Life Processes Lecture Notes Flashcards

Flashcards covering definitions and functions related to Life Processes including Nutrition, Respiration, Transportation, and Excretion as per the lecture transcript.

Life Processes

The basic and essential activities performed by a living organism to sustain and maintain life, such as nutrition, respiration, transportation, and excretion.

Nutrition

The process by which a living organism obtains and utilises food for energy, growth, and development.

Autotrophic Nutrition

A mode of nutrition in which organisms prepare their own food using simple inorganic substances like $CO_2$ 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 Purple sulfur bacteria.

Photosynthesis

A type of autotrophic nutrition in which organisms prepare their own food by utilizing light energy, occurring in green plants, Algae, and Cyanobacteria.

Heterotrophic Nutrition

A mode of nutrition where organisms depend on other organisms (plants or animals) for food because they cannot prepare their own.

Holozoic Nutrition

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

Saprophytic Nutrition

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

Parasitic Nutrition

A mode of nutrition where organisms live inside or outside a host and derive nutrition from it, such as Cuscuta, Ticks, or leech.

Chloroplasts

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

Starch

The form in which plants store glucose.

Stomata

Tiny pores present on the surface of leaves responsible for gaseous exchange and losing water through transpiration.

Guard Cells

Cells that regulate the opening and closing of stomata by swelling (turgid) or shrinking (flaccid).

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.

Peristalsis

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

Pepsin

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

Bile Juice

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

Villi

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

Respiration

The 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 glucose completely into $6CO_2$, $6H_2O$, and $38$ ATP in the presence of oxygen.

Anaerobic Respiration

The partial breakdown of glucose into alcohol or lactic acid in the absence of oxygen, releasing less energy.

Lactic Acid

A substance produced in muscle cells during a lack of oxygen that can cause fatigue and cramps.

Alveoli

Tiny, balloon-like air sacs in the lungs surrounded by blood capillaries where the exchange of $O_2$ and $CO_2$ occurs.

Hemoglobin

An iron-containing respiratory pigment in Red Blood Cells ($RBCs$) with a high affinity for oxygen.

Plasma

The pale yellowish fluid medium of blood that carries nutrients, waste products, and other substances.

Platelets

Components of blood that help in blood clotting to prevent leaks and maintain pressure.

Arteries

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

Veins

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

Capillaries

Extremely thin-walled vessels (one cell thick) that connect arteries and veins to allow the exchange of materials with cells.

Double Circulation

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

Lymph

A colourless tissue fluid escaped from capillaries into intercellular spaces that transports fats and contains infection-fighting lymphocytes.

Xylem

A plant tissue composed of dead elements that conducts water and minerals unidirectionally from roots to leaves.

Phloem

A plant tissue composed of living elements that translocates food bidirectionally from leaves to all parts of the plant.

Translocation

The process of transporting prepared food (mainly sucrose) through the phloem using energy from ATP.

Transpiration Pull

A suction force created by the evaporation of water from leaf surfaces that pulls water upward through the xylem.

Nephrons

The structural and functional units of the kidney responsible for the filtration of blood and formation of urine.

Bowman’s Capsule

A part of the nephron that receives the initial filtrate after blood is filtered in the glomerulus.

Hemodialysis

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