characteristic. It is also defined
as the genetic composition of an organism for a particular characteristic. The genotype is normally written
using a pair of letters, each representing one allele e.g. AA, Aa and aa.
Phenotype: This is the outward appearance of an organism. Examples are tallness of a person, colour of
the skin, height of the pea plants.
Dominant: A dominant allele is one that gets expressed in the phenotype to the exclusion of another. It is
always represented by a capital/ uppercase letter e.g. A, B, T and so on.
Recessive: A recessive allele is one that is over-shadowed in the phenotype by the presence of a dominant
allele. It is always represented by a small/ lowercase letter e.g. a, b, t and so on.
Codominance: Codominant alleles are two different alleles which are equally expressed in the phenotype
when present together e.g. the alleles I A and IB for blood group.
Incomplete dominance: This refers to a case where the effects of the recessive allele is not masked by
the dominant allele.
Haploid (Monoploid): This refers to the number of unpaired chromosomes found in the nucleus of
reproductive cells or gametes.
- The haploid number of chromosomes in human beings is 23.

- Haploid is represented by n, where n is the number of chromosomes.
- It is half the diploid number.
Diploid: This refers to the two sets of chromosomes found in somatic (body) cells.
- Diploid chromosomes are represented by 2n, where n is the number of chromosomes.

- There are 23 pairs of chromosomes in human beings, bring the total to 46.
Homozygous: This is a type of genotype where both alleles are the same i.e. both dominant or both
recessive e.g. AA, aa, BB, bb and so on. Organisms which are homozygous are called homozygotes or
pure breeds.
Heterozygous: This is a type of genotype where the two alleles are different, such as one allele is
dominant while the other is recessive e.g. Aa, Tt and Bb. Organisms which are heterozygous are called
heterozygotes or hybrids.
Acquired characteristics: These are characteristics that are brought as a result of adaptations due to the
environment and are not inherited.
First filial generation (F1 or F1): Means first filial generation i.e. the first generation produced when two
varieties are crossed.
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Second filial generation (F2 or F2): Means second generation i.e. product of offspring or from F1
generation.
First parental generation (P1 or P1): These are organisms that which form the starting point of genetic
experiment.
Progeny: This refers to the offspring (descendants).
Pedigree: This is the genetic representation of a family tree that shows the inheritance of one particular or
more characters in different generations. Also called the family tree.
Punnett square: This is the chart/ diagram that is used to predict an outcome percentage of crossing
different alleles in genetics.
(Back cross) Test cross: This is crossing the organism with dominant character to an organism with
homozygous recessive character. To test whether the organism with the dominant character is
homozygous or heterozygous. Back cross is when an organism is crossed with one of its parent.
The importance of genetics
- Genetics help us to explain differences between organisms of the same species.

- It helps us to explain the transmission of characteristics from generation to generation.
- It facilitates the improvement in livestock.
- It facilitates the improvement in crops.
- It can be used to treat some difficult diseases.
The variations in human beings
- Variation: This refers to the differences in characteristics among organisms of the same
species.
- Types of variation are continuous variation and discontinuous variation.
Continuous variation
- This is a type of variation where a characteristic has many intermediate forms between
two extremes.
- Examples of characteristics that show continuous variation in humans are height,
complexion/ skin colour, hand span, shoe size and body mass/ size.
- The causes of continuous variation include:
(i) Control by many genes/control by many pairs of alleles/polygenic control, mutation
and random assortment
(ii) Influence by environmental factors such as diet, temperature, water and altitude.
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- When the number of individuals is plotted against a characteristic that shows continuous
variation, a normal distribution curve (bell-shaped curve) is produced, as illustrated in the
following diagram:
Discontinuous variation
- This is a type of variation where a characteristic has clear-cut different groups (distinct
groups), with no intermediate forms.
- Examples of characteristics which show discontinuous variation in humans are tongue
rolling, sex, blood groups and colour of eyes.
- The causes of discontinuous variation include:
(i) Control by one or few genes (control by one or few pairs of alleles), crossing over
of genes.
(ii) Lack of environmental influence.
- Characteristics which show this kind of variation are normally plotted on histograms, bar-
charts or similar types of graphs, as illustrated in the following diagram:
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variations in flowering plants
- This can be expressed as different:

(i) Fruit structure and scent
(ii) Height (dwarf or tall)
(iii) Leaf size
(iv) Shape of a plant
(v) Mass of a plant.
Factors that cause variations among plants and animals of the same species
Soil type: plants in acidic soil tend to grow more blue while those in slightly acidic soil tend to
grow red and pink.
Soil fertility: plants in fertile soil grow faster than plants in poor soil.
Environmental factors such as:
(i) Altitude: High altitude dwellers develop large lungs to accommodate more oxygen
because of less concentration of oxygen there.
(ii) Diet: Good nutrition promotes faster growth and poor nutrition slows down growth.
(iii) Temperature: Too hot temperatures darkens the skin and cold temperature promotes
light skin.
(iv) Water: Plants in watery places develop large and many stomata while those in low
water contents places develop small and few stomata.
CELL DIVISION (NUCLEAR DIVISION)
- Nuclear division or cell division is the process by which new cells (daughter cells) are
formed from existing cells (parent/mother cells).
- There are two types of nuclear division, namely mitosis and meiosis.
Mitosis: This is a type of cell division that results in the formation of two daughter cells that are diploid
and genetically identical from one parent cell.
- It takes place in all somatic (body) cells.

- The daughter cells formed are identical and each has the same number of chromosomes as the
parent cell.
- The normal state of a cell is called interphase. The cell makes sure it has all the nutrients and
energy it needs in order to under division
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- The diagram below shows the process of mitosis
Stages of mitosis
- There are four stages of mitosis, namely prophase, metaphase, anaphase and telophase.
Prophase
- Chromatids network starts to condense

- Chromosomes become visible as individual strands.
- Nucleus and nucleolus disappear.
- The centrosome divides into two centrioles
- Movement of centrioles to opposite poles of the cell.
- Appearance of spindle fibres from between the two centrioles.
Metaphase
- Centromeres of chromosomes line up along the equator of the cell.

- Spindle fibres from the centrioles attach themselves to the centromeres of the
chromosomes in a row.
Anaphase
- Centromere of chromosomes divides in two.

- Sister chromatids are separated from each other and pulled to opposite poles.
- Each chromatid becomes a chromosome.
Telophase
- The chromatids arrive at the poles and each of them becomes a complete chromosome.
- The spindle fibres disappears.
- Chromosomes disappear by unwinding and becoming longer.
- The nucleolus and nuclear membrane reappear.
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- The diagram below summarises the four stages of mitosis.
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Importance of mitosis
- Growth in size of multicellular organisms.

- Regeneration in cuttings used in vegetative reproduction in plants.
- Asexual reproduction in unicellular organisms e.g. binary fission in Amoeba.
- Maintaining genetic stability due to daughter cells having the same genetic material as
parent cell.
- Replacement of cells worn-out cells and repair of damaged cells and tissue.
Memory Aid: (Mr. Rag)
Meiosis (reduction division): This is a type of nuclear division where one diploid parent cell
produces four daughter cells that are haploid and genetically different from the parent cell.
- The diploid (2n) mother cell gives rise to four haploid (n) daughter cells.
- There are two divisions that take place during meiosis.

- These are meiosis I (first meiotic division) and meiosis II (second meiotic division).
- Each of the two divisions is made of prophase, metaphase, anaphase and telophase.
Meiosis I: This is the first phase of meiosis.
Prophase I
- Movement of centrioles to the poles of the cell

- Appearance of spindle fibres from the centrioles
- Disappearance of the nuclear membrane and nucleolus
- Chromosomes become visible by coiling and shortening
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- Homologous chromosomes pair up. These are chromosome pairs having the same length,
same gene loci and an identical position of the centromere. Each member of this pair
comes from a different parent.
- Crossing over takes place between chromatids of homologous chromosomes. This is a
process during which the chromatids of homologous chromosomes get entangled and
exchange pieces. The point of crossing over is called a chiasma (plural=chiasmata). This
process contributes to genetic variation.
- The following diagram demonstrates crossing over in homologous chromosomes.
Metaphase I
- Centromeres of homologous chromosomes line up along the equator of the cell.

homologous chromosomes randomly.
Anaphase I
- During anaphase I the homologous chromosomes are separated from each other and
pulled to opposite poles where the number of chromosomes is reduced from 2n to n.
- The chromosomes are separated randomly. This is called random assortment of
chromosomes and is one of the processes that contributes to genetic variation
Telophase I
- The chromosomes arrive at the poles.

- The spindle fibres disappear and the cell divide.
- Daughter cells are not identical with the mother cell they each contain the haploid
number of chromosomes.
- In plants a cell wall appears and in animals the cytoplasm constricts at the equator.
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Meiosis 2: This is the second phase of meiosis.
- The events that takes place during meiosis 2 are similar to mitosis.
- Meiosis 2 is important because it copies the two cells of meiosis 1 to form haploid
gametes.
Prophase 2
- Chromatids network starts to condense

- Chromosomes become visible as individual strands.
- Nucleus and nucleolus disappear.
- The centrosome divides into two centrioles
- Movement of centrioles to opposite poles of the cell.
- Appearance of spindle fibres from between the two centrioles.
Metaphase 2
- Centromeres of chromosomes line up along the equator of the cell.

chromosomes in a row.
Anaphase 2
- Centromere of chromosomes divides in two.

- Sister chromatids are separated from each other and pulled to opposite poles.
- Each chromatid becomes a chromosome.
Telophase 2
- The chromatids arrive at the poles and each of them becomes a complete chromosome.
- The spindle fibres disappears and the cell divide.
Importance of Meiosis
- Formation of gametes (sex cells).

- It contributes to genetic variation due to crossing over and random assortment of
chromosomes.
- The daughter cells formed during meiosis differentiate into haploid gametes (ova and
sperm) which will form the diploid generation after fertilisation.
- Uncontrolled cell division (both mitosis and meiosis) causes cancer. Cancer tumour is
caused by cigarette smoking, radiation, X-ray, viruses and poor diet and lifestyle.
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Gamete formation during meiosis
- Gametogenesis: Formation of gametes

- Spermatogenesis: Formation of sperms during meiosis.
- Oogenesis: Formation of eggs/ ova/ female sex cell during meiosis.
INHERITANCE
- This is the passing on of characteristics from the parents to the offspring.

- Monohybrid inheritance: This is the study of one characteristic controlled by only one
gene/ two alleles.
- In genetic diagrams the following symbols are used:
(i) P represents the parent.
(ii) F1 represents the first generation of offspring.
(iii) F2 represents the second generation of offspring.
- Each characteristics has two alleles one on each chromosome in the homologous pair.
- Always two letters are used.
- The dominant letter is usually chosen as a symbol for the trait. E.g. R for red.
- The letter for the recessive trait is represented by a lower case letter of the dominant trait.
E.g. r for white flower.
- Homozygous red flower is RR
- Homozygous white flower is rr
- Heterozygous red flower is Rr.
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GREGOR MENDEL’S EXPERIMENT
Experiment 1
- Mendel crossed homozygous tall plants with homozygous short plants.

- The seeds produced all grew into tall plants.
- From this Mendel concluded that the allele for tallness was dominant to the allele for
shortness.
- This experiment can be explained using the following genetic diagram:
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Experiment 2
- Mendel allowed the F1 plants to self-pollinate. ¾ of the offspring were tall while ¼ was
short.
- This is explained by the following genetic diagram:
- NB The fractions of the offspring phenotypes (which also represent the chances of each
phenotype) may be converted into ratios or decimal numbers, in this case the ratio is 3:1
while the decimal numbers are 0.75 and 0.25.
- Ratio: Qualitative relation between two amounts showing the number of times the one
value is contained within the other.
- This information may also be converted into actual numbers e.g. if the total number of
offspring is 1000, the number of short plants will be calculated as follows:
- Number of short plants = ¼ X 1000 = 250
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- Punnett diagram: This is the chart/ diagram that is used to predict an outcome percentage of
crossing different alleles in genetics.
- This is another way of showing how gametes combine.
- Red flower (RR) crossing with a white flower (rr)
- Draw a table with three columns and three rows.
- List the alleles of a white flower (rr) in the top row.
- List the allele of a red flower (RR) down the left side of the table.
- Let rr be the alleles of a female (ova/ egg).
- Let RR be the alleles of the male (sperm or pollen)
r r
R Rr Rr
R Rr Rr
- All the offspring will be red because red colour is dominant over white.
Inheritance of human characteristics
- Pedigree (Family tree): This is the genetic representation of a family tree that shows the
inheritance of one particular or more characters in different generations
- The table below shows the symbols used in family tree diagrams.
Symbol Interpretation
Normal female
Normal male
Mating between male and female
Individuals affected with the disorder or

disease
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- The diagram below is that of a pedigree showing the mating in the first generation where
one of the parents is affected and second generation where both parents are affected.
Inheritance of human genetic characteristics
1. Height
- This is controlled by many genes because people are of different heights.
- If A, B and C are three genes for height each having two alleles:
(i) One of these two alleles is dominant and results in tallness. The other allele is
recessive and results in shortness.
(ii) Someone with all tall alleles, namely AABBCC (dominant homozygous for all
genes) will be very tall whereas the someone with all short alleles, namely aabbcc
(recessive homozygous for all genes) will be very short.
(iii) Someone who has the combination of AABBCc will be taller than the someone
who is AABbCc.
(iv) Someone who is heterozygous for all the genes, namely AaBbCc will be of
medium height.
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- The diagram below shows the different heights in human beings.
2. Eye colour:
- There are at least two pairs of alleles that determine colour of an eye.
- One of these genes is called is called HERC2 and it has two variations, brown and blue.
- The other one is called Gey, also has two variations, green and blue.
- Your eye colour depends on which combination of these variations you have.
- If you have a brown version of HERC2, you will have brown eyes no matter what the
Gey gene is.
- If you have only blue versions of the HERC2, then which version of Gey you have
determines your eye colour
- If your HERC2 is brown and your Gey is green, you will have green eyes.
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- If you only have blue versions of both genes, then you will have blue eyes.
- The table below shows the possible combinations when the brown version of HERC2 is
B and the blue version is b, the green version of Gey is G and the blue version is b.
HERC2 Gey Eye colour

BB GG Brown
BB Gb Brown
BB bb Brown
Bb GG Brown
Bb Gb Brown
Bb bb Brown
bb GG Green
bb Gb Green
bb bb Blue
3. Albinism
- This is a condition that comes about by lack of melanin pigment in the skin cells.
- It protects the people’s skin from and eyes from the harmful rays of the sun.
- People with albinism are called albinos.
- They are at risk of getting skin cancer or damaging of their eyes because they don’t have
melanin to protect them from the harmful rays of the sun.
- Albinism is caused when the recessive allele for the gene for melanin is inherited from
both parents.
- Albino child is thus homozygous recessive for the gene.
- Albino children may the offspring of a cross between a heterozygous carrier and an
albino, or a cross between two carriers.
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- A carrier is a heterozygous individual with the recessive gene that is not expressed.
4. Sickle cell anaemia: Genetic disorder where of the red blood cells which become sickle
shaped.
- Caused by a change in the gene for the protein haemoglobin and leads to the production
of abnormal haemoglobin called S-haemoglobin.
- Haemoglobin is the protein responsible for the transport of oxygen in the blood.
- Abnormal haemoglobin molecule does not bind well with the red blood cells.
- Sickle-shaped red blood cells get stuck in narrow capillaries, preventing blood flow and
transport of oxygen to the body tissues.
- People who are heterozygous for the sickle-cell anaemia have some normal haemoglobin
and some abnormal haemoglobin because the alleles are codominant (alleles are
expressed in the phenotype equally).
- People who are homozygous for the sickle-cell anaemia die before the age of 10.
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The factors that determine the sex of a human being
- Human beings have 22 pairs of autosomes (first 22 pairs of chromosomes in humans that do not
determine sex) and 2 sex chromosomes.
- Females have identical sex chromosomes and are called X chromosomes.
- Males have X and Y as sex chromosomes, Y is smaller and carries few genes.
- A map of chromosomes from the nucleus of a cell is called Karyotype
- The diagram below shows the human karyotype.
- Human female has XX while a male has XY

- All the gametes from a female carry 22 autosomes and an X chromosome.
- 50% of the gametes from a male carry 22 autosomes and an X chromosome and 50% carry 22
autosomes and a Y chromosome.
- If a sperm carrying an X chromosome fuses with an ovum, then a child is a female.
- If a sperm carrying Y chromosome fuses with an ovum, then a child is a male.
- There are 50:50 chance for a girl or a boy every time fertilization takes place.
- The Punnett square diagram below shows sex determination in humans.
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The inheritance of sex linked characteristic
Sex Linkage: This is the occurrence of a non sex gene on a sex chromosome.
- A non-sex gene found on a sex chromosome is said to be sex-linked.

- If the gene is on the X chromosome, it is said to be X-linked. Examples of X-linked
conditions in humans are haemophilia and red-green colour blindness.
- These X-linked conditions do not occur on the Y chromosome because they are found on
the extra (non-homologous) portion of the X chromosome.
1. Haemophilia
- This is an inherited disease where a human being bleeds for longer periods than normal
due to poor clotting of blood.
- It is caused by lack of blood clotting factors known as factor VIII and factor IX.
- The allele for haemophilia (h) is recessive while the allele for normal blood clotting (H)
is dominant.
- Their possible genotypes and phenotypes for haemophilia are given below:
(i) XHXH normal female
H h
(ii) X X normal carrier female
h h
(iii) XX haemophiliac female
H
(iv) X Y normal male
h
(v) XY haemophiliac male
Example: A man with no haemophilia marries a woman who is a carrier of the hemophiliac gene.
Use a fully labelled genetic diagram to determine the genotypic and phenotypic results of such a
cross.
P1 XHY x XHXh
Gametes XH Y XH Xh
XH Xh
XH XHXH XHXh
Y XHY XhY
F1 Genotypic ratio: 1 XHXH : XHXh :1 XHY : 1XhY
F1 Phenotypic ratio: 1 normal daughter :1 carrier daughter: 1 normal son :1 haemphiliac son
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2. Red-green Colour Blindness
- This is a genetic disorder where a person cannot distinguish between the colours red and
green.
- The allele for red-green colour blindness (r) is recessive while the allele for normal vision (R)
is dominant.
- There possible genotypes and phenotypes for red-green colour blindness are given below:
(i) XRXR normal female

(ii) XRXr carrier female
(iv) XrXr colour blind female
(v) XRY normal male
(vi) XrY colour blind male
- The diagram below is that of colour-blind perception test-people with normal vision can
see the numbers in the circles.
Blood Group inheritance in Humans
- Blood group inheritance in humans is controlled by three alleles, namely I A, IB and IO.
Both IA and IB are dominant over IO but are codominant to each other for they are both
shown in the phenotype of heterozygote.
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-There are six possible genotypes and four possible phenotypes, as shown in the following
table:
Genotype Phenotype
A A
I I Group A
IAIO Group A
B B
I I Group B
B O
I I Group B
IAIB Group AB
I OI O Group O
Points to take note of
- When one parent is group AB, a couple can never have a group O child.
- When one parent is group O, a couple can never have a group AB child.
- When one parent is homozygous group A (I AIA) or homozygous group B (IBIB), a couple
can never have a group O child.
- Group A and group B parents can have a group O child as long as they are heterozygous
(IAIO or IBIO).
- A couple where one parent is heterozygous group A (I AIO) and the other heterozygous
group B ( IBIO) can have a child of any blood group.
Example: Work out a genetic cross to show blood group inheritance between two parents.
The one an B blood group (IBIO) and the other has an AB blood group (IAIB). Work out the
expected genotype and phenotype ratios of the offspring using Punnett square.
P1 = IBIO x IAIB
Gametes I B IO I A IB
IA IB
IB IA IB IB IB
IO IA IO IBIO
F1 genotype ratio = 1 IA IB : 1 IA IO : 1 IB IB : 1 IBIO
F1 Phenotype ratio = 1 with blood group AB : 1 with blood group A: 2 with blood group B.
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Mutation: This is the permanent change in structure of chromosomes and gene.
- A gene, chromosome or an organism which has undergone a mutation is called a mutant.

- Any substance that causes a mutation is called a mutagen or mutagenic factor.
- All mutagens are also carcinogens (cancer-causing agents).
- Examples of mutagens are chemicals in tobacco smoking, radiation (ultra radiation and
nuclear), X-rays, gamma rays and viruses.
- There are two types of mutations, namely gene mutations and chromosome mutations.
- Gene Mutation: This is a change in the chemical structure of a gene.
- Examples of gene mutations in humans are albinism, sickle cell anaemia, red-green
colour blindness and haemophilia.
- Chromosome Mutation: This is a spontaneous change in the number of chromosomes.
- An example of chromosome mutation in humans is Down’s syndrome.
Effects of mutation
(i) Albinism
- This is a condition that comes about by lack of melanin pigment in the skin cells.
- It protects the people’s skin from and eyes from the harmful rays of the sun.
- People with albinism are called albinos.
- They are at risk of getting skin cancer or damaging of their eyes because they don’t have
melanin to protect them from the harmful rays of the sun.
- Albinism is caused when the recessive allele for the gene for melanin is inherited from
both parents.
- Albino child is thus homozygous recessive for the gene.
- Albino children may the offspring of a cross between a heterozygous carrier and an
albino, or a cross between two carriers.
- A carrier is a heterozygous individual with the recessive gene that is not expressed.
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- The diagram below shows the carrier parents, the normal offspring and an albino child.
(ii) Sickle cell anaemia: Genetic disorder where of the red blood cells which become
sickle shaped.
- Caused by a change in the gene for the protein haemoglobin and leads to the production
of abnormal haemoglobin called S-haemoglobin.
- Haemoglobin is the protein responsible for the transport of oxygen in the blood.
- Abnormal haemoglobin molecule does not bind well with the red blood cells.
- Sickle-shaped red blood cells get stuck in narrow capillaries, preventing blood flow and
transport of oxygen to the body tissues.
- People who are heterozygous for the sickle-cell anaemia have some normal haemoglobin
and some abnormal haemoglobin because the alleles are codominant (alleles are
expressed in the phenotype equally).
- People who are homozygous for the sickle-cell anaemia die before the age of 10.
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(iii) Red-green Colour Blindness
- This is a genetic disorder where a person cannot distinguish between the colours red and
green.
- The allele for red-green colour blindness (r) is recessive while the allele for normal vision (R)
is dominant.
- There possible genotypes and phenotypes for red-green colour blindness are given below:
(i) XRXR normal female

(ii) XRXr carrier female
(vii) XrXr colour blind female
(viii) XRY normal male
(ix) XrY colour blind male
- The diagram below is that of colour-blind perception test-people with normal vision can
see the numbers in the circles.
(iv) Haemophlia
- This is an inherited disease where a human being bleeds for longer periods than normal
due to poor clotting of blood.
- It is caused by lack of blood clotting factors known as factor VIII and factor IX.
- The allele for haemophilia (h) is recessive while the allele for normal blood clotting (H)
is dominant.
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- Their possible genotypes and phenotypes for haemophilia are given below:
(i) XHXH normal female
H h
(ii) X X normal carrier female
h h
(iii) XX haemophiliac female
H
(iv) X Y normal male
h
(v) XY haemophiliac male
Example: A man with no haemophilia marries a woman who is a carrier of the haemophiliac
gene. Use a fully labelled genetic diagram to determine the genotypic and phenotypic results of
such a cross.
P1 XHY x XHXh
Gametes XH Y XH Xh
XH Xh
XH XHXH XHXh
Y XHY XhY
F1 Genotypic ratio: 1 XHXH : XHXh :1 XHY : 1XhY
F1 Phenotypic ratio: 1 normal daughter :1 carrier daughter: 1 normal son :1 haemphiliac son
(v) Down’s Syndrome
- Down’s syndrome is a genetic disorder where a human being has 47 chromosomes

instead of 46. This is an example of polyploidy (state of having 3 or more sets of
chromosomes in a cell.
- This comes about when chromosomes fail to separate properly at anaphase during
meiosis 1.
- The non-separation is called is called non-disjunction.
- The signs and symptoms of Down’s syndrome are:
(i) Mental retardation
(ii) Round face with squinty eyes, rather like a Mongolian. That is why the disease is
sometimes called mongolism.
(iii) Abnormally short limbs.
(iv) Six digits (toes or fingers) on the limbs.
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- Chances of having Down’s syndrome babies are higher in women who have children
when they are old (over 35 years).
- Below is a karyotype diagram of an individual with down syndrome.
- The most common of form of Down syndrome is called Trisomy 21, because each cell in
the in the affected person’s body has an extra copy of chromosome 21.
Uses of mutation
- Polyploidy plants are larger than their diploid relatives and this increases the growth of
crops, leading to formation of larger flowers, fruit and seed size that are for example:
(i) Resistance to drought and cold.
(ii) Resistance to pests and diseases.
(iii) Better tolerant to poor soils
Genetic engineering
- This is taking a gene from one species and putting it into another species.
- The gene coding from a pancreas cell for the production of human insulin is ‘cut’ from
chromosome fragments (using a specific restriction endonuclease enzyme).
- The plasmid (circle of DNA) from a harmless bacteria cell is cut to remove a part.
- They are combined (using another enzyme) to form a recombinant DNA.
- The bacteria are put in a fermenter or bioreactor to get a large population, and then the
product is processed.
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TOPIC 5: CLASSIFICATION OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS
- Classification: This is the placing of organisms in taxa (groups) based on features and
functions they have in common.
- It involves taxonomy, nomenclature and the construction and usage of identification
keys.
- Taxonomy: This is the science of describing, naming, and classifying organisms.
- Nomenclature: This is the naming of organisms with scientific names.
- The system of naming used is called the binomial system of nomenclature.
- In this system, the biological/scientific name of each organism has two parts.
- The first part is the name of the genus (generic name) and always begins with a capital
letter while the second part is the name of the species (specific epithet).
- If printed, the name is italicised (e.g. Homo sapiens) but if hand-written, the name is
under-lined (e.g. Homo sapiens).
- This is to indicate that the name is scientifically accepted world-wide.
- The names are normally in Latin because it was the original scientific language and is
universally accepted.
- Identification keys: This is a series of statements about characteristics of organisms
which, if followed step by step, makes it possible for identification or classification of
organisms.
- The type of key normally used in Biology is called the dichotomous key.
- In this type of key, there is a series of paired contrasting statements or a branching tree
diagram, leading to the identification of the organisms covered by the key.
- When constructing an identification key, one must always begin by listing the
characteristics of the organisms they are trying to identify and then proceed with
construction of the key based on the listed characteristics.
The five kingdoms of living organisms
These are:
- Kingdom Prokaryotae/ Monera (The Bacteria)

- Kingdom Protoctista (The Protists)
- Kingdom Fungi (The Fungi)
- Kingdom Plantae (The Plants)
- Kingdom Animalia (The Animals)
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1. Kingdom Prokaryotae/ Monera

- Members of this kingdom have the following characteristics:
(i) They are unicellular (single-celled)
(ii) They have no true nucleus; only naked circular DNA called nucleoid or bacterial
chromosome.
(iii) They have no double-membraned organelles, but small (70s) ribosomes are
present.
(iv) They reproduce asexually by binary fission. Some members exhibit conjugation
(the transfer of genetic material from one bacterial cell to another through
structures known as pili).
(v) They carry out heterotrophic nutrition.
- The kingdom includes all bacteria.
- Some members are pathogenic i.e. cause diseases e.g. Vibrio cholera, Mycobacterium
tuberculosis, Treponema, Gonnococus neiserria.
- Some types of bacteria are useful e.g. decomposers, nitrogen fixing bacteria, nitrifying
bacteria and denitrifying bacteria.
- Others are used in the dairy industry during the making of cheese and yoghurt.
2. Kingdom Protista
(i) Most are unicellular (single-celled), but some are multicellular.
(ii) Cells have a true nucleus with a membrane around it (eukaryotic cells).
(iii) Some are heterotrophic (i.e. the protozoa) while others are autotrophic (i.e. the algae)
(iv) Most reproduce by binary fission.
(v) Examples are paramecium, amoeba, and trypanosoma
3. Kingdom Fungi
(i) They are multicellular, but a few of them such as yeasts are unicellular.
(ii) They have well-developed nuclei with nuclear membranes around.
(iii) They have cell walls made of chitin.
(iv) Most members carry out saprophytic nutrition, but some are parasitic.
(v) Most reproduce by spores. Examples are yeast, mushrooms, bread moulds, and
lichens
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4. Kingdom Plantae
(i) They are multi-cellular They have a well-developed nucleus with a membrane
around.
(ii) Their cells contain chlorophyll in the chloroplasts, hence they are photosynthetic.
(iii) They have cellulose cell walls.
(iv) Most reproduce from seeds; some reproduce from vegetative parts such as stems,
roots and modified leaves.
(v) Examples are mosses, ferns, gymnosperms (conifers) and angiosperms (flowering
plants)
5. Kingdom Animalia
(i) They are multicellular.
(ii) They have a true nucleus and membrane-bound organelles.
(iii) They carry out holozoic nutrition o They have a nervous system.
(iv) Their bodies have symmetry (either bilateral or radial symmetry).
(v) Their bodies have anterior and posterior ends; dorsal and ventral surfaces; and lateral
surfaces.
(vi) Examples are bears, fish, frogs, butterflies, and starfish
Various types of plants

1. Chlorophytes (Algae): Common seen in ponds or dams of water.
Kingdom: Plantae
Division (Phylum): Chlorophyta

Class: Chlorophyceae
Order: Chlorococcales
Family: Hydrodictyaceae
Genus: Pediastrum
Species: boryanum
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2. Bryophytes (mosses): Common seen on walls in urban area
Kingdom: Plantae
Division (Phylum): Chlorophyta

Class: Bryopsida
Order: Funariales
Family: Funariaceae
Genus: Funaria
Species: hygrometrica
3. Bryophytes (ferns): Grows in several environments, including cool, damp forest floors
and desert-like places.
Kingdom: Plantae
Division (Phylum): philiconophyta/ Pteridophyta/ Filicophyta

Class: Pteridopsida
Order: Dennstaedtiales
Family: Dennstaedtiaceae
Genus: Pteridium
Species: esculentum
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4. Coniferous plants (Pine): Found mostly in the northern hemisphere. Grown for timber in
the southern Africa.
Or
Kingdom: Plantae
Division (Phylum): Pinophyta/ Coniferophyta

Class: Pinopsida
Order: Pinales
Family: Pinaceae
Genus: Pinus
Species: monticola
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5. Flowering plants (Angiosperm)
Kingdom: Plantae
Division (Phylum): Angiospermophyta/ Eudicots/ Core eudicots.

Class: Dicotyledonae
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Nyctaginaceae
Genus: Bougainvillea
Species: primavera
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Various types of animals
Reptiles, amphibians, birds, arthropods and protozoa.
Reptiles: Oviparous animals that lay eggs with soft, leathery shells in nests.
- Belong to a class reptilia

- They produce sexually and fertilization is internal.
- They are often land animals and breathe with lungs.
- Their bodies are covered with dry scales.
- Examples are snakes, tortoises, lizards, crocodiles and turtles.
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Amphibians: These are ectothermic (cold blooded), tetrapod vertebrates of the class
Amphibia.
- Young ones (tadpoles) use gills to breath while adults have lungs.
- They live in water and on land and they are limited to damp areas.
- They have no scales.
- They require water to reproduce sexually.
- Fertilisation is externally.
- Examples are toads, frogs, newt and salamanders.
Birds: These are warm blooded vertebrates of the class Aves.
- Internal fertilisation takes place.

- They are oviparous animals with their egg shells rich in calcium.
- Their bodies are covered with feathers and scales.
- The body is strong with light skeleton that allows flight with wings.
- They breath using with sac-like lungs.
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Arthropods: (Crustaceans, insects, myriapods and arachnids): These are animals with:
- jointed appendages such as legs and wings.

- exoskeleton made of chitin.
- tracheal breathing system.
- segmented bodies.
- Compound eyes.
- Open circulatory system
- Internal fertilisation of sexual reproduction and lay eggs.
Class Insecta: 3 body regions (head thorax and abdomen).
- 2 pairs of wings, compound eyes, 3 pairs of legs, tracheal system for respiration.
Class Myriapoda- Myriapods: (centipedes and millipedes): terrestrial; herbivorous; one pair of
antennae; one pair of jaws; many legs; centipedes have flattened bodies and one leg per segment;
millipedes have cylindrical bodies and 2 pairs of legs per segment.
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Class Arachnida (Arachnids): 2 body regions (cephalothorax and abdomen); 4 pairs of legs;
powerful jaws; spinneret (used for spinning webs in spiders); wings absent; simple eyes;
antennae absent; one pair of sensory appendages.
Class: Crustaceans: (e.g. crabs, lobsters, crayfish and woodlice): aquatic or found in damp places;
cephalothorax present; two pairs of antennae; three pairs of jaws; exoskeleton not water proof.
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Protozoa: These are species of the kingdom Protista.
- Examples are Amoeba, paramecium and trypanosome
Trypanosoma
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Dichotomous key for identification of animals
- Dichotomous key: This is a series of linked steps, involving a choice between two
features.
1. a) animal has a spine………………………………..…..go to 2
b) animal has no spine………..………………...…..…..invertebrate
2. a) animal has no gills and fins………………….……….. go to 3
b) animal has gills and fins……………………...…….. Fish
3. a) animal has no scales…………........................................go to 4
b) animal has scales……………..………………..…..….reptile
4. a) animal has feathers ………………………….…..……..bird
b) animal has no feathers ……………………....…….…..go to 5
5. a) animal has hair……………………………..………….mammal
b) animal has no hair………………………...…….……..amphibian
Dichotomous key for identification of plants
1a) Fruits occur singly ............................................................ Go to 3
b) Fruits occur in clusters of two or more ............................ Go to 2
2a) Fruits are round ................................................................ Grapes
b) Fruits are elongate ........................................................... Bananas
3a) Thick skin that separates easily from flesh .......................Oranges
b) Thin skin that adheres to flesh ........................................ Go to 4
4a) More than one seed per fruit ............................................ Apples
b) One seed per fruit ............................................................ Go to 5
5a) Skin covered with velvety hairs ...................................... Peaches
b) Skin smooth, without hairs ............................................. Plums
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TOPIC 6: THE SOIL
- Soil: This is the top layer of the earth’s crust used to grow our crops and is formed by the
weathering of rocks.
- Weathering: This is a slow process during which hard rock is broken down into small
particles.
Composition of air
- Air
- Micro-organism
- Soil particles
- Humus
- Water
The types of soil and their properties
1. Clay soil: This is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals and it
develops plasticity when wet.
- Soft soil.
- Smooth and sticky
- Can be moulded into an O- shaped without breaking
- Particles are less than 0.002 mm in diameter and they are smallest soil particles.
- Small spaces between particles
- Poor aeration
- Poor drainage
- Little organic matter
- Promotes waterlogged when water fills up the air spaces.
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2. Loam soil: This is a combination of sandy soil, clay and silt.
- Contains sand
- Can be shaped into a ball
- Breaks up easily
- Particles sick together when moist.
- Particle sizes are between 0.002 mm to 0.02 mm.
- Moderate aeration
- Moderate drainage
- Large amount of organic matter
3. Sandy soil: This soil is a combination of rock, quartz and silica.
- It cannot be shaped into a ball even when wet.

- Largest soil particles and are loose
- Breaks up when moulded into an O-shape
- Particles are more than 0.022 mm in diameter
- Large air space
- Good drainage
- Good aeration
- Little organic matter.
Factors that make soil fertile
Air
- This consists of oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide.

- Soil air has the following functions:
(i) Organisms and plant roots breathe air
(ii) Seeds need air to germinate
(iii) Air helps rocks to weather
(iv) Prevents build-up of poisonous gases
Micro-organisms
- Decomposers/ Saprophytes such as fungi, bacteria, earth worms, maggots and grubs break
down dead leaves and animals in the carbon cycles help return nutrients into the soil.
- Algae and bacteria such as rhizobium help in converting nitrogen to the usable form
(nitrate) in the nitrogen cycle.
- Mutualism relationship between mycorrhizal fungi found around the roots makes
phosphorus available to plants as they also benefit from plants.
- Freely occurring nitrogen fixing bacteria (Clostridium and Azotobacter) in the soil help
fixing nitrogen
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Moisture
- Water is found between soil particles as moisture

- It is used:
(i) For photosynthesis to take place in plants
(ii) To dissolve mineral salts before they can be absorbed by plants
(iii) To help seeds germinate by softening the protective cover.
(iv) To transport nutrients from the roots to the rest of the plants.
Mineral elements
- They come from weathering of rocks.

- Farmers can increase minerals by adding fertilisers, farm manure and compost (humus)
which are rich in minerals.
- Examples are calcium, magnesium, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, zinc and iron.
- Magnesium: This forms part of the chlorophyll molecule.
- Nitrogen: It is important for synthesis of proteins.
- Potassium: It is important for flowering and fruit formation
- Phosphorus: It is important for the formation of Nucleic acids and ATP.
- Calcium: Keeps cell membrane health
- Sulphur: Formation of chlorophyll, improves growth and seed production.
- Iron: Makes chlorophyll but not part of it.
Organic matter
- Organic matter consisting of dead plants and animals.

- Humus remains from the decomposition of plants and animals by bacteria
- Organic matter:
(i) Supplies food to earthworms, ants and rodents.
(ii) Improves soil structure by allowing good aeration and water retention.
(iii) Is source of nutrients for such as potassium, calcium and magnesium.
(iv) Makes phosphorus more easily available in acidic soil.
(v) Makes the colour of soil dark.
(vi) Releases organic acids during decomposition that helps in rock weathering.
(vii) Acts as a buffer to protect the soil from rapid pH and nutrient changes.
Soil pH
- This is the measure of how acidic or alkaline the soil is.

- Blakish (alkaline) soil contains a high percentage of mineral salts such as potassium and
magnesium. Alkaline soil has pH high than 7.
- Acid soil has very few mineral salts. The pH is less than 7.
- Soluble minerals dissolve and leaching takes place. Acid is neutralised by adding lime.
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Causes of loss of fertility in soil
Deforestation: This is the permanent removal of indigenous trees and their undergrowth from the
soil.
- It decreases soil organisms and their role in soil fertility
Poor farming methods
- Traditional methods of farming such as chitemene leads to loss of soil fertility.

- Farmers that grow crops on the same piece of land each year without the use of fertilisers
or rotating crops with legumes that have nodules on their roots that replace nitrogen in
the soil.
- Adding too much inorganic fertiliser to the soil can change the structure of the soil and
increase soil erosion.
Late burning/ slash and burn
- This is clearance of the new (virgin) land for cultivation. It has been reduced due not
having enough land for clearing. Cultivating on the same piece of land repeatedly, strips
the land of nutrients.
- This destroys seeds that fall to the ground for germination.
- It destroys the plants that hold the ground and when it rains the vulnerable topsoil that
contains nutrients is washed away.
- Destroys shrubs that are supposed to grow into big trees.
Overgrazing
- This is exposing plants to intensive periods of grazing without giving them time to
recover after grazing has occurred.
- Plants die because they do not have leaves for photosynthesis leaving the land bare.
- When rain comes, topsoil is washed away.
Leaching harvesting
- This is when nutrients dissolved in rainwater move through the soil with the water to the
ground water.
- Rain and irrigation water washes away the nutrients because there is no humus to keep it
in the soil.
Harvesting
- Every time a crops is harvested, nutrients used by the crops to grow are removed from the
soil.
- This leads to the reduction of nutrients in the soil.
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Methods of improving and retaining soil fertility
Suitable pH
- Controls the availability of nutrients in the soil.

- Affects the ability of roots to take minerals from the soil.
- Low pH (acidic) reduces the ability of decomposers to put minerals back to the soil.
- Lime (calcium carbonate) is added to raise pH and make the soil more alkaline.
- Peat (decomposed vegetable matter) is added to alkaline soils to lower the pH and make
it more acidic.
Weeding
- This is the practice of removing weeds or controlling and prevent their growth so that
they are unable to compete with crops for air, water, sunlight, nutrients and space.
- Weeds are undesired plants that grow faster than crops.
- They compete with crops for air, water, sunlight, nutrients and space.
- Mechanical (physical removal) and chemical (use of herbicides) methods ensures more
nutrients, water, space, air, sunlight and oxygen for crops.
Application of fertiliser
- Fertilisers are inorganic and organic substances that are added to the soil to supply one or
more plant nutrients essential for plant growth.
- Organic fertilisers include manure and compost.
- Inorganic/ chemical/ artificial fertilisers such as urea, Potassium nitrate, ammonium
sulphate, ammonium phosphate, calcium nitrate and ammonium nitrate contain nutrients
such as nitrogen, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, Sulphur needed for plant growth.
- Planting of green manure such as sunn hemp and velvet beans which are used as cover
crops.
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Crop rotation
- This is the agricultural practice of growing different types of crops in the same piece of
land/ area one season after the other.
- Legumes fix nitrogen in the soil with the nodules on their roots and nutrients are replaced
in the soil for crops like wheat, maize and sorghum.
- Grow deep-rooted crops (pumpkin, tomato, watermelon and cantaloupe) in an area where
shallow-rooted crops (onion, sweet corn, celery, cabbage, lettuce and cauliflower) were
planted to ensure crops using nutrients from different depths of the soil.
Soil Conservation farming
- This is the agricultural practice that promotes minimum soil disturbance.

- Farmers looks after the pH of the soil, weeds regularly, applies organic fertiliser and
rotates crops.
- Farmers can trap runoff water by placing stones along contours of the land.
- This reduces soil erosion promotes healthy and fertility of soil.
- The soil is not ploughed.
- Farmers saw seeds and apply fertilisers in stubble of the previous crop.
- In this way bio-organisms such as earthworms are not destroyed.
Reducing overgrazing
- Controlling the numbers of animals in an area and rotating animals between pastures will
allow the pastures to recover.
- This restores the soil that has been eroded and its fertility shall increase.
Management of water resources
- Water wells and pumps should be investigated as well as the development of irrigation
canals.
- Water used for irrigation must be salt-free.
Afforestation and reforestation
- Afforestation: This is an establishment of forest cover in cultivated or bare areas where

forests were not present.
- Reforestation: This is the reestablishment of forests in areas where forest has been
cleared.
- Seeds and young trees are planted.
- Trees are also allowed to grow naturally from roots and underground stems.
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Advantages of using organic fertilizers
- Organic fertilizers make the soil rich. Adding humus for example
- Improves soil texture, aeration and by creating air spaces in between the soil particles.
- Makes the soil soft for cultivation
- Supports soil organisms and earthworms that build up over time.
- Enables bacterial action in soil
- Contain micronutrients that plants require.
- Makes little to no salt build up in the soil because salt accumulation is detrimental to
plants.
Disadvantages of using organic fertilisers
- May not be easily available to all farmers.

- They take a long time to decompose and so the nutrients take a long time to be available
to plants.
- They may promote the growth of weeds in the field.
- NPK ratios vary and usually are low and may need to be combined with multiple
products to create a complete fertiliser.
- Cost per kilogram is more than inorganic fertilisers in large scale farming.
- They may encourage worms, termites and ants which feed on crops, causing them harm.
Advantages of using inorganic fertilisers
- Inorganic fertilisers are easy to use on large areas of land.

- They are easy to transport over long distances.
- They are quick acting, hence readily available for plants.
- They are effective if correctly be used and greatly increase crop yield.
- Cost per gram is typically less than organic fertilisers.
- NPK ratios are fixed and are usually higher than in organic fertilisers.
Disadvantages of using of using chemical fertilisers
- They are costly because farmers must buy them.

- They do not contain organic matter to improve soil structure, aeration and water
retention.
- Chemical fertilisers change the amount of acidic substances in the soils, for example,
soils may become acidic and bio-organisms may die.
- Eutrophication and contamination of water bodies due to leaching of nitrogen and
phosphorus.
- Many inorganic fertilisers are volatilised to air if not immediately used.
- More frequent applications are needed due to leaching of nitrogen.
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The distribution of earth worms in different types of soils
- Factors that determine the distribution of earthworms are:

(i) Soil types such as sand, clay and loam: They are more in loam soil because of
high organic matter there, less in clay soil and least in sand soil.
(ii) pH of the soil: Most earthworms prefer soils that are neutral to slightly acidic.
(iii) moisture or water: Earthworms prefer moist areas so that they can easily make
their tunnels/ burrows.
(iv) Plant population: In areas where are many plants the population of earthworms is
higher due to the presence of humus (plant remains).
(v) Suitable temperature: Too hot and too cold temperatures kill the earthworms.
- Earthworms have the following functions in the soil:
(i) Earthworm burrows creates the pores through which oxygen and water can enter
and carbon dioxide can leave the soil.
(ii) Earthworm casts (faeces) are important for they add bulk density of the soil.
(iii) Decomposing plant and animal matter is eaten by earthworms and then expelled
in more broken down from.
(iv) They move organic matter from the surface into the soil.
(v) They increase the absorption rate of water in the soil due to the building of a
network of tunnels in the soil.
TOPIC 7: ECOLOGY
- The study of the interrelationships between living organisms and their environment.
Biotic and abiotic interactions
- Biotic: This refers to living organisms of a habitat. E.g. water, minerals, carbon dioxide.
- Abiotic: This refers to the non-living component of the habitat. E.g. Animals and plants.
Terms used in ecology
Habitat
- This is an environment/ place in which populations of animals and plants live.

- Examples of habitats are aquatic habitats (found in water), terrestrial habitats (found on
land). Conditions of habitats such as water, sunlight, temperature and air are needed for a
living organism to survive.
Niche
- the specific role a given organism plays in an ecosystem.

- Examples, some organisms such as algae and green plants are producers; others such as
animals are consumers; and others such as bacteria and fungi are decomposers.
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Population
- A group of organisms of the same species living in the same area at the same time.
Species
- A group of living things that have similar features and can inter-breed to produce fertile
offspring.
Community
- This is a group of populations found in the same area and interact with each other.
Ecosystem
- This is a definable area made of communities of living things that interact with each other
and their non-living environment e.g. a pond, Game Park.
Adaptation of organisms to specific environment
- Adaptation: This is a process of change in organisms over many generations through

inheritance of modified genes, resulting in improved survival and reproduction.
- Adaptation by animals are determined by type of food they eat and the method they use
to obtain the food.
- Animals adapt to avoid predation mainly by camouflage (cryptic colouration) and
mimicry.
- Camouflage: This is assuming shapes that match their environment. E.g. Leopards, Owl
butterfly, mouse, Stick insect, impala, grasshopper, Chameleon.
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- Mimicry: This is the use of the colours and patterns to resemble another animal that may
be poisonous to eat or may be able to fly back. E.g. Butterflies, hoverflies look like bees
but they are stingless.
- Plants change over time to adapt to the amount of water, type of soil and sunlight
available in their habitat.
- Elephants adapt by using wrinkles of their skin.
- Wrinkles increase the surface area of the skin and more heat is lost in hot season.
- Moisture is trapped in the cracks and crevices of the skin after bathing and this makes it
longer for evaporation.
- They also flap their ears to lower the body temperature.
- Habitats help explain the differences between elephant species.
- Hot savannah elephants have very large ears and wrinkly skin
- African forest elephants have smaller ears because they do not need as much cooling
down among the shady broadleaf trees.
- Asian elephants that live in cooler habitats have smaller ears and are much less wrinkly
than the African ones.
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Feeding relationships and energy flow
Food chain
- This is a sequence of feeding relationships that begins with the producers and involves at
least three organisms.
- It is a linear feeding relationships.
- Trophic level: This is the feeding level of an organism in a food chain.
- In every food chain the producers occupy the first trophic level.
- The primary consumers occupy the second trophic level.
- The secondary consumers occupy the third trophic level and so on.
- In a food chain the organisms are linked by a series of arrows which always point
towards the organism that is feeding on another.
- An example of a food chain is given below:
Cabbage Rabbit Man lion Vulture bacteria
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- Producers: These are organisms that use sunlight, water and carbon dioxide to carry out
the process of photosynthesis. They are also called autotrophs or Photosynthesiser.
- Consumers: These are organism that feed on other organisms or on existing organic
matter. consumers include herbivores, omnivores, carnivores, and parasites.They are also
called heterotrophs.
- Decomposer: Organism that breaks organic matter down into its simpler compounds and
eventually into inorganic matter, which is then used by producers (plants). Decomposers
are bacteria and fungi. They are also called saprophytes.
- Scavenger: An organism that consumes animal matter left uneaten by a predator.
Scavengers eat carrion, refuse.
Food chain
- The network of interconnected/ interlinked food chains of a community; food cycle.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A FOOD CHAIN AND FOOD WEB
Food chain Food web

One sequence of feeding relationships Several inter-linked sequences of feeding
relationships
Each organism occupies only one trophic Each organism may occupy more than one
level trophic level except the producer
Usually involves fewer organisms than a food Usually involves more organisms than a food
web chain
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THE WAY ENERGY FLOWS ALONG FOOD CHAINS AND FOOD WEBS
- Energy from the sun is converted into chemical energy that other organisms can eat as
food.
- This means that it is transferred through the entire food chain until it reaches the top
most consumers.
- Energy flows from one trophic level to another is not 100% efficient.
- At each level, most of the energy is lost through respiration, excretion (urine) and
egestion (faeces) and energy cannot be recycled.
- Only 10% of energy that an organism has obtained from food is stored in the body or
transferred to the next energy level.
- 90% of energy is lost at each trophic level.
Ecological Pyramids
- These are diagrammatic ways of showing feeding relationships in an ecosystem.

- Each ecological pyramid is made of a pile of rectangular blocks on top of each other.
- There are three types of ecological pyramids which are:
(i) Pyramids of numbers
(ii) Pyramids of biomass
(iii) Pyramids of energy
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Pyramids of numbers
- This shows the numbers of organisms at each trophic level in a food chain.
- The length of each rectangular block is proportional to the number organisms at the
trophic level it represents.
- For example, the following pyramid of numbers may represent an ecosystem where there
are 5 producers, 10 primary consumers, 150 secondary consumers and 5 tertiary
consumers:
Pyramids of Biomass
- This shows the biomass of organisms at each trophic level in a food chain.
- Biomass is the total dry mass of an organism.
- It is also defined as the total amount of organic matter in an organism.
- It is measured in kilograms (Kg). The length of each rectangular block is proportional to
the biomass of organisms at the trophic level it represents.
- Example Construct a pyramid of biomass for an ecosystem where the producers have a
biomass of 1000Kg, primary consumers 750Kg, secondary consumers 850 Kg and
tertiary consumers 500 Kg.
- Pyramids of biomass are usually upright but may sometimes be inverted.

- This is because the measurements used for constructing the pyramids are based on the
standing crop, rather than the total biomass per growing season.
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Pyramids of Energy
- This shows the energy of organisms at each trophic level in a food chain.
- The length of each rectangular block is proportional to the energy of organisms at the
trophic level it represents.
- The units used for measuring energy are Joules (J) or Kilojoules (kJ).
- This is the best way of showing feeding relationships as the pyramids are always upright.
- Example Construct a pyramid of energy for an ecosystem where the producers have the
energy of 5000kJ, primary consumers 50kJ, secondary consumers 850 kJ and tertiary
consumers 50 kJ.
POPULATION
- This refers to all individuals of one species inhabiting a given geographic area at the
same time.
- Population size is the number of organisms in a population.
- Population density is the number organisms of the same species per unit area.
- Population growth rate is the increase in the size of a population per unit time.
Population growth of organisms follows an S-shaped pattern (sigmoid curve).
- This curve is made of three phases:
(i) Lag phase: This is when there is very little increase in population size because the
organisms are not yet fully adapted to the environment)
(ii) Exponential/logarithmic phase: This is when the organisms are fully adapted to the
environment and are reproducing at a fast rate.
(iii) Stationary phase: This is when the birth rate equals the death rate. At this point the
carrying capacity of the environment has been reached.
- The carrying capacity is the maximum number of organisms an environment can support.
- A decline phase may be experienced after the stationary phase if there is an increase in
factors like competition, disease, pollutants/toxins.
- Such factors limit increase in population size and are called environmental resistance.
- The graph below shows the sigmoid curve.
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Factors Affecting Population Growth Rate
- Natality/ Birth rate: The number of births per unit number of adults in a population. In
humans, it is expressed as the number of births per 1, 000 persons per year. This
increases the number of organisms.
- Immigration: This is the entering of individuals/ organisms coming from another area.
This increases the number of organisms.
- Mortality/ Death rate: The number of deaths per unit number of adults in a population
due to natural disasters (flood drought, earthquake), diseases and predation. This
decreases the number of species.
- Emigration: The movement of organisms out of a population. This decreases the number
of individuals. This is as a result of war, too populated that leads to lack of food and
space.
- Plant populations are affected by:
(i) Abiotic (non-biological) factors such as rain fall, temperature, chemicals, gases
and light intensity.
(ii) Biotic (biological) factors such as leaves being eaten by browsing animals/
grazers and caterpillars, fungi, bacteria and viruses.
- The diagram below demonstrates the four factors discussed above.
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Interpretation of population data
- This is the explanation of the population with respect to size, composition, spatial
distribution and changes in the population that occur over time.
- Biologists can determine the size of population by using ratios of different ages and sexes
that are present in the population.
- Interpreting population data enables us to determine:
(i) If the population is increasing or declining in size.
(ii) The distribution of organisms within the environment.
(iii) Which particular aspects/ parts of habitat is favoured more than others.
Tables
- This is the way to order the observations and measurements taken during an investigation
to make them easier to write and present to other.
- The table below shows the results that were obtained during a research project on the size
of impalas’ population in the Luangwa National Park.
Year Number of impala
2008 108
2009 105
2010 120
2011 128
2012 110
2013 106
2014 112
- The population size was on overage of 113 over the seven years.
- In the years 2010 and 2011, the vegetation was good in the national park and good rains
and the number of impalas was the highest.
- The population in 2012 declined due to being killed by predators, hunters/ poachers, died
because of lack of food and space.
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Graphs (line and bar graphs, histogram and pie-chart)

- Graph: This is a pictorial representation/ diagram that represents data or value in an
organised manner.
- Line graph: This is a type of chart used to show data that changes over time as a series of
data points connected by straight line segments on two axes.
700
- The number of bacteria growing in a medium depends on time.

- The population of bacteria is increasing very rapidly.
- As time was increasing, the number of bacteria was also increasing. E.g. when it was 0
hours the number of bacteria was 0 also but when time reached 9 hours, there were 100
bacteria in the medium.
- The reproduction was very fast.
- Bar graph/ Bar chart: This is a chart that presents categorical data with rectangular bars
with heights or lengths proportional to the values that they represent.
- The bar graph below shows the number of elephant population in a national park.
- The population of elephants was less in 2000. This could be due to hunting of elephants
for their ivory/ tusks.
- The number depends on the time in years. Therefore, the number of elephants is the
dependent variable and number of year is the independent variable.
- With the implementation of legislature, elephants were monitored and protected in the
year 2010 and in 2015 for they increased in number.
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- Histogram: This is the graph that shows the frequency of score occurrences in a
continuous data bars connected by a line passing through the top middle of each bar.
- The graph below shows the members of kudu population ran away from a waterhole
when they saw a lion.
- From the graph, when the population of kudu was 300, they ran 11-21 metres.
- When the population of kudu that wanted to drink water was above 500, they
ran 44-54 metres.
- The kudu population that ran at least 88 metres were 100.
- The dependent variable is the number of kudu and the independent variable is the
distance in metres.
- Pie-chart: This is type of graph in which a circle is divided into sectors/ angles that each
represent a proportion of the whole.
- The highest number of HIV-infected people live in Sub-Saharan Africa.

- In USA and Europe, the number of the HIV and AIDS infected people are the fewest.
- Asia is second from Sub-Saharan Africa.
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Nutrient cycles in nature
- A nutrient cycle is a cycle that shows the different forms of a particular element or nutrient in
different parts of the environment and the processes involved in converting it from one form to
another.
- There are four cycles to be covered in this unit. These are carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle, oxygen
cycle and water cycle.
Carbon cycle
- This refers to the movement or circulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as it is

recycled and reused.
- Carbon occurs in the following forms in the environment:
(i) Atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide
(ii) Plants and animals in the form of organic molecules. They are building blocks of
carbohydrates, proteins and lipid.
(iii) Soil in the form of fossil fuels and carbonates.
- Animals get their carbon by eating plants and after respiration some of the carbon is
released into the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide.
- Carbon amount has been increased by the human activities such as deforestation and
burning of fossil fuels and this has contributed to global warming.
combustion
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Nitrogen Cycle
- This is the process of fixing nitrogen by plants and animals and its return to the
atmosphere.
- Nitrogen occurs in the following parts and forms in the environment:
(i) Atmosphere (in the form of nitrogen gas)
(ii) Soil (in the form of ammonia/ammonium ions, nitrite and nitrate)
(iii) Plants (in the form of proteins and nucleic acids)
(iv) Animals (in the form of proteins, amino acids, urea and nucleic acids)
Note: Nucleic acids are molecules responsible for storage of genetic information
i.e. deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA).
- The processes involved in converting nitrogen from one form to another are summarised
in the following diagram of the nitrogen cycle.
- Bacteria are involved in the following processes of the nitrogen cycle:

- Nitrogen fixation: The process by which nitrogen gas from the atmosphere is converted to
absorbable nitrogen compounds (nitrates) by the action of nitrogen fixing bacteria such as
Rhizobium, Azotobacter, Clostridium and Anabaena.
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- Rhizobium is a symbiotic bacterium found in the root nodules of leguminous plants such
as beans, peas, groundnuts and clover.
- Clostridium and Azotobacter are free living in the soil while Anabaena is aquatic.
- All nitrogen-fixing bacteria contain an enzyme called nitrogenase which catalyses the
reaction between nitrogen gas and hydrogen to form ammonia.
- Nitrification: The process by which ammonia is oxidised to form nitrite (NO2 -) by the
bacterium Nitrosomonas and nitrite is oxidised to form nitrate (NO3 -) by the bacterium
Nitrobacter.
- Oxygen is required in order for nitrification to take place.
- The bacteria that carry out nitrification are called nitrifying bacteria.
- Decomposition: The process by which complex organic molecules are broken down into
simple inorganic molecules by the action of microorganisms known as decomposers.
- Decomposers include not only bacteria, maggot, grubs, earthworms and fungi.
- The decomposition of nitrogen-containing organic compounds is also called
ammonification because it leads to the formation of ammonia or ammonium ions.
- Ammonification: This the process of decomposition/ decaying in which bacteria turn back
nitrogen into the compound of ammonia/ ammonium.
- Denitrification: The process by which nitrate is converted to nitrogen gas by denitrifying
bacteria such as Pseudomonas denitrificans and Thiobacillus denitrificans.
- The process occurs in water-logged soils, lacking oxygen.
- It makes the soil less fertile and adds nitrogen gas to the atmosphere.
- Other processes that have an effect on the nitrogen cycle discussed below:
- Lightning: This carries out nitrogen fixation by causing nitrogen to react with oxygen to
form nitrogen oxides.
- The nitrogen oxides dissolve in rain water to form nitric acid which has nitrate that the
plants are able to absorb.
- Haber Process: This is an artificial process where nitrogen gas and hydrogen are made to
react with each other at high temperature and pressure to form ammonia.
- It reduces the amount of nitrogen gas in the atmosphere.
- Application of nitrogen-containing fertilisers increases the amount nitrogen-containing
compounds in the soil.
The oxygen cycle
- This is the circulation of oxygen in the atmosphere as it is recycled and reused.

- Oxygen occurs as the ozone layer (O3) in the atmosphere. Oxygen supports combustion
in animals and plants during respiration.
- This layer protects life on earth by absorbing harmful ultraviolet radiations.
- It is also found in plants and animals as building blocks for carbohydrates, proteins and
lipids/fats.
- The diagram below shows the oxygen cycle.
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Water/ Hydrological cycle
- This is the cycle of processes by which water circulates between the earth’s oceans,
atmosphere and land, involving precipitation as rain and snow, drainage in streams and
rivers and return to the atmosphere by evaporation and transpiration.
- Water provides hydrogen for the process of photosynthesis.
- Water exists in three states, namely solid (ice), liquid (water) and gas (water vapour).
- The processes that take place during the water cycle are summarised in the following
diagram:
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Effects of Human Activity on the water cycle
- Global warming: The higher the temperature on earth, the higher the rate of melting of
glaciers and ice caps and this increases the amount of water in oceans/ seas, rivers.
- Deforestation: Less trees results in less water in the atmosphere through transpiration and
this leads to less rain. Deforestation also leads to leaching soil and soil erosion.
- Agricultural activities: During irrigation, water is removed from its natural sources
causes leaching and removal of minerals as water washes through on the land.
- Use of fertiliser: The end up in rivers and other water bodies and pollute the water.
Ecosystem
- This is a community of organisms and their physical environment (abiotic factors such as
soil, rain, temperature) interacting as a unit.
- Community Any group of organisms belonging to a number of different species that
occur together in the same habitat or area and interact through trophic and spatial
relationships.
- The structure of an ecosystem and how it functions depend on the abiotic and biotic
factors.
- Feeding relationships where biotic factors eat from the abiotic component of the
ecosystem.
- Freshwater pond as an ecosystem has different organisms (producers such as reeds, water
lilies and consumers such as water snails, fish, and insects)
- Carnivores eat from the primary consumers are birds, water beetles and frogs.
- Energy flows in one direction through an ecosystem i.e from producer to the consumers.
- Ecosystems found on land are called terrestrial ecosystems.
- Ecosystems found in water are called aquatic ecosystems.
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The effects of Agriculture on an ecosystem
- Increases soil acidity and kill soil organisms.

- Leads to soil, land and water pollution.
(i) Soil pollution: The use of pesticides to kill insects on the crops may contaminate
the soil and kill harmless plants and animals
(ii) Air pollution: Burning of wood releases smoke and ash into the air. More carbon
dioxide that is released into the air contributes to global warming.
(iii) Water pollution: Toxic chemicals from pesticides used to spray crops may kill
aquatic life such as fish. Run - off of fertilisers land in rivers and dams and cause
algae to grow very fast. When algae die, decomposers use all the oxygen from the
water and other organisms die because they cannot respire.
The effects of deforestation on soil stability and climate
- Deforestation: This is defined as the permanent removal of trees and their undergrowth
from a forest.
- Some causes of deforestation are:
(i) Clearance of land for agriculture
(ii) Use of trees in the paper-making industry
(iii) Harvesting timber for construction
(iv) Clearance of land for construction of human settlements, roads, rail lines, and
dams
(v) Destruction of forest trees by acid rain.
(vi) Late forest fires
- The effects of deforestation on the environment are:
(i) Global warming: This is the phenomenon of rising average air temperature near the
earth’s surface.
- The atmosphere acts as a greenhouse allowing sunlight to pass through and cause the
Earth to warm up.
- A greenhouse is a glass house that traps heat from the sunlight and creates a warm
environment for the growth of plants.
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- The atmosphere acts as a greenhouse by allowing sunlight to pass through causing the
earth to warm up.
- When the earth warms up, it gives off heat which is trapped by the earth’s atmospheric
layer of carbon dioxide.
- This is called greenhouse effect.
- Global warming result in climate change which will make the more extreme conditions
such as rising sea levels, drought and floods.
(ii) It promotes soil erosion: This is the process of eroding.
- It results in the fine particles of organic matter in the soil being destroyed, leaving the
coarse sandy particles behind.
- It promotes desertification
- It promotes leaching of nutrients
- The soil eroded by water is often deposited in rivers, leading to flooding.
Pollution
- This is the introduction of wastes or harmful substances into the environment by human
activities making it unfit for supporting life in a healthy way.
- Pollutant: Any substance that causes pollution of the environment.
- There are three types of pollution, namely land, air (atmospheric) and water pollution.
The undesirable effects of pollution
(i) Water pollution: This is the contamination of water bodies with harmful substances
making it unfit for living organisms to survive
- The following table discusses some pollutants of water, their sources and effects:
Name of Pollutant Source (s) Effect (s)

Raw (untreated) sewage: This - Leaking of sewer pipes. - Some microorganisms
is a mixture of human faeces, - Direct discharge of untreated present in sewage are
urine kitchen waste and sewage into water bodies i.e. pathogenic and may cause
detergents rivers and lakes diseases such as cholera,
dysentery and typhoid
- Decomposition of the
organic components of
sewage leads to high levels of
phosphates and nitrates. The
presence of high levels of
phosphates and nitrates in
water is called eutrophication.
It leads to algal blooms (the
rapid multiplication of algae
in water) and multiplication
of water weeds. The algae use
up a lot of oxygen for
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respiration and during their

decomposition after death.
- This lowers the amount of
oxygen in water and may
result in death of fish. In
addition, nitrates are
poisonous to both fish and
humans.
- Suspended particles present
in the sewage reduce
penetration of light, slowing
down photosynthesis in
aquatic plants.
- Detergents in sewage lead
to formation of foams which
block oxygen and light from
getting into the water.
Agricultural run-off Farms located near water -Fertilisers in water cause

containing fertilisers, bodies eutrophication
herbicides and pesticides -Herbicides and pesticides are
poisonous to aquatic
organisms and to humans
who may drink the water.
Oil spills: These normally -Accidental spillages from - Oil floats on top of water,
affect marine water bodies tankers and marine transport thereby blocking oxygen
i.e. seas and oceans vessels supply to aquatic organisms.
-It kills aquatic organisms
-It sticks to the feathers of
some aquatic birds, making it
difficult for them to swim.
(ii) Air Pollution: This is the contamination of air with harmful substances making it unfit
for living organisms to survive.
- The following table discusses some pollutants of the atmosphere, their sources and
effects:
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Sulphur dioxide Burning of fossil fuels - Dissolves in rain water forming
sulphurous acid and sulphuric
acid. Such rain is called acid rain.
The effects of acid rain are:
(i) It breaks down the waxy cuticle
on plant leaves, leading to
excessive transpiration and
leaching of nutrients. This may
lead to death of trees and
destruction of forests.
(ii) It destroys the root hairs of
plants, leading to reduced uptake
of nutrients and water.
(iii) It kills or inhibits the activity
of soil organisms, thereby slowing
down decomposition of organic
matter
(iv) It mobilises ions that are
normally bound to soil particles,
leading to leaching of such ions.
When some of the leached ions
flow into rivers, they may
accumulate to toxic levels.
(v) It corrodes and damages
buildings
Carbon dioxide -Burning of fossil fuels - It contributes to the greenhouse
and organic matter. effect i.e. it slows down the escape
-Deforestation promotes of heat (long-wave radiation) from
increase in CO2 the atmosphere into space. This
concentrations because it has led to an effect known as
reduces the number of global warming i.e. a rise in global
plants carrying out temperatures. Global warming is
photosynthesis believed to cause drastic climatic
-added to the atmosphere changes, resulting in droughts and
naturally by respiration floods.
and volcanoes NB: There are other greenhouse
gases besides carbon dioxide.
Examples are methane, water
vapour, chlorofluorocarbons
(CFCs)and nitrous oxide (N2O
Carbon monoxide -Incomplete combustion - When inhaled, it gets into the
of fossil fuels and organic blood and combines irreversibly
matter. with haemoglobin to form
carboxyhaemoglobin. This reduces
the capacity of the blood to
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transport oxygen. This may cause

breathlessness, headache and
suffocation to death in humans.
- Babies born from mothers that
have been frequently exposed to
the gas have a low birth weight.
Nitrogen oxides - Exhaust fumes - Formation of photochemical
- Industrial fumes smog, which reduces visibility and
In both cases the may lead to road and air traffic
nitrogen is initially accidents.
from the -Formation of acid rain.
atmosphere, but
reacts with oxygen
under intense heat
to form oxides.
NB: oxides of nitrogen are
formed naturally when
there is lightning
(iii) Land pollution: This is the destruction or degradation of the earth’s land surfaces
directly or indirectly because of human activities.
- The following table discusses some pollutants of the land, their sources and effects:

Non-biodegradable materials: -Disposable packaging for a - They make the soil less
materials that cannot be number of manmade products fertile
decomposed by
microorganisms e.g. plastic
Garbage/ Refuse/ Rubbish -Domestic and industrial -Act as breeding sites for
waste pathogens and their vectors
-May contain poisonous
substances
-Giving the air an unpleasant
smell
Heavy metals: metals with a Industrial emissions -They cannot be excreted by
relative atomic mass higher bodies organisms and are
than 100 e.g. lead and poisonous when they reach
mercury certain levels.
- Bioaccumulation (a
substance becoming more
concentrated in higher trophic
levels of a food chain) may
result, leading to death of
higher predators.
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Measures to prevent pollution
- Ensure that factories and mines have chimneys with filters installed to reduce the
discharge of carbon dioxide Sulphur dioxide.
- Passing Sulphur dioxide produced from burning coal under a tank of water and this
changes it to Sulphuric acid. This reduces the amount of Sulphur dioxide releases into air.
- Building of landfills to dispose garbage.
- Encourage the recycling of waste materials such as plastic, glass, paper and metal.
- Treat sewage before discharging into rivers.
- Use garbage to make compost manure.
- Educate the public on the proper waste disposal methods.
Conservation
- This is the protection of species, their habitats and ecosystems to prevent them from
facing extinction.
Endangered species: These are species that in danger of severe population loss or extinction.
E.g. trees (Sausage, Mutondo, Mukwa (Zambezi teak), Mukula, African mahogany and animals
such as leopard, African elephant, rhino, black lechwe, shoebill, black cheeked lovebird, African
wild dog.
- Extinction: Extinction is the gradual process by which members of certain species die out.
The importance of conserving plant and animal species
- Plants produce oxygen for photosynthesis.

- Source of food, medicines and industrial raw material
- For income
- Foreign currency from tourists
- Plants reduce soil erosion
- For future generation
- For aesthetic / beauty
Examples of conservation efforts made by human beings include:
- Creation of game reserves to conserve wild animals.

- Creation of forest reserves to conserve forests.
- Creation of botanical gardens and zoos.
- Fishing and hunting bans during the breeding seasons of animals.
- Creation of gene banks, seed banks and sperm banks for endangered species.
- Formulation of legislation (laws) that govern the utilisation of natural resources.
- Recycling of products made from natural resources.
- Prohibiting poaching.
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Methods of protecting endangered animals and plant
- There are agencies in Zambia in charge of wild-life conservation.
- These are:
i) Department of national parks and wildlife (DNPW), formerly known as Zambia wildlife
authority (ZAWA)
ii) Forestry department
These agencies help in designing and implement policies to protect wildlife. The following are
the ways in which endangered species are protecting:
- Use of appropriate farming practices such as crop rotation
- Game cropping
- Setting up of conservation education programmes in the curriculum
- Controlling burning of charcoal
- Creation of game management area, forest reserves and game parks
- Reducing the threat of invasive species.
How to reuse, reduce and recycle materials
Reduce
- This is to bring something to less desired state or condition.

- This results in the lowest environmental economic costs.
- It is the most important step in the waste hierarchy as fewer waste products are generated.
- Reduction involves using less material in design and manufacture, trying to keep
products for longer and using less hazardous material such as plastic.
- E.g. when going for shopping take your own shopping bags rather than using or buying
plastic bags that are thrown away.
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Reuse
- This is using something again or more than once for the same purpose.
- It involves checking, cleaning, repairing, repair entire items or spare parts.
- Examples are the reuse of glass bottles.
Recycle
- This is the changing of materials form old or broken things into new items.
- This is the second most important step in 3r.

- It involves sorting and processing the recyclable products into raw material and then
remanufacturing the recycled raw materials into new products.
- Metals and some plastics can be melted down and used again to make different things.
- Importance of recycling are:
(i) When waste is recycled, less land is needed to create landfills.
(ii) Fewer raw materials are used up from the Earth’s limited supply.
(iii) It saves energy
The importance of sustainable use of resources
- Avoid deforestation for it can lead to desertification and destruction of the country’s rich
Bio-diversity.
- Avoid over-fishing: Use allowed size of nets and maintain fish stocks at a level where
breeding continues or some species may disappear altogether in some areas.
- Avoid over-hunting. Hunting rules must be enforced to avoid killing of species in large
numbers for they can face extinction.
- Encourage game keeping: Ecotourism, game farms and national parks offer game drives
and walking safaris for seeing big animals.
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Biodiversity
- This refers to the variety of living organisms in an ecosystem.
Diversity of organisms in a given locality
- Biodiversity on Earth is not the same.

- The table below summerises the rich biodiversity of living wildlife (vertebrates) in
Zambia.
Vertebrate Total species Endemic species Endangered (threatened species)

Amphibian 66 2 1
Birds 770 5 12
Mammals 255 8 11
Reptiles 143 4 0
Total wildlife diversity 1 234 19 24
The importance of diversity of organisms in given locality
- Equilibrium: This is the state of balance of an ecosystem so that all systems work perfectly.
- The number of organisms an ecosystem can support depends on the resources available.
- These resources include food, water and shelter.
- If these resources are fewer, the number of species will be smaller.
- What happens in one population affect the whole community of an ecosystem because all
species interact with one another in the ecosystem.
- If herbivores such as impala and zebra, die, lions will have no food and they will suffer
then grass will grow tall because there are no animals to graze.
105 | P a g e o f 1 0 8
How some organisms are adapted to the environment

- Adaptation: Change in organisms over many generations through inheritance of modified
genes, resulting in improved survival and reproduction.
Organism Their adaptation to the environment
Fish - Fish have endoskeletons and are found in water.

- Their bodies are covered with scales and they swim with fins.
- They are consumers and are some are herbivores, carnivores and
omnivores.
- They breathe with gills and gaseous exchange takes place in the
water.
- They reproduce sexually by laying eggs and fertilisation is external.
Insects - They are invertebrates and almost all are terrestrial organisms that are
capable of flight.
- They have an exoskeleton made of chin, which prevents them from
drying out on land.
- They are consumers and are either herbivores or carnivores.
- They reproduce sexually by laying eggs and grow in stages after
moulting/ ecdysis.
- They have segmented bodies and joint appendages.
- They breathe with a tracheal system.
Mammal - They are vertebrates with a glandular skin with hair or fur.
- Sexual reproduction occurs.
- Internal fertilization and give birth to young ones.
- They have mammary glands that produce milk.
- They breathe using lungs.
- They run and walk.
- Have different sense organs.
Plants - They are multicellular organisms and the majority contain

chlorophyll and are photosynthetic.
- Their cells have cell walls made of cellulose.
- They store food in storage cells parenchyma.
- Some have vascular tissues.
- They reproduce sexually through seeds, while others through spore
formation.
106 | P a g e o f 1 0 8
The impact of human activity on organisms
- Hunting and poaching: Killing of animals for food, skins, horns and tusks without
permission poses a great threat to biodiversity.
- Fishing: It important to prevent over-fishing and fishing in breeding season. Small fish
must be released to allow them to grow and reproduce.
- charcoal production as a source of energy.
- Slashing and burning of lands for agriculture, housing and factories leads to
disappearance of habitats.
- Pollution of the environment from vehicle and factory emissions poisons the air, soil and
water.
The economic reasons for maintaining biodiversity
- Ecotourism: This brings in foreign exchange from tourists coming from other countries to view
natural resources e.g. Victoria falls.
- Medicinal plants such as ginger, moringa, cinchona where quine is extracted from, willow where
aspirin is extracted from.
- Animals as a source of food: These provide meat and milk.
END OF GRADE 12 NOTES
NEXT:
University, I smell you.
107 | P a g e o f 1 0 8
EXAM SKILLS
How to approach tests and exams?
- Planning your time: Read through your test or exam paper before you start writing. Plan
how much time you will spend on each question.
- How to read questions: Read the instructions twice to make sure you understand what
you have to do. Note the mark allocation so that you do not write a paragraph for one
mark. Give four facts if the question is for four marks, three facts if the question is for
three marks.
- How to answer different kinds of questions
(i) Multiple choice questions: Read question and all the options twice before you
decide. Do not guess.
(ii) Questions with short answers: Give one word if you are asked to do so. Do not
write full sentences unless you are asked to do so.
(iii) Questions that require long answers: Look at the mark allocation. Make sure
you understand the instructions. For example, do you have to ‘compare’ or
‘Explain’? Plan your answers.
- Study the table below to get the meaning of each exam word according to Benjamin
Bloom’s Taxonomy
Exam word Meaning

Compare Describe what is similar and difference between the two or more things
Conclude Give a short interpretation of results or give the a summary
Describe Give details and facts in full sentences without stating reasons
Determine Find out
Discuss Give different ideas and arguments about the topic
Display Show
Evaluate Look at the facts carefully and form your own conclusion
Explain Give full details in full sentences and give reasons
Formulate Write down an idea or hypothesis that explains the idea clearly
Identify Find, name and mention
Illustrate Give an example of what you mean or explain it visually
Indicate Show
Investigate Follow a systematic way of analyzing a problem
Match Pair an item with another to which it is related or that it resembles
Review Judge something with the intention of making improvement
Select Choose
Sort Order information alphabetically, numerically, by data or importance
State Give, say or write down the information asked for
Suggest Give ideas, solutions or reasons for something
Summarise Give the main points, briefly
Support Use examples to prove what you have said
108 | P a g e o f 1 0 8
REFERENCES
 Lisuba B. et al (2014) Progress in Biology learner’s book 12. (1st Edition), Oxford
University Press ORBIS (Pty) Limited, Cape town South Africa.
 Nyoroh D. (2006). Golden Tips Science. Moran publishers Freedom City Mall
Basement, Etebbe Road, Kampala, Uganda.
 Lisuba B. Basics of Biology 10-12. University of Zambia.
 Initiative publishers (2015) Knowing Examiner’s mind Biology Lusaka, Zambia
 Kandasia J, Ngulu J. (2003). Explore Biology. Lavington Green, Oloitokitok, Nairobi,
Kenya.
 Mackean D.G (2002) GCSE Biology (3rd Edition), An Hachette UK Company Carmelite
House, London.
 Robert M.B.V: Biology for life (2nd Edition), GRZ/ UK Education Project.
 Chilombe I.M (2019): Junior Integrated Science notes. Chisamba Girls Academy.
Zambia.
 Internet sites
www. Shutterstock. Com
www. Britannica.com
www. Plato. Stanford.edu>entries>genetics
www.azolifesciences.com>article
www. Whattoexpect. Com > pregnancy
www. Webmd.com>…>Guide
www. Ctarhr. Hawaii. Edu> farm…
www. Britannica. Com> List> Science

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1|P ag e o f 1 0 8

(ii) Sexual reproduction

The asexual reproduction

Advantages of asexual reproduction include:

- A mate is not required for offspring to be produced

Disadvantages of asexual reproduction include:

- It often leads to overcrowding and competition for resources.

Asexual reproduction in unicellular organisms

- The stages involved in binary fission are:

- This type of reproduction occurs in bacteria and Amoeba.

(i) Parent cell produces small outgrowth.

(ii) Outgrowth detaches from parent cell.

(iii) A new cell formed.

The structure of the rhizopus

Importance of fungi and bacteria

- Decomposition of organic matter and nutrient recycling.

- Different methods of natural propagation: Runners, rhizomes, corms, buds, suckers,

stem tubers, root tubers and bulbs.

- Vegetative propagation can be either natural or artificial.

- The bud is cut in such a way that it has some cambium.

Advantages of vegetative propagation

- Rapid rate of reproduction

Disadvantages of vegetative propagation.

TOPIC 2: SEXUAL REPRODUCTION IN FLOWERING PLANTS

characteristic features of self- pollinated flowers

- Bisexual, hermaphrodite flowers, for example marigold

Wind and insect pollinated flowers

- Insect-pollinated flowers are also called entomophilous flowers.

Insect pollination flowers Wind pollination flowers

The process of fertilisation in flowers

4. Explosive (self-mechanism): This is a type of seed dispersal common in legumes (beans,

The importance of fruit and seed dispersal

TOPIC 3: REPRODUCTION IN ANIMALS

The process of reproduction in a frog

The male and female reproductive organs in human beings

Male reproductive organs. Male reproductive system:

- Produces sperm in the male gonads.

Part structure function

Female reproductive organs

The female reproductive system:

- Produces the female sex cells (ova) in the ovaries.

Part structure function

THE BIOLOGICAL CHANGES ASSOCIATED WITH SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT IN HUMAN BEINGS

The role of testosterone, progesterone and oestrogen at puberty

- Testosterone: Male sex hormone produced by testes to develop secondary sexual

- Pubic hair grows at the base of the penis

- The breasts grow

THE MENSTRUAL CYCLE

THE PROCESSES OF FERTILISATION AND IMPLANTATION IN HUMAN BEINGS

The infertility in human beings

Causes of infertility in females

- Damage to the fallopian tube

Causes of infertility in males

- low sperm production.

Development of the embryo in the uterus

(ii) Attaching the foetus to the uterus of the mother

The umbilical cord

Health risks associated with foetal development