CHAPTER 1:

CHARACTERISTICS AND
CLASSIFICATION OF LIVING
ORGANISMS

By Ms. Stephanie B 1
Learning objectives
1.1 Characteristics of living organisms
Core
1. Describe the characteristics of living organisms by describing:
a) movement as an action by an organism or part of an organism causing a
change of position or place
b) respiration as the chemical reactions in cells that break down nutrient
molecules and release energy for metabolism
c) sensitivity as the ability to detect and respond to changes in the internal or
external environment
d) growth as a permanent increase in size and dry mass
e) reproduction as the processes that make more of the same kind of
organism
f) excretion as the removal of the waste products of metabolism and
substances in excess of requirements
g) nutrition as the taking in of materials for energy, growth and development
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Learning objectives
1.2 Concept and uses of classification systems
Core
1. State that organisms can be classified into groups by the features that they share
2. Describe a species as a group of organisms that can reproduce to produce fertile
offspring
3. Describe the binomial system of naming species as an internationally agreed system
in which the scientific name of an organism is made up of two parts showing the
genus and species
4. Construct and use dichotomous keys based on identifiable features
Supplement
5. Explain that classification systems aim to reflect evolutionary relationships
6. Explain that the sequences of bases in DNA are used as a means of classification
7. Explain that groups of organisms which share a more recent ancestor (are more
closely related) have base sequences in DNA that are more similar than those that
share only a distant ancestor
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Learning objectives
1.3 Features of organisms
Core
1. State the main features used to place animals and plants into the appropriate
kingdoms
2. State the main features used to place organisms into groups within the animal
kingdom, limited to:
a) the main groups of vertebrates: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish
b) the main groups of arthropods: myriapods, insects, arachnids, crustaceans
3. Classify organisms using the features identified in 1.3.1 and 1.3.2
Supplement
4. State the main features used to place all organisms into one of the five kingdoms:
animal,plant, fungus, prokaryote, protoctist
5. State the main features used to place organisms into groups within the plant
kingdom, limited to ferns and flowering plants (dicotyledons andmonocotyledons)
6. Classify organisms using the features identified in 1.3.4 and 1.3.5
7. State the features of viruses, limited to a protein coat and genetic material 4
What is biology?
 The study of living things
 Living things are also known as organisms
 7 characteristics differentiating organisms and non-living things:
1. M ovement
2. R espiration
3. S ensitivity
4. G rowth
5. R eproduction
6. E xcretion
7. N utrition
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Characteristics of living things
1. MOVEMENT
• An action by an organism or part of
an organism causing a change of
position or place

2. RESPIRATION
The chemical reactions in cells that break
down nutrient molecules and release
energy for metabolism.
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Characteristics of living things
3. SENSITIVITY
• The ability to detect and respond to
changes in the internal or external
environment.

4. GROWTH
• A permanent increase in size
and dry mass.

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Characteristics of living things
5. REPRODUCTION
• The processes that make more of the
same kind of organism.

6. EXCRETION
• The removal of the waste products of
metabolism and substances in
excess of requirements.

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Characteristics of living things
7. NUTRITION
• Taking in of materials for energy, growth
and development.
• Plants require light, carbon dioxide, water
and ions.
• Animals need organic compounds, ions and
water.
 Additionally, all living organisms are
made up of cells

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Classification
 What? The sorting of organisms into groups based on common features.
 Organisms that share many similar features are placed in the same
group. More shared features= more closely related.
 Why? makes it easier to study
living organisms
 All organisms have the same
ancestors if you look back in
time far enough.
 This means that you are
related to all living things,
including plants and bacteria.
 A shared ancestor is called a
common ancestor.
Methods of classification
 In the past, organisms were classified based on structure of their
bodies:
a) Morphology- the overall form and shape of their bodies (whether they
had legs or wings)
b) Anatomy- the detailed body structure (determined by dissection)

 Present: classified based on DNA bases

• Biologists compare sequence of DNA bases (A,C,G,T) in organisms of
2 different species.
• The more similar the DNA sequences:
✓ the more closely related the species are to one another.
✓ they have a more recent common ancestor
• Similarities in sequence of amino acids in proteins can be used in the
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same way.
The classification system
 Introduced by Carl Linnaeus in 1735.
 Divided living things into groups called species based on:
• shared appearance
• shared behaviour
 Today, biologists define a species as a group of organisms that can
interbreed (reproduce) and produce fertile offspring.

Key Definition

Species- a group of organisms that Carl

can reproduce and produce fertile Linnaeus, a
offspring Swedish
naturalist
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The classification system
General Kingdom (Kingdoms)

Phylum (Phyla) • Species are grouped

Class (Classes) into larger groups
called genera
Order (Orders) (singular: genus).
• Several genera are
Family (Families) grouped into family,
families into orders,
Genus (Genera) orders into classes,
classes into phyla
Specific Species (Species) and phyla into
kingdoms.
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The binomial naming system
 Linnaeus gave every species of living organisms two names,
written in Latin, called the binomial system
• ‘bi’ =two and ‘nomial’ from the Latin nomen = name
• The first name is the name of the genus to which
an organism belongs.
• The second name is the name of its species
• Both words are italicized (in print) or underlined (hand-written).
• Genus is always capitalized, species is always lower case.

For example:
Common name: Wolf
Binomial name: Canis lupus (abbreviated to C. lupus)
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Dichotomous keys
 ‘Dichotomous’ means ‘branching into
two’.
 Keys (or dichotomous keys) are used Example of a
to dichotomous
key
✓ identify unfamiliar organisms
✓ simplify the process of
identification
 Each key is made up of pairs of
contrasting features:
1. Starting with quite general
characteristics and progressing to
more specific ones.
2. By following the key and making Answer: D
appropriate choices it is possible Let’s try the dichotomous key on
to identify the organism correctly.
page 8 of the textbook 15
The classification system
1. Animals
Kingdom (Kingdoms) 2. Plants
3. Fungi
Phylum (Phyla) 4. Protoctista
5. Prokaryotes
Class (Classes)

Order (Orders)

Family (Families)

Genus (Genera)

Species (Species)
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The kingdoms of living organisms
1. Animals
• Multicellular (bodies contain
many cells)
• Cells have a nucleus, but no
cell walls or chloroplasts
• Feed on organic substances
made by other living organisms
Quokka
Desert fox
2. Plants
• Multicellular
• Cells have a nucleus, cell walls
made of cellulose and often
contain chloroplasts
• Feed by photosynthesis
• May have roots, stems and leaves
• May be flowering (most plants or
trees) or non-flowering (ferns and
mosses)
Venus
flytrap
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The kingdoms of living organisms
3. Fungi
• Usually multicellular
• Have nuclei
• Have cell walls, not made of cellulose
• Do not have chloroplast
• Feed by saprophytic or parasitic
nutrition- on organic material (faeces,
human food and dead plants or animals).
• Reproduce by forming spores
• Can be eaten as mushrooms, used as
yeast to make ethanol and bread, provide
antibiotics such as penicillin
• Harmful fungi cause food decay, and
diseases such as ringworm and athlete’s
foot. 18
The kingdoms of living organisms
4. Protoctista 5. Prokaryotes
• All cells have nucleus • Do not have nucleus
• Most are unicellular, some • Have cell walls (not made of
(e.g. seaweeds) are cellulose)
multicellular. • Have no mitochondria
• Cells may or may not have cell • Have a circular loop of DNA, free in
wall and chloroplasts. cytoplasm.
• Some feed by photosynthesis • Often have plasmids.
and others feed on organic
substances.
Bacteria
Chlamydomonas
belong to
this
kingdom
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Classifying animals
KINGDOM
Kingdom (Kingdoms)
ANIMALS
Phylum (Phyla)
Class (Classes)
Phylum Phylum
Order (Orders) Vertebrates Arthropods

Family (Families)

Genus (Genera) • Class Fish

• Class Amphibians
Species (Species) • Class Reptiles
• Class Birds
• Class Mammals 20
Phylum Vertebrates
 Animals have a supporting rod (backbone) running along the length of the
body.
1. Class Fish 2. Class Amphibians
• All live in water (except for • Vertebrates with moist, scale-less
several species such as skin
mudskipper: spend short • Adults live on land, lay eggs in
periods of time breathing air) water – larva (tadpole) live in
• Vertebrates with scaly skin water
• Have gills • Larva has gills, adult has lungs
• Have fins
• Eggs have no shells and are
laid in water.
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Salamanders
Frogs
Phylum Vertebrates
3. Class Reptiles
• Vertebrates with scaly skin
• Have lungs
• Lay eggs with soft rubbery
shells – waterproof shell
prevents eggs from drying out
(so reptiles do need to breed in
water)
Turtle Crocodile
4. Class Birds
• Vertebrates with feathers
• Forelimbs have become wings
• Lay eggs with hard shells
• Endothermic (generate their own
internal heat)
• Have a beak (no teeth)
• Have a heart with four chambers
Potoo Puffin22
Phylum Vertebrates Aardvark

5. Class Mammals
• Vertebrates with hair
• Young develop in a uterus, attached to
mother by a placenta
• Females have mammary glands, which
produce milk to feed their young
Llama
• Endothermic
• Have a diaphragm
• Heart has four chambers
• Have 4 different types of teeth
• Have pinnae (external ears)
• Have bones in the middle ear Human
• Have sweat glands 23
Classifying animals
KINGDOM
Kingdom (Kingdoms)
ANIMALS
Phylum (Phyla)
Class (Classes)
Phylum Phylum
Order (Orders) Vertebrates Arthropods

Family (Families)

Genus (Genera) • Class Insects

• Class Arachnids
Species (Species) • Class Crustaceans
• Class Myriapods
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Phylum Arthropods
 Animals with several pairs of jointed legs, but no backbone (have
exoskeleton).
1. Class Insects 2. Class Arachnids
• A very successful group of
arthropods due to: • Arthropods with four pairs of
✓ waterproof exoskeleton and jointed legs
trachea- good at stopping
evaporation of water from • Have no antennae
their bodies, so they can live
in very dry places. • 2 body segments: abdomen
• Have three pairs of jointed and cephalothorax
legs
• Have two pairs of wings (may
be vestigial- hidden or
functionless)
• Breathe through tracheae
• Body divided into head, thorax
and abdomen
• Have a one pair of antennae Scorpion
Spider Tick 25
Phylum Arthropods
 Animals with several pairs of jointed legs, but no backbone.
3. Class Crustaceans 4. Class Myriapods
• Arthropods with more than • Body consists of many segments
four pairs of jointed legs • Each segment has jointed legs
• Have two pairs of antennae • Have one pair of antennae
• Breathe through gills

Centipede

Crab

Lobster Millipede
Woodlice 26
Kingdom plants
 All plant cells have cells with cell walls made of cellulose.
 Most plants are green due to a pigment called chlorophyll.
 Chlorophyll absorbs energy from sunlight.
 Plants use sunlight, carbon dioxide and water to make glucose
in a process called photosynthesis.
 Examples of plants: Moss, ferns, flowering plants

*Remember*
Chloroplast ≠ chlorophyll
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Classifying plants
1. Ferns
• Plants with roots, stems and
leaves
• Have leaves called fronds
• Do not produce flowers
• Reproduce by spores (produced
on the underside of fronds)
2. Flowering plants
• Plants with roots, stems and leaves
• Reproduce sexually by flowers and
seeds
• Seeds are produced inside the ovary, in
the flower
• Can be divided into two main groups,
monocotyledonous (monocot) and
dicotyledonous (dicot) plants
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Comparing monocot and dicot plants

MONOCOT
PLANTS Fibrous root
system

DICOT
PLANTS
Tap- root
system
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Let’s answer!
Feature Monocot plants Dicot plants

Number of cotyledons
One Two

Leaf shape Long,narrow/Strap- Broad

shaped
Distribution of veins
Parallel Branching/network

Grouping of flower parts

Multiples of fours or
(petals, sepals and Multiples of threes
fives
carpels)
Root system
Branching/fibrous Tap
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Viruses
 Cause common diseases such as:
• colds
• influenza
• AIDS.
 Are not alive, simply exist until they
get inside a living cell.
 Without a host cell, viruses cannot:
• Move ↑ Structure of a virus: A
• Feed piece of DNA or RNA
• Excrete (never both) surrounded
• Show sensitivity by a protein coat.
• Grow
• Reproduce
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Viral invasion process * Host cell is killed
virus in the process
viral DNA
host cell protein coat virus

New
viruses
Virus Viral burst out
Virus take Virus make
attaches to DNA of cell
over host cell copies of
surface of enters and
machinery themselves
host cell host cell invade
other
cells

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