Life Processes Class 10 Notes Science Chapter 6
Life Processes Class 10 Notes Science Chapter 6
Science Chapter 6
Life Process Class 10 Science Notes
Nutrition in Plants and Animals – Life Processes Class
10 Notes
Nutrition: The process by which an organism takes food and utilizes it, is
called nutrition.
Need for Nutrition: Organisms need the energy to perform various activities.
The energy is supplied by the nutrients. Organisms need various raw materials
for growth and repair. These raw materials are provided by nutrients.
Nutrients: Materials which provide nutrition to organisms are called nutrients.
Carbohydrates, proteins and fats are the main nutrients and are called
macronutrients. Minerals and vitamins are required in small amounts and
hence are called micronutrients.
Modes of Nutrition
1. Autotrophic Nutrition.
2. Heterotrophic Nutrition.
The mode of nutrition in which an organism prepares its own food is called
autotrophic nutrition. Green plants and blue-green algae follow the autotrophic mode
of nutrition.
The organisms which carry out autotrophic nutrition are called autotrophs
(green plants).
Nutrition in Plants: Green plants prepare their own food. They make food in the
presence of sunlight. Sunlight provides energy’, carbon dioxide and water are the
raw materials and chloroplast is the site where food is made.
During this process, the solar energy is converted into chemical energy and
carbohydrates are formed.
Green leaves are the main site of photosynthesis.
The green portion of the plant contains a pigment chloroplast, chlorophyll
(green pigment).
The whole process of photosynthesis can be shown by the following equation:
Sunlight
Chlorophyll: Sunlight absorbed by chloroplast
CO2: Enters through stomata, and oxygen (O2) is released as a byproduct
through stomata on the leaf.
Water: Water + dissolved minerals like nitrogen, phosphorous etc., are taken
up by the roots from the soil.
How do raw materials for photosynthesis become available to the plant?
Water comes from the soil, through the xylem tissue in roots and stems.
Carbon dioxide comes in the leaves through stomata.
Stomata: These are tiny pores present in the epidermis of leaf or stem
through which gaseous exchange and transpiration occur.
Functions of stomata
The opening and closing of stomatal pores are controlled by the turgidity of
guard cells.
When guard cells uptake water from surrounding cells, they swell to become a
turgid body, which enlarges the pore in between (Stomatal Opening).
While, when water is released, they become flaccid shrinking to close the
pore (Stomatal Closing).
Significance of Photosynthesis:
Photosynthesis is the main way through which solar energy is made available
for different living beings.
Green plants are the main producers of food in the ecosystem. All other
organisms directly or indirectly depend on green plants for food.
The process of photosynthesis also helps in maintaining the balance of
carbon dioxide and oxygen in the air.
The mode of nutrition in which an organism takes food from another organism is
called heterotrophic nutrition. Organisms, other than green plants and blue-green
algae follow the heterotrophic mode of nutrition. Heterotrophic nutrition can be
further divided into three types, viz. saprophytic nutrition, holozoic nutrition, and
parasitic.
Nutrition in Amoeba
Amoeba is a unicellular animal which follows the holozoic mode of nutrition. The cell
membrane of amoeba keeps on protruding into pseudopodia. Amoeba surrounds a
food particle with pseudopodia and makes a food vacuole. The food vacuole
contains food particle and water. Digestive enzymes are secreted in the food vacuole
and digestion takes place. After that, digested food is absorbed from the food
vacuole. Finally, the food vacuole moves near the cell membrane and undigested
food is expelled out.
o Salivary gland
o Gastric Glands
o Liver
o Pancreas
The mouth has teeth and tongue. Salivary glands are also present in the
mouth.
The tongue has gustatory receptors which perceive the sense of taste.
The tongue helps in turning over the food so that saliva can be properly mixed
in it.
Teeth help in breaking down the food into smaller particles so that, swallowing
of food becomes easier.
There are four types of teeth in human beings. The incisor teeth are used for
cutting the food.
The canine teeth are used for tearing the food and for cracking hard
substances.
The premolars are used for the coarse grinding of food. The molars are used
for fine grinding of food.
Salivary glands secrete saliva: Saliva makes the food slippery which makes it easy
to swallow the food. Saliva also contains the enzyme salivary amylase or ptyalin.
Salivary amylase digests starch and converts it into sucrose, (maltose).
Stomach
Small Intestine: It is a highly coiled tube-like structure. The small intestine is longer
than the large intestine but its lumen is smaller than that of the large intestine. The
small intestine is divided into three parts, like duodenum, jejunum and ileum.
Liver: Liver is the largest organ in the human body. The liver manufactures bile,
which gets stored in the gall bladder. From the gall bladder, bile is released as and
when required.
No digestion takes place in the jejunum: The inner wall in the ileum is projected
into numerous finger-like structures, called villi. Villi increase the surface area inside
the ileum so that optimum absorption can take place. Moreover, villi also reduce the
lumen of the ileum so that food can stay for a longer duration in it, for optimum
absorption. Digested food is absorbed by villi.
Large Intestine:
Respiration: The process by which a living being utilises the food to get energy, is
called respiration. Respiration is an oxidation reaction in which carbohydrate is
oxidized to produce energy. Mitochondria is the site of respiration and the energy
released is stored in the form of ATP (adenosine triphosphate). ATP is stored in
mitochondria and is released as per need.
Steps of respiration:
Breaking down of glucose into pyruvate: This step happens in the
cytoplasm. Glucose molecule is broken down into pyruvic acid. Glucose
molecule is composed of 6 carbon atoms, while pyruvic acid is composed of 3
carbon atoms.
Fate of Pyruvic Acid: Further breaking down of pyruvic acid takes place in
mitochondria and the molecules formed depend on the type of respiration in a
particular organism. Respiration is of two types, viz. aerobic respiration and
anaerobic respiration.
Respiration involves
Exchange of gases:
The human respiratory system is composed of a pair of lungs. These are attached to
a system of tubes which open on the outside through the nostrils.
Following are the main structures in the human respiratory system:
1. Nostrils: There are two nostrils which converge to form a nasal passage. The
inner lining of the nostrils is lined by hair and remains wet due to mucus
secretion. The mucus and the hair help in filtering the dust particles out from
inhaled air. Further, air is warmed up when it enters the nasal passage.
2. Pharynx: It is a tube-like structure which continues after the nasal passage.
3. Larynx: This part comes after the pharynx. This is also called voice box.
4. Trachea: This is composed of rings of cartilage. Cartilaginous rings prevent
the collapse of trachea in the absence of air.
5. Bronchi: A pair of bronchi comes out from the trachea, with one bronchus
going to each lung.
6. Bronchioles: A bronchus divides into branches and sub-branches inside the
lung.
7. Alveoli: These are air sacs at the end of bronchioles. The alveolus is
composed of a very thin membrane and is the place where blood capillaries
open. This is alveolus, where the oxygen mixes with the blood and carbon
dioxide exits from the blood. The exchange of gases, in alveoli, takes place
due to the pressure differential.
It is so small that, it can fit inside an adult’s wrist. The heart is a pumping
organ which pumps the blood.
The human heart is composed of four chambers, viz. right atrium, right
ventricle, left ventricle and left atrium.
Systole: Contraction of cardiac muscles is called systole.
Diastole: Relaxation of cardiac muscles is called diastole.
2. Arteries:
These are thick-walled blood vessels which carry oxygenated blood from the
heart to different organs.
Pulmonary arteries are exceptions because they carry deoxygenated blood
from the heart to lungs, where oxygenation of blood takes place.
3. Veins:
These are thin-walled blood vessels which carry deoxygenated blood from
different organs to the heart, pulmonary veins are exceptions because they
carry oxygenated blood from lungs to the heart.
Valves are present in veins to prevent back flow of blood.
4. Capillaries: These are the blood vessels which have single-celled walls.
Blood: Blood is a connective tissue which plays the role of the carrier for various
substances in the body. Blood is composed of 1. Plasma 2. Blood cells 3. Platelets.
Lymph:
Lymph is similar to blood but RBCs are absent in lymph.
Lymph is formed from the fluid which leaks from blood capillaries and goes to
the intercellular space in the tissues. This fluid is collected through lymph
vessels and finally return to the blood capillaries.
Lymph also plays an important role in the immune system.
Lymph a yellowish fluids escape from the blood capillaries into the
intercellular spaces contain less proteins than blood.
Lymph flows from the tissues to the heart assisting in transportation and
destroying germs.
Double circulation: In the human heart, blood passes through the heart twice in
one cardiac cycle. This type of circulation is called double circulation. One complete
heartbeat in which all the chambers of the heart contract and relax once is called
cardiac cycle. The heart beats about 72 times per minute in a normal adult. In one
cardiac cycle, the heart pumps out 70 mL blood and thus, about 4900 mL blood in a
minute. Double circulation ensures complete segregation of oxygenated and
deoxygenated blood which is necessary for optimum energy production in warm-
blooded animals.
Ascent of sap: The upward movement of water and minerals from roots to different
plant parts is called ascent of sap. Many factors are at play in ascent of sap and it
takes place in many steps. They are explained as follows :
Root pressure: The walls of cells of root hairs are very thin. Water from soil
enters the root hairs because of osmosis. Root pressure is responsible for
movement of water up to the base of the stem.
Capillary action: A very fine tube is called capillaiy, water, or any liquid, rises
in the capillary because of physical forces and this phenomenon is called
capillary action. Water, in stem, rises up to some height because of capillaiy
action.
Adhesion-cohesion of water molecules: Water molecules make a continuous
column in the xylem because of forces of adhesion and cohesion among the
molecules.
Transpiration pull: Loss of water vapour through stomata and lenticels, in
plants, is called transpiration. Transpiration through stomata creates vacuum
which creates a suction, called transpiration pull. The transpiration pull sucks
the water column from the xylem tubes and thus, water is able to rise to great
heights in even the tallest plants.
Transport of food: Transport of food in plants happens because of utilization
of energy. Thus, unlike the transport through xylem, it is a form of active
transport. Moreover, the flow of substances through phloem takes place in both
directions, i.e., it is a two-way traffic in phloem.
Transpiration is the process of loss of water as vapour from aerial parts of the
plant.
Functions
Transport of food from leaves (food factory) to different parts of the plant is called
Translocation.
A pair of kidneys.
A urinary bladder.
A pair of the ureter.
A urethra.
Kidney:
Kidney is a bean-shaped organ which lies near the vertebral column in the
abdominal cavity.
The kidney is composed of many filtering units, called nephrons.
Nephron is called the functional unit of kidney.
Nephron
Urine produced in the kidneys passes through the ureters into the urinary bladder
where it is stored until it is released through the urethra.
The purpose of making urine is to filter out waste product from the blood i.e., urea
which is produced in the liver.
Excretion in Plants
Other wastes may be stored in leaves, bark etc. which fall off from the plant.
Plants excrete some waste into the soil around them.
Gums, resin → In old xylem
Some metabolic wastes in the form of crystals of calcium oxalates in the
leaves of colocasia and stem of Zamikand.
Mode of nutrition:
o Saprotrophic nutrition
o Parasitic nutrition
o Holozoic nutrition
Autotrophs: It is a mode of nutrition in which organisms can make their own food
from simple raw material. Example, all green plants.
Saprotrophic Nutrition: It is the process by which the organism feeds on dead and
decaying matter. Example, Rhizopus, Mucor, yeast.
Photosynthesis: It is the process by which green plants prepare their own food.
Water and Minerals: These are absorbed by the roots from the soil.
Carbon dioxide: Carbon dioxide enters the leaves through tiny pores called
stomata.
Sunlight: Energy from the sun is called solar energy.
Chlorophyll: Chlorophyll pigment helps leaves to capture solar energy.
Teeth: An organ which breaks down the complex food and helps in chewing the
food.
Milk teeth: The first set of 20 small teeth when the baby is 6-7 months old.
Permanent teeth: The second set of 32 larger teeth, when a child is 6-7
years old and comes by replacing milk teeth.
Tongue: A muscular organ attached to the floor of the buccal cavity which helps in
tasting and mixing the food with saliva for digestion.
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