Life Science

Atom – the smallest particle of an element

Molecule – two or more atoms bonded together
Cell – the smallest unit of life
Tissue – a group of similar cells
Organ – a group of tissues working together
Organ system – a group of organs working together
Organism – a complete living thing
Population – a group of the same species
Community – all the species in an area
Ecosystem – all the biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) things in an
area
Biosphere – the Earth
Two (2) major kinds of cells
CELL THEORY
• Cell is the basic structure of life
• All cells arise from preexisting cells
• Cells function as unit in all living
things
PROKARYOTE – a type of cell that
lacks a membrane-enclosed
nucleus and membrane-bound
organelles.

EUKARYOTE – a type of cell

that consists of a
membrane-bound nucleus,
and a cytoplasm wherein it
holds all the organelles
inside the cell
 Life processes
Metabolism – the totality of life. It
is the process by which
your body converts what you eat
and drink into energy.  in cellular content or in the
Homeostasis – an inherent ability
to maintain a dynamic equilibrium
between the life processes
occurring inside an organism and
the changes happening to the
surroundings.
• Growth – all organisms are
observed to increase in size. This
growth is related to an increase
number of cells.
• Reproduction – a process by
which organisms produce
organisms of the same kind.
 Two types of Reproduction

Asexual reproduction – involves the hereditary

material of one parent only, producing an offspring
or two daughter cells.

Sexual reproduction – involves two

parents who complementarily
contribute to the hereditary material of
the offspring.
• Nutrition – a process by which an
organism require energy to sustain
their life processes by making or
getting their food. Organism may
either be:
Autotrophs – can synthesize their
own food.
 Heterotrophs – require ingestion
of materials to be utilized as food.
• Transport - this movement allows
usable materials to be taken in
(absorption) and be distributed
throughout (circulated) the
organism.
• Synthesis – this process allows for
small, simple substances to be
chemically combined to form
more complex molecules that the
organism can utilize.
• Coordination – various activities
occurring in organisms must be
coordinated throughout the body.
• Excretion – all cellular activities
produce waste products that the
cell needs to remove to avoid
complications with toxicity.
• Immunity - it defend the body
against disease-causing
pathogens.
Conserving and Transforming Energy
• The energy that is maintained
and transformed in living
systems is provided and
sustained mainly by the sun.
• Plants capture sunlight and
utilize it to synthesize energy-
rich molecules by transforming
light energy into chemical
potential energy through the
process of photosynthesis.
Organisms can be either consumers or producers
Producers – can synthesize their
own food through the process of
photosynthesis. Organisms can
also be called autotrophs. • Decomposer –a group of
organisms involved in the energy
Examples: Terrestrial plants such flow in the environment that
as trees, shrubs, vines, and herbs. allows the recycling of nutrients
Consumers – are heterotrophs back into the environment.
because of the inability to
synthesize food from the
environment, they depend on
other living organisms.
Food Chain and Food Web
FOOD WEB
• FOOD CHAIN - a specific path
where both energy and inorganic
nutrients flow from a producer
to many levels of consumers.
Primary consumer (herbivores)
Secondary consumer (carnivores)
Tertiary consumer (carnivore to
carnivore)
Type of food chain
DETRITUS – DERIVED FOOD
CHAIN
- Focused mainly on the
decomposition of the detritus
produced by both producers and
consumers.
 Detritivores – organisms that
feed on dead plants and animals.
• FOOD WEB - Many
interconnected food chains
make up a food web.
- shows a realistic
representation of the energy
flow through different
organisms in an ecosystem.
- It shows the interactions
between different organisms
in an ecosystem.
PHOTOSYNTHESIS and
RESPIRATION
Photosynthesis – sunlight
+ water and carbon
dioxide = glucose
In chemical equation:
Energy (sunlight) + 6H2O + 6CO2
C6H12O6 + 6O2
Respiration – the reverse
reaction of photosynthesis.
C6H12O6 + 6O2 6H2O + 6CO2 + The rate of cycling of both
energy (ATP) photosynthesis and
respiration determines the
Two types of Respiration balance of oxygen and carbon
 Aerobic respiration – utilizes dioxide on earth.
oxygen as an electron acceptor
which results to 36 ATPs per unit
 Anaerobic respiration – does
not utilizes oxygen. The reaction
releases less ATPs.
Reproductive Structures of Flowering
Plants
 Parts and Function
• Sepals – protection for the flower in bud and support for the petals
when in bloom.
• Petals - modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts
of flowers. All of the petals of a flower are called a corolla, which
attract pollinators.
• Stamens – male reproductive part of a flower and are found inside
the petals.
• Pistil – female reproductive organ. Composed of a single carpel. Each
pistil has 3 section: Stigma – acts as the receptacle for pollen grains,
Style – where the pollen tube develops, Ovary – contains one or more
ovules, the female gametes.
Pollination – pollen grains must reach the stigma of the
pistil. The goal is to create offspring for the next generation.
Types of pollination
 Self – pollination – a reproductive process that occurs when
pollination is done within the same flower or different flowers of the
same individual plant.
 Cross – pollination – involves another individual of the same species.
Animal reproduction – asexual and sexual reproduction
Forms of Asexual Reproduction
• Binary fission – the body of a unicellular parent divides into two equal
part by mitosis and produces an offspring.
• Multiple fission – involves repeated division of the nucleus which
ends up producing many daughter cells.
• Budding – an unequal division of an organism’s body where a new
individual arises as an outgrowth from its parents that then detaches
and becomes a separate individual. Cnidarians reproduce through
budding.
• Gemmule formation – happens when an aggregation of cells
surrounded by a resistant capsule is used to form a new individual.
• Fragmentation - happens when an animal breaks into two or more
parts, with each fragment capable of forming into a new individual.

Fragmentation of Starfish
Sexual Reproduction – process of reproduction involving
use of gametes.
Major Types of Sexual Reproduction
• Biparental reproduction
• Hermaphroditism
• Parthenogenesis
Biparental reproduction
• most common form of sexual reproduction
• production of offspring upon the union of gametes from genetically
distinct parents.
• Gametes – develop in sexually distinct organs called gonads.
• Male gonads is called testis (plural: testes)
• Female gonad is called ovary, which produces ova (singular: ovum)
or egg cells.

Hermaphroditism
- is a normal condition, enabling a form of sexual reproduction in which
either partner can act as the "female" or "male."
Parthenogenesis
- Means “Virgin origin” or “Virgin birth”
- a development of an offspring from an unfertilized egg because male
and female nuclei failed to unite during fertilization.
Genes
- Comes from the Greek term descent that was coined in 1909 by
Wilhelm Johannsen, a Danish botanist, for hereditary factors as
described by Gregor Mendel, father of modern genetics.
- considered as a unit that contains genetic information.
- an organized unit of DNA to be transcribe into RNA.
- RNAs are responsible for encoding products essential for specifying
the basic functions and properties of cells.
- responsible for producing different phenotypes.
Gene Composition
- The storage of genetic information relies on nucleic acids: DNA and
RNA – basis of inheritance.
- DNA is considered as the genetic material while RNA is used in
protein synthesis.
- DNA and RNA are both polymers made of nucleotide.
- the process by which DNA passed on from cell to cell, dictates
phenotypic characteristics, these can be explained through the
process of replication, transcription, and translation.
Replication
• happens when cells undergo mitotic division, when each daughter cell
must have an exact copy of the DNA of the parent cell.
Transcription
• process by which DNA is copied (transcribed) to mRNA, which carries
the information needed for protein synthesis.
Translation
• final stage in information transfer occur in ribosomes and its called
translation
• The process by which mRNA directs protein synthesis with the
assistance of tRNA.