THE LIVING WORLD:

CHAPTER AT A GLANCE

PROPERTIES OF LIVING ORGANISMS

Growth: Increase in number & mass of cells by cell division.
Reproduction: Production of progeny having features similar to those of parents.
Metabolism: All biochemical reactions taking place inside a living system.
Cellular organization: Organisms are made up of one or more cells.
Consciousness: Ability of organisms to sense their environment and respond to environmental stimuli.

DIVERSITY IN THE LIVING WORLD

Taxonomy: Study of identification, classification & nomenclature of organisms.

Basic processes of taxonomy:

Binomial nomenclature:

Botanical names are based on International Code for Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN).
Zoological names are based on International Code for Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN).

Universal rules of Binomial nomenclature:

Scientific names are in Latin or Latinised and written in italics. When handwritten, they are underlined.
The first word is genus name (Generic name) and second word is the species name (specific epithet).
The Genus name starts with capital letter and the species name starts with small letter. E.g. Homo sapiens- Homo is the genus name and sapiens is the species name.
Name of the author (in abbreviated form) appears at the end of the biological name. E.g., Mangifera indica Linn. (Linn. = Linnaeus).

TAXONOMIC CATEGORIES

Herbarium: Store house of dried plants on sheets.
Botanical gardens: Collection of living plants.
Museum: Collection of dead plants and animals.
Zoological Parks (Zoos): Live wild animals.
Key: Analytical method of identification of organisms.
Flora: Account of plant species of a given area.
Manuals: Information for identification of names of species found in an area.
Monographs: Information on any one taxon.