Life Processes & Nutrition - Lecture Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms related to life processes, modes of nutrition, and the steps of photosynthesis as discussed in the lecture notes.

Life Processes

Basic and essential functions carried out by living organisms to maintain life.

Autotrophic Nutrition

Mode of nutrition in which an organism synthesizes its own food from simple inorganic substances (e.g., green plants, autotrophic bacteria).

Heterotrophic Nutrition

Mode of nutrition in which organisms obtain ready-made organic food because they cannot synthesize it from inorganic materials.

Holozoic Nutrition

Type of heterotrophic nutrition where organisms ingest and internally digest complex organic substances (e.g., humans, cats, dogs).

Saprophytic Nutrition

Type of heterotrophic nutrition in which organisms obtain nutrients from dead and decaying matter (e.g., fungi, mold on bread).

Parasitic Nutrition

Type of heterotrophic nutrition where an organism derives food from a living host, often harming it (e.g., Cuscuta, leech, lice).

Photosynthesis

Process by which green plants use sunlight, water, carbon dioxide, and chlorophyll to produce carbohydrates and release oxygen.

Chlorophyll

Green pigment in plants that absorbs light energy required for photosynthesis.

Water Splitting (Photolysis)

Photosynthetic step where water molecules are split into hydrogen and oxygen using light energy.

Chemical Energy (in Photosynthesis)

Energy stored in chemical bonds of carbohydrates, converted from absorbed light energy during photosynthesis.