CIE-IGCSE-Biology Chapter 01: CLASSIFICATION
CHARACTERISTICS
2 ORGANISATION
& CLASSIFICATION
OF THE ORGANISM
OF LIVING ORGANISMS
YOUR NOTES
CONTENTS:
1.1 CHARACTERISTICS
1.2 CLASSIFICATION
1.3 FEATURES OF ORGANISMS
1.4 CLASSIFYING ANIMALS
1.5 CLASSIFYING PLANTS (EXTENDED ONLY)
1.6 VIRUSES (EXTENDED ONLY)
1.7 DICHOTOMOUS KEYS
VIEW EXAM QUESTIONS
1.1 CHARACTERISTICS
Characteristics of Living Organisms: Basics
• Movement: an action by an organism causing a change of position or place
• Respiration: the chemical reactions that break down nutrient molecules in living cells to
release energy
• Sensitivity: the ability to detect and respond to changes in the environment
• Growth: a permanent increase in size
• Reproduction: the processes that make more of the same kind of organism
• Excretion: the removal from organisms of toxic materials and substances in excess of
requirements
• Nutrition: the taking in of materials for energy, growth and development
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1.1 CHARACTERISTICS cont...
EXTENDED ONLY
Characteristics of Living Organisms
• Movement: an action by an organism or part of an organism causing a change of position
or place
• Respiration: the chemical reactions that break down nutrient molecules in living cells to
release energy for metabolism
• Sensitivity: the ability to detect or sense stimuli in the internal or external environment
and to make appropriate responses
• Growth: a permanent increase in size and dry mass by an increase in cell number or cell
size or both
• Reproduction: the processes that make more of the same kind of organism.
• Excretion: the removal from organisms of toxic materials, the waste products of
metabolism (chemical reactions in cells including respiration) and substances in excess of
requirements
• Nutrition: the taking in of materials for energy, growth and development; plants require
light, carbon dioxide, water and ions; animals need organic compounds, ions and usually
need water
EXAM TIP
Use this mnemonic to help you remember these processes:
MRS. H. GREN
Movement Respiration Sensitivity
Homeostasis
Growth and development Reproduction Excretion Nutrition
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1.2 CLASSIFICATION
How Organisms are Classified: Basics
• There are millions of species of organisms on Earth
• A species is defined as a group of organisms that can reproduce to produce fertile
offspring
• These species can be classified into groups by the features that they share e.g. all
mammals have bodies covered in hair, feed young from mammary glands and have
external ears (pinnas)
The Binomial System
• Organisms were first classified by a Swedish naturalist called Linnaeus in a way that
allows the subdivision of living organisms into smaller and more specialised groups
• The species in these groups have more and more features in common the more subdivided
they get
• He named organisms in Latin using the binomial system where the scientific name of an
organism is made up of two parts starting with:
• the genus (always given a capital letter)
• and followed by the species (starting with a lower case letter)
• When typed, binomial names are always in italics (which indicates they are Latin) e.g.
Homo sapiens
• The sequence of classification is: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species
Linnaeus’s system of classification
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1.2 CLASSIFICATION cont...
EXAM TIP
The order of classification can be remembered by using this mnemonic:
King Philip Came Over For Gran’s Spaghetti
EXTENDED ONLY
How Organisms are Classified
• Organisms share features because they originally descend from a common ancestor
• Example: all mammals have bodies covered in hair, feed young from mammary glands
and have external ears (pinnas)
• Originally, organisms were classified using morphology (the overall form and shape
of the organism, e.g. whether it had wings or legs) and anatomy (the detailed body
structure as determined by dissection)
• As technology advanced, microscopes, knowledge of biochemistry and eventually
DNA sequencing allowed us to classify organisms using a more scientific approach
• Studies of DNA sequences of different species show that the more similar the base
sequences in the DNA of two species, the more closely related those two species
are (and the more recent in time their common ancestor is)
• This means that the base sequences in a mammal’s DNA are more closely related to
all other mammals than to any other vertebrate groups
DNA sequences can show how closely related different species are
• The sequences above show that Brachinus armiger and Brachinus hirsutus are more
closely related than any other species in the list as their DNA sequences are identical
except for the last-but-one base (B.armiger has a T in that position whereas B.hirsutus
has an A)
• As DNA base sequences are used to code for amino acid sequences in proteins, the
similarities in amino acid sequences can also be used to determine how closely related
organisms are
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2 ORGANISATION
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1.3 FEATURES OF ORGANISMS
Common Cell Structures
• The cells of all living organisms contain the following:
• Cytoplasm
• Cell membrane
• DNA as genetic material (either found in the nucleus or free in the cytoplasm)
General cell features
A typical animal cell and plant cell
A typical prokaryotic cell
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Cell Composition & Structure
When viewed under an electron microscope (at a much higher magnification), all cells also
contain the following:
• Ribosomes for protein synthesis
• Enzymes for respiration (in many, but not all types of cells, found in mitochondria)
The Five Kingdoms
• Animals
• Plants
• Fungi
• Protoctists
• Prokaryotes
Main features of all animals:
• They are multicellular
• Their cells contain a nucleus but no cell walls or chloroplasts
• They feed on organic substances made by other living things
A typical animal cell
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1.3 FEATURES OF ORGANISMS cont...
Main features of all plants:
• They are multicellular
• Their cells contain a nucleus, chloroplasts and cellulose cell walls
• They all feed by photosynthesis
A typical plant cell
EXTENDED ONLY
Fungi, Protoctists & Prokaryotes
Main features of all fungi (e.g. moulds, mushrooms, yeast)
• usually multicellular
• cells have nuclei and cell walls not made from cellulose
• do not photosynthesize but feed by saprophytic (on dead or decaying material) or
parasitic (on live material) nutrition
A typical fungal cell
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1.3 FEATURES OF ORGANISMS cont...
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Main features of all Protoctists
(e.g. Amoeba, Paramecium, Plasmodium)
• Most are unicellular but some are multicellular
• All have a nucleus, some may have cell walls and chloroplasts
• This means that some protoctists photosynthesise and some feed on organic
substances made by other living things
Two examples of protoctist cells
Main features of all Prokaryotes
(bacteria, blue-green algae)
• They are often unicellular
• Their cells have cell walls (not made of cellulose) and cytoplasm but no nucleus
or mitochondria
A typical bacterial cell
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1.4 CLASSIFYING ANIMALS
Vertebrates
All vertebrates have a backbone. There are 5 classes of vertebrates:
CLASS MAIN FEATURES EXAMPLES
MAMMALS -- FUR/HAIR ON SKIN HORSE, DOG,
-- HAVE A PLACENTA SQUIRREL, HUMAN
-- YOUNG FEED ON MILK FROM MAMMARY GLANDS
-- EXTERNAL EARS (PINNA) VISIBLE
-- ENDOTHERMIC
BIRDS -- SKIN COVERED IN FEATHERS PARROT, BLUE TIT,
-- HAVE 2 LEGS AND 2 WINGS INSTEAD OF FORELIMBS EAGLE
-- LAY EGGS WITH HARD SHELLS ON LAND
-- HAVE A BEAK
-- ENDOTHERMIC
REPTILES -- DRY, FIXED SCALES ON SKIN SNAKE, TURTLE,
-- LAY EGGS WITH RUBBERY SHELLS ON LAND IGUANA
AMPHIBIANS -- SMOOTH, MOIST SKIN FROG, TOAD, NEWT
-- ADULTS USUALLY LIVE ON LAND (SO HAVE LUNGS),
LARVAE LIVE IN WATER (SO HAVE GILLS)
-- LAY EGGS WITHOUT SHELLS IN WATER
FISH -- LOOSE, WET SCALES ON SKIN FLOUNDER,
-- GILLS TO BREATHE GROUPER
-- LAY EGGS WITHOUT SHELLS IN WATER
Vertebrate classification
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1.4 CLASSIFYING ANIMALS cont...
Invertebrates
• One of the morphological characteristics used to classify invertebrates is whether they
have legs or not
• All invertebrates with jointed legs are part of the phylum Arthropods
• They are classified further into the following classes:
CLASS MAIN FEATURES EXAMPLES
MYRIAPODS --BODY CONSISTS OF MANY SEGMENTS CENTIPEDE
--EACH SEGMENT CONTAINS AT LEAST 1 PAIR OF
JOINTED LEGS
--1 PAIR OF ANTENNAE
INSECTS --3 PART BODY - HEAD, THORAX AND ABDOMEN BUTTERFLY
--3 PAIRS OF JOINTED LEGS
--2 PAIRS OF WINGS (1 OR BOTH PAIRS MAY BE
VESTIGIAL - MEANING NON-FUNCTIONAL AND
UNDEVELOPED)
--1 PAIR OF ANTENNAE
ARACHNIDS --2 PART BODY - CEPHALOTHORAX AND ABDOMEN SPIDER
--4 PAIRS OF JOINTED LEGS
--NO ANTENNAE
CRUSTACEANS --MORE THAN 4 PAIRS OF JOINTED LEGS CRAB
--CHALKY EXOSKELETON FORMED FROM CALCIUM
--BREATHE THROUGH GILLS
--2 PAIRS OF ANTENNAE
Arthropod classification
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1.5 CLASSIFYING PLANTS
EXTENDED ONLY
Ferns & Flowering Plants
• At least some parts of any plant are green, caused by the presence of the pigment
chlorophyll which absorbs energy from sunlight for the process of photosynthesis
• The plant kingdom includes organisms such as ferns and flowering plants
Ferns:
• Have leaves called fronds
• Do not produce flowers but instead reproduce by spores produced on the underside of
fronds
Ferns
Ferns reproduce by spores found in the underside of their fronds
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Flowering plants:
• Reproduce sexually by means of flowers and seeds
• Seeds are produced inside the ovary found at the base of the flower
• Can be divided into two groups – monocotyledons and dicotyledons
Wheat plants are monocotyledons
Sunflowers are dicotyledons
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How to distinguish between monocotyledons and dicotyledons:
1. FLOWERS
• Flowers from monocotyledons contain petals in multiples of 3
• Flowers from dicotyledons contain petals in multiples of 4 or 5
2. LEAVES
• Leaves from monocotyledons have parallel leaf veins
• Leaves from dicotyledons have reticulated leaf veins (meaning that they are all
interconnected and form a web like network throughout the leaf)
Comparing Monocots and Dicots
EXAM TIP
Identification of monocotyledons and dicotyledons comes up fairly frequently
in the multiple choice paper.
So it is worth learning the two differences between their flowers and leaves.
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1.6 VIRUSES
EXTENDED ONLY
Features of Viruses
• Viruses are not part of any classification system as they are not considered living things
• They do not carry out the seven life processes for themselves, instead they take over a
host cell’s metabolic pathways in order to make multiple copies of themselves
• Virus structure is simply genetic material (RNA or DNA) inside a protein coat
Structure of a typical virus
1.7 DICHOTOMOUS KEYS
Constructing & Using a Key
• Keys are used to identify organisms based on a series of questions about their features
• Dichotomous means ‘branching into two’ and it leads the user through to the name of the
organism by giving two descriptions at a time and asking them to choose
• Each choice leads the user onto another two descriptions
• In order to successfully navigate a key, you need to pick a single organism to start with
and follow the statements from the beginning until you find the name
• You then pick another organism and start at the beginning of the key again, repeating
until all organisms are named
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1.7 DICHOTOMOUS KEYS cont...
Example of a dichotomous key #1
Example of a Dichotomous Key #2
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1.7 DICHOTOMOUS KEYS cont...
KEY
1 (a) BODY IS COMPLETELY OR PARTLY COVERED IN A SHELL GO TO 2
(b) BODY IS NOT COMPLETELY OR PARTLY COVERED IN A SHELL LIMAX FLAVUS
2 (a) SHELL IS ATTACHED TO ROCKS BY THIN THREADS MYTILUS EDULIS
(b) SHELL IS NOT ATTACHED TO ROCKS BY THIN THREADS GO TO 3
3 (a) SHELL IS A SPIRE THAT COMES TO A POINT BUCCINUM UNDATUM
(b) SHELL IS NOT A SPIRE THAT COMES TO A POINT GO TO 4
4 (a) ANIMAL HAS TENTACLES NAUTILUS POMPILIUS
(b) ANIMAL HAS 2 TENTACLES PLANORBIS PLANORBIS
EXAM TIP
• Simple dichotomous keys almost always come up in the multiple choice paper, so
make sure you can use one.
• Very occasionally they show up in the theory paper
• When they do you almost always have to use one instead of constructing one:
so focus on this rather than spending hours learning to construct them yourself!
> NOW TRY SOME EXAM QUESTIONS
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EXAM QUESTIONS cont...
? QUESTION 1
The image below shows a house mouse, whose scientific name is Mus musculus.
Which genus does it belong to?
A Mammal
B musculus
C Mus
D Vertebrate
? QUESTION 2
The image below shows what occurs to a seed during and after germination, the
seed has been planted in well-watered soil.
Which characteristics of living things are demonstrated by this sequence?
A Nutrition and reproduction
B Reproduction and growth
C Nutrition and sensitivity
D Sensitivity and growth
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EXAM QUESTIONS cont...
? QUESTION 3
Which of the following would not be a characteristic seen in all living organisms?
A Reproduction
B Respiration
C Excretion
D Photosynthesis
? QUESTION 4
Four different descriptions about plants are given below.
Which statement would apply to a plant that is a dicotyledon?
A The veins in the leaf are reticulated.
B Each flower has six petals.
C The flowers are all wind-pollinated.
D The leaves have parallel veins.
? QUESTION 5
Some of the processes carried out by living organisms are illustrated in the
diagram below.
Note:
- Practice Exercise Questions
- Practice Assignment Questions
- Practice Past Papers Questions
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