DAV INSTITUTIONS

ODISHA ZONE- 1
CLASS: IX, SCIENCE (BIOLOGY)
NAME OF THE TOPIC: FUNDAMENTAL UNIT OF LIFE (PART-1)

PREPARED BY :
Mrs. Namrata Sahoo
D.A.V. PUBLIC SCHOOL, POKHARIPUT
 Book Link: PDF format
SCIENCE
(TEXTBOOK FOR CLASS-IX)
NCERT PUBLICATION

Chapter 5: THE FUNDAMENTAL UNIT OF LIFE

http://www.ncert.nic.in/ncerts/l/iesc105.pdf
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

The children will be able to:

• know the basic structure and functions of living organisms .

• distinguish between unicellular and multicellular organism.

• understand the importance of diffusion and osmosis in our daily activities.

• predict the role of cell wall in plant cell, bacterial cell and fungal cell.

• differentiate between diffusion and osmosis.

 INTRODUCTION

https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=url1tlGR
h94&t=11s

Go through the link to have an idea about the topic.

 What is a cell ?
• Our Earth is inhabited by different kinds of
living organisms, who look very different
from each other. These living organisms are
archaebacteria, eubacteria, Protista
(Amoeba, Chlamydomonas), fungi, plants
and animals .The bodies of living organisms
are made up of microscopic units called
cells . The cell has same central position in
biology as an atom in physical sciences.
The cell is basic structural and functional
unit of living organisms.
 Discovery of Cell
• Robert Hooke (1665) used his self designed
microscope to observe cell.
• He observed slice of cork under the microscope.
• It resembled honeycomb structure containing
many compartments. Hence, he called them ‘Cells’.
• Cell in Latin means ‘a little room’.
Cell is the structural and functional unit of life.
Structural: All living organisms are made up of cells.
Functional : All functions performed by an organism
occur at cellular level.
Cell: What and When? (Historical Aspects)
• Discovered by Robert Hooke (1665) while observing slice of cork
under a microscope.
• Leeuwenhoek (1674) observed free cells in the form of bacteria, etc.
• Robert Brown (1831) discovered nucleus in the cell.
• J.E. Purkinje (1839) termed the living fluid in the cell as protoplasm.
• M. Schleiden (1838) and T. Schwann (1839)proposed the cell theory.
a. all the plants and animals are composed of cells.
b. cell is the basic unit of life.
• Virchow (1855) further expanded the cell theory by expressing that
all cells arise from pre-existing cells.
Instruments involved for observing cells

Compound Microscope Electron Microscope

Cell – based on number
Unicellular Multicellular

Cockroach

Amoeba

Tree

Paramecium
 Number of Cells
• Number of cells in an organism is related to its size.
• Human being has about 1014 cells.
Large organism Small organism

More Cells Less Cells

Cell Size :
•The largest living cell is the egg of an ostrich measuring 170 mm x 135 mm.
• Some nerve cells of humans have a long tail or axons of about one metre.
• Size of cell is related to its function.
 Shape of the cells:
• Polyhedral (Having many sides):
Parenchyma
• Spherical: Eggs of many animals
• Spindle-shaped: Smooth muscle
cells
• Elongated: Nerve cell (longest cell
of human body)
• Branched: Pigment cells of skin
• Discoid: RBC
• Variable: Amoeba and leucocytes
 TEST YOUR UNDERSTANDING

Q1. Do all types of cells have same shape and size?

Q2. Is there a difference among cells from different parts

of same plant body?

Q3. What difference do you observe in the cell shapes?

Q4. What similarities do you observe in these cells?

 Composition of a Cell
• Chemically, a cell is an aggregation of various chemical molecules.

Cell

Organic Inorganic
molecules Molecules

Carbohydrates Water

Proteins Minerals

Fats Gases

Nucleic Acid
 Functional Regions of the Cell Analogy of Functional Regions of Cell

• All cells have three major

functional regions:
1. Plasma membrane
2. Nucleus
3.Cytoplasm
• The life giving substance of cell
is called the protoplasm. It
includes the cytoplasm and
nucleus.
 Cell Wall

Cell Wall

Plant
Cell

Structure and Location

• Made up of cellulose.
• Present only in plant cells, outside the plasma membrane.
• Absent in the animal cells.
• Cell wall is a non-living , thick and rigid layer.
• Fully permeable.
 Functions of Cell wall

• provides Protection

• Determines the shape of the cells i.e.

gives a definite shape to plant cell.

• Provides structural strength to the plant

cell and hence to the plant.

• Provides a pathway for the movement of

water and mineral salts.
Cell walls permit the cells of plants, fungi and bacteria to withstand
very dilute(hypotonic) external media without bursting. Justify.

In such media the cells tend to take up water

by osmosis. The cell swells up and build
pressure against the cell wall.
The wall exerts an equal pressure against the
swollen cell.
Therefore because of their walls, plant cells
can withstand much greater changes in the
surrounding medium than animal cells.
 Cell Membrane

Cell Wall
Cell membrane
Cell membrane
Animal
Plant
Cell
Cell

Structure and Location

• Also known as plasma membrane.
• Present in both plant and animal cells.
• Made up of Lipids and Proteins.
• Differentially or selectively permeable.
 Functions of Plasma Membrane
• Gives shape and rigidity to the cell.

• Regulates the movement of molecules

into and out of the cell.

• Provides mechanical barrier for

protection of inner cell contents.

• In some unicellular organisms like

Amoeba, cell membrane helps in
engulfing of food material and removal of
wastes (phagocytosis).
 Transport across the Cell Membrane

• Membranes act as physical barriers between the organelles of a cell

and its cytoplasm and its surrounding environment.

• Impermeable membrane – substances do not pass through.

• Permeable – both solute and solvent can pass through.

• Semipermeable – membrane allows the passage of solvent and some

selected solutes.
 Diffusion:
• Movement of substances
from the region of its
higher concentration to
the region of its lower
concentration is called
diffusion.
 Osmosis:
• Osmosis is a special case of semi-permeable membrane

diffusion .
• Movement of water (solvent)
from the region of its higher
concentration to its lower
concentration through a semi-
permeable membrane is called
osmosis.
 Types of Osmotic Solutions

• Osmotic solutions are those solutions which can cause

osmosis. They are three types : Hypotonic, Isotonic and
Hypertonic Solution
• Hypotonic - If the medium surrounding the cell has a
higher water concentration than the cell, meaning that
the outside solution is very dilute, the cell will gain water
by osmosis. Such a solution is known as a hypotonic
solution.
• Isotonic -If the medium has exactly the same water
concentration as the cell, there will be no net movement
of water across the cell membrane. Such a solution is
known as an isotonic solution.
• Hypertonic- If the medium has a lower concentration of
water than the cell , meaning that it is a very
concentrated solution, the cell will lose water by
osmosis. Such a solution is known as a hypertonic
solution.
What happens when plant cell and animal cell kept in
different types if solution?
Absorption of Water by Plant
Roots
Cortex

Root Xylem

Epidermis

Root Hair

osmosis
 Plasmolysis
• Take four peeled potato halves and scoop each one out to make potato cups. One
of these potato cups should be made from a boiled potato. Put each potato cup in
a trough containing water.
Now,
a) Keep cup A empty
b) Put one teaspoon sugar in cup B
c) Put one teaspoon salt in cup C
d) Put one teaspoon sugar in the boiled potato cup D.
• Keep these for two hours. Then observe the four potato cups and answer the
following:
i. Explain why water gathers in the hollowed portion of B and C.
ii. Why is potato A necessary for this experiment?
iii. Explain why water does not gather in the hollowed out portions of A and D.
CROSSWORD PUZZLE
ANSWERS OF CROSS WORD PUZZLE
 Worksheet-1
1.A cell placed in a solution swells up. Identify the kind of solution . State the reason for the change.
2. If an animal cell is kept in distilled water for 24 hours. State the change and cause for it.
3.Define Osmosis. What are different types of osmosis? Give examples of osmosis.
4.What would happen if the plasma membrane ruptures or breaks down?
5.When a cell (plant cell or animal cell) placed in the following solutions, some changes will be noticed.
Identify the changes.
a) Hypotonic solution
b) Isotonic solution
c) Hypertonic solution
7. If a de-shelled egg in a concentrated salt solution for 5 minutes then some observable changes will be
there .State the observation.
8.Put dried raisins in plain water and leave them for some time. Then place them in concentrated solution
of sugar or salt. What do you observe in both cases
9.Vegetable vendors regularly sprinkle water on the vegetables in their baskets. Give reason.
 Go through the videos on osmosis activity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpai-nR7up0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82DRSdSgCZ8

Activity For Students

Take different types food samples like raisins, carrot, urad dal,
cucumber, lemon juice, crystals of sugar, salt, egg etc to perform the
experiments for diffusion and osmosis in different types of solutions.
Continue to part-2