Viðskipti og fyrirtækjamenning

Life Processes

• Life processes are the basic functions that living organisms perform to maintain their structure and carry out essential activities.
• These crucial activities include:
  • Nutrition (taking in food for energy and growth)
  • Respiration (releasing energy from food)
  • Transport (moving substances around the body)
  • Excretion (removing waste products)
  • Control and coordination (regulating body functions)
  • Growth (increasing in size or complexity)
  • Reproduction (producing new organisms)

Nutrition

• Nutrition is the process by which living organisms obtain and utilize food.
• There are two main types of nutrition:
  • Autotrophic nutrition (plants): Plants produce their own food through photosynthesis.
    • Raw materials used for photosynthesis are carbon dioxide and water.
    • Energy source: sunlight
    • Chlorophyll present in the chloroplasts of plant cells is vital for photosynthesis.
  • Heterotrophic nutrition (animals) : These organisms obtain food from other organisms.
    • Digest and absorb complex organic compounds.
    • Different modes of heterotrophic nutrition include:
      • Herbivores (eat plants)
      • Carnivores (eat animals)
      • Omnivores (eat plants and animals)

Respiration

• Respiration is the process of releasing energy from food substances.
• There are two main types of respiration:
  • Aerobic respiration (with oxygen): This process is more efficient, generating more energy than anaerobic respiration.
    • Glucose is broken down in the presence of oxygen to form carbon dioxide and water.
  • Anaerobic respiration (without oxygen): This process is less efficient.
    • Glucose is broken down into different products, like lactic acid (in animals) or ethanol and carbon dioxide (in yeast).

Transport

• Transport is the process of moving substances around the body.
• In plants, transport takes place via xylem (water and minerals) and phloem (food).
• In humans, blood transports oxygen, nutrients, hormones, and waste products around the body
  • Blood consists of plasma, red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets
  • Heart pumps blood throughout the cardiovascular system.

Excretion

• Excretion is the process of removing waste products from the body.
• In humans, the kidneys are the primary excretory organs.
  • Kidneys filter waste products from the blood and produce urine.
  • Other excretory organs include the lungs (excrete carbon dioxide) and skin (excrete sweat), liver (detoxifies substances).
• In plants, waste products like oxygen (during photosynthesis) and carbon dioxide (during respiration) are removed through their surfaces (through stomata).

Control and Coordination

• Control and coordination regulate bodily functions using hormones and the nervous system.

Growth

• Growth is an increase in size or complexity of an organism.
• Involves cellular division and differentiation.

Reproduction

• Reproduction is the process by which living organisms produce new organisms.