Complete set of Notes for each specification point (1.1 - 1.4) for Topic 1 (The Nature and Variety of Living Organisms) of the GCSE Biology Edexcel IGCSE Exam Board. Suitable for 2024 or 2025 exams. Written by a GCSE Student, using lots of resources to create accurate notes to aid exams.
1. THE NATURE AND VARIETY OF LIVING ORGANISMS
A – Characteristics of living organisms:
1.1 – understand how living organisms share the following characteristics: MRS C GREN
o Movement – can move o Reproduction - can have offspring, either
o Respiration – can respire either aerobically or sexually or asexually
anaerobically o Excretion – can excrete their waste
o Sensitivity – can sense stimuli and react to them o Nutrition – can absorb nutrients, to grow
o Control – can control their internal conditions o If something doesn’t carry out all of these life
o Growth – can grow and develop processes, it is either dead or non-living
B – Variety of living organisms:
1.2 - describe the common features shown by eukaryotic organisms: plants, animals, fungi and protoctists
o There are 5 kingdoms: plants, animals, fungi, protoctists and prokaryotes (the first 4 - grouped as eukaryotes)
Plants: Fungi:
o Multicellular o Multicellular but some are single-celled
o Has a nucleus and cell walls made of cellulose o Contain a nucleus
o Contains chloroplasts, to carry out photosynthesis o Have cell walls made of chitin
o Feed by photosynthesis o Feed off each other and off rotting things around them
o Store carbohydrates as starch or sucrose o Store carbohydrates as glycogen
o Examples – flowering ants, maize, peas, beans Animals:
Protocists: o Multicellular
o Usually unicellular o Do not have cell walls, but contains a nucleus
o Contain a nucleus o Feed on substances made by other living things
o Some have features, such as cell walls and o Store carbohydrates as glycogen
chloroplasts o Have a nervous coordination
o Some photosynthesise, but most feed on o Able to move from place to place
substances made by other living things o Examples – mammals, insects
1.3 – describe the common features shown by prokaryotic organisms such as bacteria
Bacteria:
o Unicellular and very small o Some carry out photosynthesis
o Most eat off other organisms o Have plasmids, cell wall and cell membrane
o Lack of nucleus but circular chromosomes of DNA
1.4 – understand the term pathogen and that pathogens may include fungi, bacteria, protoctists or
viruses
o Pathogens – disease-causing organisms and can be fungi, bacteria, protoctists or viruses
o Not all species within these groups (apart from the viruses) are pathogens, as many bacteria, fungi and protoctists
are harmless and do not cause disease
o All viruses are pathogenic as they can only exist by living inside the living cells of other organisms
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