Class X Science - Life Processes

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering life processes including nutrition, respiration, transportation, and excretion in plants and humans.

Life Processes

The basic and essential activities performed by a living organism to sustain and maintain life.

Nutrition

The process by which a living organism obtain and utilise food for energy, growth, and development.

Autotrophic Nutrition

A mode of nutrition in which organisms prepare their own food using simple inorganic substances like carbon dioxide and water in the presence of sunlight and chlorophyll.

Chemosynthesis

A type of autotrophic nutrition in which organisms prepare their own food by utilizing chemical energy, such as in Purple sulfur bacteria.

Photosynthesis

A type of autotrophic nutrition in which organisms prepare their own food by utilizing light energy.

Heterotrophic Nutrition

A mode of nutrition in which organisms depend on other organisms for their food because they cannot prepare their own food.

Holozoic Nutrition

A type of heterotrophic nutrition where animals take in solid food, which is broken down inside the body, as seen in Amoeba.

Saprophytic Nutrition

A mode of nutrition where organisms feed on dead and decaying matter, such as Fungi and Mushrooms.

Parasitic Nutrition

A mode of nutrition where organisms live inside or outside another organism (host) and derive nutrition from it without killing it, such as Cuscuta, Ticks, and leeches.

Chloroplasts

Green pigmented cell organelles containing chlorophyll which serve as the site of photosynthesis.

Stomata

Tiny pores present on the surface of leaves responsible for the exchange of gases ($O_2$/$CO_2$) and transpiration.

Guard Cells

Cells that regulate the opening and closing of stomata; they swell when water enters to open the pore and shrink when water leaves to close it.

Pseudopodia

Finger-like projections used by Amoeba to surround food particles and form a food vacuole.

Cilia

Hair-like structures used by Paramecium to sweep food particles into the oral groove.

Salivary Amylase

An enzyme in saliva that breaks down starch into sugars in the mouth.

Peristalsis

The rhythmic contraction of muscles in the wall of the alimentary canal that pushes food down the Oesophagus.

Pepsin

A protein-digesting enzyme present in the gastric juice of the stomach that requires an acidic medium to function.

Bile Juice

A secretion from the liver stored in the gall bladder that makes food alkaline and emulsifies fats into small droplets.

Villi

Finger-like projections in the inner wall of the small intestine that increase surface area for the absorption of food.

Emulsification

The process of breaking down large fat globules into smaller ones, facilitated by bile.

Respiration

A biochemical process by which organisms break down glucose in their cells to release energy in the form of ATP.

Aerobic Respiration

The process of breaking down food in the presence of oxygen to release carbon dioxide, water, and 38 ATP.

Anaerobic Respiration

The breakdown of glucose in the absence of oxygen, resulting in ethanol or lactic acid and less energy.

Pyruvate

A 3-carbon molecule formed from the breakdown of a 6-carbon glucose molecule in the cytoplasm.

Lactic Acid

A 3-carbon molecule produced in muscle cells during a lack of oxygen, which can cause cramps and fatigue.

Alveoli

Tiny, balloon-like air sacs at the end of bronchioles that serve as the site of gas exchange in the lungs.

Hemoglobin

An iron-containing respiratory pigment in Red Blood Cells that transports oxygen from the lungs to body tissues.

Blood Plasma

A pale yellowish fluid medium that carries nutrients, waste products, and other substances.

Platelets

Blood components responsible for helping the blood to clot at the site of an injury to prevent leaks.

Arteries

Thick-walled, elastic blood vessels that carry oxygenated blood (except pulmonary arteries) away from the heart under high pressure.

Veins

Thin-walled blood vessels with valves that carry deoxygenated blood (except pulmonary veins) towards the heart.

Septum

A muscular wall that separates the chambers of the heart to prevent the mixing of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood.

Double Circulation

A process in humans where blood passes through the heart twice (Pulmonary and Systemic) during one complete circulation of the body.

Lymph

Also called tissue fluid, it is a colourless fluid that drains excess tissue fluid back into the blood and helps transport fats.

Xylem

Plant tissue that conducts water and minerals unidirectionally from roots to leaves.

Phloem

Plant tissue that conducts food (sucrose) bidirectionally from leaves to all other parts of the plant.

Translocation

The transport of soluble products of photosynthesis (food) through the phloem using energy from ATP.

Transpiration

The loss of water in the form of water vapour through stomata, which creates a suction pull to move water upwards.

Nephron

The structural and functional unit of the kidney responsible for filtering blood and forming urine.

Hemodialysis

A medical treatment (artificial kidney) used to filter and clean the blood of people experiencing kidney failure.