Class 11 Biology NCERT

The living world is rich in variety. Millions of plants and animals have been identified and described but a large number still remains unknown. The very range of organisms in terms of size, colour, habitat, physiological and morphological features make us seek the defining characteristics of living organisms.

Biological classification of plants and animals was first proposed by Aristotle on the basis of simple morphological characters. Linnaeus later classified all living organisms into two kingdoms - Plantae and Animalia. Whittaker proposed an elaborate five kingdom classification - Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae and Animalia.

Plant kingdom includes algae, bryophytes, pteridophytes, gymnosperms and angiosperms. Algae are chlorophyll-bearing simple, thalloid, autotrophic and largely aquatic organisms. Depending on the type of pigment possesed and the type of stored food, algae are classfied into three classes, namely Chlorophyceae, Phaeophyceae and Rhodophyceae.

The basic fundamental features such as level of organisation, symmetry, cell organisation, coelom, segmentation, notochord, etc., have enabled us to broadly classify the animal kingdom. Besides the fundamental features, there are many other distinctive characters which are specific for each phyla or class. Porifera includes multicellular animals which exhibit cellular level of organisation and have characteristic flagellated choanocytes.

Flowering plants exhibit enormous variation in shape, size, structure, mode of nutrition, life span, habit and habitat. They have well developed root and shoot systems. Root system is either tap root or fibrous. Generally, dicotyledonous plants have tap roots while monocotyledonous plants have fibrous roots. The roots in some plants get modified for storage of food, mechanical support and respiration.

Anatomically, a plant is made of different kinds of tissues. The plant tissues are broadly classified into meristematic (apical, lateral and intercalary) and permanent (simple and complex). Assimilation of food and its storage, transportation of water, minerals and photosynthates, and mechanical support are the main functions of tissues.

Cells, tissues, organs and organ systems split up the work in a way that ensures the survival of the body as a whole and exhibit division of labour. A tissue is defined as group of cells along with intercellular substances performing one or more functions in the body.

All organisms are made of cells or aggregates of cells. Cells vary in their shape, size and activities/functions. Based on the presence or absence of a membrane bound nucleus and other organelles, cells and hence organisms can be named as eukaryotic or prokaryotic.

Although there is a bewildering diversity of living organisms, their chemical composition and metabolic reactions appear to be remarkably similar. The elemental composition of living tissues and non-living matter appear also to be similar when analysed qualitatively. However, a closer examination reveals that the relative abundance of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen is higher in living systems when compared to inanimate matter.

According to the cell theory, cells arise from preexisting cells. The process by which this occurs is called cell division. Any sexually reproducing organism starts its life cycle from a single-celled zygote. Cell division does not stop with the formation of the mature organism but continues throughout its life cycle.

Green plants make their own food by photosynthesis. During this process carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is taken in by leaves through stomata and used for making carbohydrates, principally glucose and starch. Photosynthesis takes place only in the green parts of the plants, mainly the leaves. Within the leaves, the mesophyll cells have a large number of chloroplasts that are responsible for CO2 fixation.

Plants unlike animals have no special systems for breathing or gaseous exchange. Stomata and lenticels allow gaseous exchange by diffusion. Almost all living cells in a plant have their surfaces exposed to air.

Growth is one of the most conspicuous events in any living organism. It is an irreversible increase expressed in parameters such as size, area, length, height, volume, cell number etc. It conspicuously involves increased protoplasmic material. In plants, meristems are the sites of growth. Root and shoot apical meristems sometimes alongwith intercalary meristem, contribute to the elongation growth of plant axes.

Cells utilise oxygen for metabolism and produce energy along with substances like carbon dioxide which is harmful. Animals have evolved different mechanisms for the transport of oxygen to the cells and for the removal of carbon dioxide from there. We have a well developed respiratory system comprising two lungs and associated air passages to perform this function.

Vertebrates circulate blood, a fluid connective tissue, in their body, to transport essential substances to the cells and to carry waste substances from there. Another fluid, lymph (tissue fluid) is also used for the transport of certain substances. Blood comprises of a fluid matrix, plasma and formed elements. Red blood cells (RBCs, erythrocytes), white blood cells (WBCs, leucocytes) and platelets (thrombocytes) constitute the formed elements.

Many nitrogen containing substances, ions, CO2 , water, etc., that accumulate in the body have to be eliminated. Nature of nitrogenous wastes formed and their excretion vary among animals, mainly depending on the habitat (availability of water). Ammonia, urea and uric acid are the major nitrogenous wastes excreted.

Movement is an essential feature of all living beings. Protoplasmic streaming, ciliary movements, movements of fins, limbs, wings, etc., are some forms exhibited by animals. A voluntary movement which causes the animal to change its place, is called locomotion. Animals move generally in search of food, shelter, mate, breeding ground, better climate or to protect themselves.

The neural system coordinates and integrates functions as well as metabolic and homeostatic activities of all the organs. Neurons, the functional units of neural system are excitable cells due to a differential concentration gradient of ions across the membrane. The electrical potential difference across the resting neural membrane is called the ‘resting potential’. The nerve impulse is conducted along the axon membrane in the form of a wave of depolarisation and repolarisation.

There are special chemicals which act as hormones and provide chemical coordination, integration and regulation in the human body. These hormones regulate metabolism, growth and development of our organs, the endocrine glands or certain cells. The endocrine system is composed of hypothalamus, pituitary and pineal, thyroid, adrenal, pancreas, parathyroid, thymus and gonads (testis and ovary).