Biology 1 (Grade 10)
The study of life and classification, bacteria and viruses, protists and fungi, and invertebrates: sponges, cnidarians, worms, molluscs and arthropods.
The study of life and classification, bacteria and viruses, protists and fungi, and invertebrates: sponges, cnidarians, worms, molluscs and arthropods.
Units of the book
| Unit | What to know |
|---|---|
| The study of life | characteristics of life, the scientific method |
| Organizing life | history of classification, binomial nomenclature, the six kingdoms |
| Bacteria and viruses | bacterial shapes and reproduction, viruses and the lytic and lysogenic cycles, prions |
| Protists | animal-, plant- and fungus-like protists, malaria |
| Fungi | hyphae, fungal groups, lichens |
| Introduction to animals | symmetry, germ layers, sponges and cnidarians |
| Worms and molluscs | flat, round and segmented worms, molluscs |
| Arthropods | exoskeleton, insects, arachnids, crustaceans, metamorphosis |
| Ecology | ecosystems and food chains, relationships, succession, populations and biodiversity |
Facts to remember
- domain → kingdom → phylum → class → order → family → genus → species: classification levels
- 3 body parts, 6 legs: insects
- 2 body parts, 8 legs: arachnids
- cell walls of chitin: fungi
- cell walls of cellulose: plants
🧠 Memory kit: classification and kingdoms
| Topic | What to know |
|---|---|
| Levels of classification | domain → kingdom → phylum → class → order → family → genus → species. Going down, fewer organisms and more alike. |
| Binomial names (Linnaeus) | scientific name = genus (capital) + species (small letter), in italics or underlined: Homo sapiens. |
| Aristotle | first to classify living things: plants and animals (animals by where they live: land, water, air). |
| The three domains | Bacteria, Archaea, Eukarya. |
| The six kingdoms | eubacteria, archaebacteria, protists, fungi, plants, animals. |
| Characteristics of life | made of cells, organized, grow and develop, reproduce, respond to stimuli, keep homeostasis, use energy, adapt. |
| Scientific method | observe → question → hypothesis → experiment (independent, dependent, constants, control group) → analyse → conclude. |
🧠 Memory kit: bacteria, viruses, protists and fungi
| Topic | What to know |
|---|---|
| Bacterial shapes | spheres (cocci), rods (bacilli), spirals (spirilla). |
| Gram stain | Gram-positive → purple (thick peptidoglycan wall). Gram-negative → pink (thin wall plus an outer membrane). |
| Bacterial reproduction | binary fission (asexual), conjugation (swapping genes), endospores (surviving hard conditions). |
| Viruses | not a cell and reproduces only inside a host: a protein coat (capsid) and DNA or RNA. Antibiotics do not kill it. |
| Viral cycles | lytic cycle: copies at once and bursts the cell. Lysogenic cycle: its DNA joins the host DNA (provirus) and may wake later. |
| Prions | misfolded proteins that cause diseases such as mad cow disease. |
| Animal-like protists | amoeba → false feet, paramecium → cilia, trypanosoma → flagellum (sleeping sickness), plasmodium → malaria, carried by the Anopheles mosquito. |
| Plant- and fungus-like protists | algae (euglena, diatoms) photosynthesize. Slime moulds and water moulds feed on decaying matter. |
| Fungi | walls of chitin, heterotrophs (decomposers), bodies of threads (hyphae) forming a mycelium. Bread mould (zygomycetes), yeast (sac fungi), mushrooms (club fungi). |
| Fungal partnerships | lichen = fungus + alga or cyanobacterium. Mycorrhiza = fungus + plant roots. |
| Diseases by cause | bacterial: tuberculosis, cholera, strep throat, anthrax. Viral: flu, measles, common cold, AIDS, COVID. Protist: malaria, sleeping sickness. Fungal: athlete’s foot, ringworm. |
| Invertebrates | sponges (pores), cnidarians (jellyfish, stinging cells, radial symmetry), flatworms (tapeworm), roundworms, molluscs (snail), annelids (earthworm, segmented), arthropods. |
| Arthropods | insects: 3 body parts, 6 legs. Arachnids: 2 parts, 8 legs. Crustaceans (shrimp, crab): gills and two pairs of antennae. |
| Ecology | about 10% of the energy passes to each level of a food chain. Mutualism (+/+), commensalism (+/0), parasitism (+/−). Primary succession starts on bare rock (lichens first); secondary where soil remains. |
- Classification levels: “Dear King Philip Came Over For Good Soup” = domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species.
- Chitin and cellulose: “fungi = chitin (like an insect’s shell), plants = cellulose (like paper)”.
- Lytic vs lysogenic: “lytic lyses (bursts) now; lysogenic lies low”.
- Arthropod legs: insect 6, spider 8: “the spider has one extra pair”.
A way of memorizing that sticks
- Understand before you memorize: read “in plain words” for each formula and say out loud what it measures and why each quantity is multiplied or divided. A formula you understand takes a minute to learn.
- Active recall: cover the formula column and write it from memory, then check. Writing from memory beats rereading by far.
- Spaced repetition: review the same sheet after 1 day, 3 days, a week and two weeks. Four short reviews lock it in until test day.
- Your own formula page: write every formula of a book on one page by hand. If it does not fit, you are writing things you can derive, so cut them.
- Teach it: explain the formula to a friend, or to yourself in a mirror, in two sentences. If you cannot explain it, you do not know it yet.
- Use it at once: after each group, press “Try one” in the patterns below. Memory sets when you use it.
Question patterns
Scientists
Match each scientist to the discovery.
Classification levels and naming
Genus capitalized, species lower-case.
The six kingdoms
Cell wall and nutrition decide the kingdom.
Bacteria
Shape, reproduction and the Gram stain.
Viruses and prions
A virus is not a cell and multiplies only inside a living cell.
Protists
How it moves identifies the protist.
Fungi
Hyphae, mycelium and the fungal group.
Sponges, cnidarians, worms, molluscs
Identify each group by its key feature.
Symmetry and body cavities
Radial, bilateral, acoelomate, coelomate.
Arthropods
Count body parts, legs and antennae.
Worm diseases and how they spread
| Worm | How it spreads or what it causes |
|---|---|
| Schistosoma | swimming in contaminated water (snails) |
| tapeworm | undercooked beef |
| hookworm | walking barefoot |
| Trichinella | undercooked pork |
| Ascaris | unwashed vegetables |
| pinworm | children, toys in the mouth |
| filarial worm | mosquitoes → elephantiasis |
Relationships in ecosystems
| Relationship | First partner | Second partner |
|---|---|---|
| mutualism | benefits | benefits |
| commensalism | benefits | unaffected |
| parasitism | benefits | harmed |
| predation | predator benefits | prey dies |
More patterns (figures and calculations)
Viral and bacterial diseases
Viral: AIDS, flu, measles, chickenpox, polio, rabies. Bacterial: TB, cholera, tetanus, typhoid, whooping cough.