Class 10 Science - Life Processes Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and definitions across life processes including nutrition, respiration, transportation, and excretion from the lecture transcript.

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 obtains and utilizes food to provide energy, growth, and development.

Autotrophic Nutrition

A mode of nutrition in which organisms prepare their own food using simple inorganic substances like carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) and water ($H_2O$) in the presence of sunlight and chlorophyll.

Chemosynthesis

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

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 directly or indirectly on other organisms (plants or animals) for food because they cannot synthesize their own.

Holozoic Nutrition

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

Saprophytic Nutrition

A type of heterotrophic nutrition in which organisms feed on dead and decaying organic matter.

Parasitic Nutrition

A type of heterotrophic nutrition where an organism lives inside or outside another host organism and derives nutrition from it without killing it.

Chloroplasts

Green pigmented cell organelles containing chlorophyll that serve as the main site of photosynthesis in plant cells.

Stomata

Tiny pores present on the surface of leaves that facilitate gaseous exchange ($O_2$ and $CO_2$) and transpiration.

Guard Cells

Specialized kidney-shaped cells that regulate the opening and closing of stomatal pores by swelling when water enters and shrinking when water leaves.

Pseudopodia

Temporary finger-like extensions of the cell surface used by Amoeba for capturing food and locomotion.

Cilia

Hair-like structures present on the body surface of Paramecium used to sweep food particles through the oral groove into the gullet.

Alimentary Canal

A continuous muscular tube extending from the mouth to the anus that functions in digesting and absorbing food.

Salivary Amylase

An enzyme secreted by salivary glands in the mouth that breaks down complex starch into simple sugars.

Peristalsis

The rhythmic contraction and relaxation of muscles in the wall of the alimentary canal that moves food along the digestive tract.

Pepsin

A protein-digesting enzyme secreted in the stomach that breaks down proteins into simpler peptides in an acidic medium.

Bile Juice

A fluid secreted by the liver and stored in the gall bladder that emulsifies fats and makes acidic food alkaline for pancreatic enzymes.

Villi

Finger-like projections on the inner lining of the small intestine that increase the surface area for efficient absorption of digested food.

Breathing

A physical, extracellular process involving the mechanical inhalation of fresh air and exhalation of foul air without enzyme participation or energy release.

Respiration

A biochemical, intracellular process occurring in cells where food is broken down using enzymes to release energy in the form of $ATP$.

Aerobic Respiration

The breakdown of glucose in the presence of oxygen to form carbon dioxide ($CO_2$), water ($H_2O$), and a large amount of energy ($38\,ATP$).

Anaerobic Respiration

The incomplete breakdown of glucose in the absence or lack of oxygen to produce ethanol or lactic acid along with a smaller amount of energy.

Alveoli

Tiny balloon-like air sacs at the end of bronchioles surrounded by blood capillaries where gaseous exchange occurs in the lungs.

Hemoglobin

An iron-containing respiratory pigment present in red blood cells (RBCs) that binds to oxygen for transport throughout the body.

Arteries

Thick-walled and elastic blood vessels that transport oxygenated blood (except the pulmonary artery) away from the heart at high pressure.

Veins

Thin-walled blood vessels containing valves that carry deoxygenated blood (except the pulmonary vein) back toward the heart.

Capillaries

Microscopic, one-cell-thick vessels connecting arteries and veins where the exchange of oxygen, nutrients, and waste products occurs with tissues.

Double Circulation

A circulatory pathway in which blood passes through the heart twice during one complete cycle through the body, divided into pulmonary and systemic pathways.

Lymph

A colourless fluid containing lymphocytes that drains excess tissue fluid from extracellular spaces back into the venous system and transports digested fats.

Xylem

Vascular plant tissue made mainly of non-living cells that transports water and minerals unidirectionally from roots to leaves.

Phloem

Vascular plant tissue made mainly of living cells that transports prepared food (sucrose) bidirectionally from leaves to all parts of the plant.

Translocation

The active transport of soluble products of photosynthesis through the phloem requiring energy in the form of $ATP$.

Excretion

The biological process of removing harmful nitrogenous metabolic wastes (such as urea and uric acid) from the body.

Nephron

The basic structural and functional filtration unit of the kidney responsible for filtering blood to produce urine.

Hemodialysis

A medical procedure using an artificial kidney machine to filter waste products, excess salts, and extra water from the blood in cases of kidney failure.