BIOLOGY IGCSE

CHARACTERISTICS AND CLASSIFICATION OF

LIVING ORGANISMS
CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING ORGANISMS
• Movement: action by an organism or part of an organism causing a change of position or place.
• Respiration: the chemical reactions that break down nutrient molecules in living cells to release
energy.
• Sensitivity: ability to detect or sense changes in the environment (stimuli) and to make responses.
• Growth: permanent increase in size and dry mass by an increase in cell number or cell size or both.
• Reproduction: processes that make more of the same kind of organism.
• Excretion: removal from organisms of toxic materials, the waste products of metabolism (chemical
reactions in cells including respiration) and substances in excess of requirements.
• Nutrition: taking in of nutrients which are organic substances and mineral ions, containing raw
materials or energy for growth and tissue repair, absorbing and assimilating them.
 EXAM TIP

MRS. GREN
• Movement
• Respiration
• Sensitivity
• Growth and development
• Reproduction
• Excretion
• Nutrition
CONCEPT & USES OF
CLASSIFICATION SYSTEMS
HOW ORGANISMS ARE CLASSIFIED

• There are millions of species of organisms on Earth

• A species is defined as a group of organisms that
can reproduce to produce fertile offspring
• These species can be classified into groups by the features that
they share e.g. all mammals have bodies covered in hair, feed
young from mammary glands and have external ears (pinnas)
 THE BINOMIAL SYSTEM

• Organisms were first classified by a Swedish naturalist called Linnaeus in a way that allows the
subdivision of living organisms into smaller and more specialised groups
• The species in these groups have more and more features in common the more subdivided they
get
• He named organisms in Latin using the binomial system where the scientific name of an
organism is made up of two parts starting with the genus (always given a capital letter) and
followed by the species (starting with a lower case letter)
• When typed binomial names are always in italics (which indicates they are Latin) e.g. Homo
sapiens
• The sequence of classification is: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species
EXAM TIP

The order of classification can be remembered by using a

mnemonic like:
KING PHILIP CAME OVER FOR GRAN’S
SPAGHETTI
DICHOTOMOUS
KEYS
DICHOTOMOUS KEYS

• Keys are used to identify organisms based on a series of questions about their
features
• Dichotomous means ‘branching into two’ and it leads the user through to the name of
the organism by giving two descriptions at a time and asking them to choose
• Each choice leads the user onto another two descriptions
• In order to successfully navigate a key, you need to pick a single organism to start
with and follow the statements from the beginning until you find the name
• You then pick another organism and start at the beginning of the key again,
repeating until all organisms are named
EXAM TIP

• Simple dichotomous keys almost always come up in the

multiple choice paper, so make sure you can use one . Very
occasionally they show up in the theory paper, and when they
do you almost always have to use one instead of constructing
one, so focus on this rather than spending hours learning to
construct them yourself!
REFLECTING EVOLUTIONARY
RELATIONSHIPS: EXTENDED
• Classification systems aim to reflect evolutionary relationships between
species
• Traditional biological classification systems grouped organisms based on
the features that they shared

• If organisms shared more similar features then they were said to be more closely
related
REFLECTING EVOLUTIONARY
RELATIONSHIPS: EXTENDED

• In the past, scientists have encountered many difficulties when

trying to determine the evolutionary relationships of species
based on this method
• Using the physical features of species (such as colour/shape/size)
has many limitations and can often lead to the wrong
classification of species
 USING DNA TO CLASSIFY ORGANISMS:
EXTENDED
• Organisms share features because they originally descend from a common ancestor
• Example: all mammals have bodies covered in hair, feed young from mammary glands and have
external ears (pinnas)
• Originally, organisms were classified using morphology (the overall form and shape of the
organism, e.g. whether it had wings or legs) and anatomy (the detailed body structure as
determined by dissection)
• As technology advanced, microscopes, knowledge of biochemistry and eventually DNA
sequencing allowed us to classify organisms using a more scientific approach
• Studies of DNA sequences of different species show that the more similar the base sequences in
the DNA of two species, the more closely related those two species are (and the more recent in
time their common ancestor is)
• This means that the base sequences in a mammal’s DNA are more closely related to all other
• The sequences above show that Brachinus armiger and Brachinus hirsutus
are more closely related than any other species in the list as their DNA
sequences are identical except for the last but one base (B.armiger has a T
in that position whereas B.hirsutus has an A)
• As DNA base sequences are used to code for amino acid sequences in
proteins, the similarities in amino acid sequences can also be used to
determine how closely related organisms are.
FEATURES OF
ORGANISMS
• The first division of living things in the classification system is to
put them into one of five kingdoms. They are:
• Animals
• Plants
• Fungi
• Protoctists
• Prokaryotes
• Main features of all animals:
• they are multicellular
• their cells contain a nucleus but no cell walls or chloroplasts
• they feed on organic substances made by other living things
• Main features of all plants:
• they are multicellular
• their cells contain a nucleus, chloroplasts and cellulose cell
walls
• they all feed by photosynthesis
ANIMAL KINGDOM
• Several main features are used to place organisms into groups
within the animal kingdom
VERTEBRATES

• All vertebrates have a backbone

• There are 5 classes of vertebrates
INVERTEBRATES

• Invertebrates do not possess a backbone

• One of the morphological characteristics used to classify
invertebrates is whether they have legs or not
• All invertebrates with jointed legs are part of the
phylum Arthropods
• They are classified further into the following classes:
• Main features of all fungi (e.g. moulds, mushrooms, yeast)
• usually multicellular
• cells have nuclei and cell walls not made from cellulose
• do not photosynthesize but feed by saprophytic (on dead or decaying
material) or parasitic (on live material) nutrition
• Main features of all Protoctists (e.g. Amoeba, Paramecium,
Plasmodium)
• most are unicellular but some are multicellular
• all have a nucleus, some may have cell walls and
chloroplasts
• meaning some protoctists photosynthesise and some feed
on organic substances made by other living things
• Main features of all Prokaryotes (bacteria, blue-
green algae)
• often unicellular
• cells have cell walls (not made of cellulose)
and cytoplasm but no nucleus or mitochondria
•
PLANT KINGDOM

• At least some parts of any plant are green, caused by the

presence of the pigment chlorophyll which absorbs energy from
sunlight for the process of photosynthesis
• The plant kingdom includes organisms such as ferns and
flowering plants
FERNS

• Have leaves called fronds

• Do not produce flowers but instead reproduce by
spores produced on the underside of fronds
FLOWERING PLANTS

• Reproduce sexually by means of flowers and seeds

• Seeds are produced inside the ovary found at the base of the
flower
• Can be divided into two groups
– monocotyledons and dicotyledons
 HOW DO YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN
MONOCOTYLEDONS AND DICOTYLEDONS?
• 1) Flowers
• Flowers from monocotyledons contain petals in multiples of 3
• Flowers from dicotyledons contain petals in multiples of 4 or 5
• 2) Leaves
• Leaves from monocotyledons have parallel leaf veins
• Leaves from dicotyledons have reticulated leaf veins (meaning that they are all
interconnected and form a web-like network throughout the leaf)
EXAM TIP

• Identification of monocotyledons and

dicotyledons comes up fairly frequently in the
multiple choice paper and so it is worth learning
the two differences between their flowers and
leaves.
 VIRUSES

• Viruses are not part of any classification system as they are not considered living
things
• They do not carry out the seven life processes for themselves, instead they take
over a host cell’s metabolic pathways in order to make multiple copies of
themselves
• Virus structure is simply genetic material (RNA or DNA) inside a protein coat
ORGANISATION OF
THE ORGANISM
WHAT ARE CELLS

• A cell is the basic unit of life, from which larger

structures such as tissues and organs are made.
 ANIMAL & PLANT CELLS

• Animals:
• he main features of animals:They are multicellular
• Their cells contain a nucleus with a distinct membrane
• Their cells do not have cellulose cell walls
• Their cells do not contain chloroplasts (so they are unable to carry out photosynthesis)
• They feed on organic substances made by other living things
• They often store carbohydrates as glycogen
• They usually have nervous coordination
• They are able to move from place to place
 PLANTS

• The main features of plants:

• They are multicellular
• Their cells contain a nucleus with a distinct membrane
• Their cells have cell walls made out of cellulose
• Their cells contain chloroplasts (so they can carry out photosynthesis)
• They feed by photosynthesis
• They store carbohydrates as starch or sucrose
• They do not have nervous coordination
BACTERIA CELLS
• Bacteria, which have a wide variety of shapes and sizes, all share the following
biological characteristics:
• They are microscopic single-celled organisms
• Possess a cell wall (made of peptidoglycan, not cellulose), cell
membrane, cytoplasm and ribosomes
• Lack a nucleus but contain a circular chromosome of DNA that floats in the
cytoplasm
• Plasmids are sometimes present - these are small rings of DNA (also floating in the
cytoplasm) that contain extra genes to those found in the chromosomal DNA
• They lack mitochondria, chloroplasts and other membrane-bound
organelles found in animal and plant cells
• Some bacteria also have a flagellum (singular) or several flagella (plural).
These are long, thin, whip-like tails attached to bacteria that allow them
to move
• Examples of bacteria include:
• Lactobacillus (a rod-shaped bacterium used in the production of yoghurt
from milk)
• Pneumococcus (a spherical bacterium that acts as the pathogen causing
pneumonia)
 IDENTIFYING CELL STRUCTURES &
FUNCTION
• Within the cytoplasm, the following organelles are visible in almost all cells except prokaryotes
when looking at higher magnification (ie using an electron microscope):
• Mitochondria (singular: mitochondrion) are organelles found throughout the cytoplasm
• Ribosomes are tiny structures that can be free within the cytoplasm or attached to a system of
membranes within the cell known as Endoplasmic Reticulum
• Endoplasmic reticulum studded with ribosomes looks rough under the microscope; this gives
rise to its name of Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum (often shortened to R.E.R.)
• Vesicles can also be seen using a higher magnification - these are small circular structures
found moving throughout the cytoplasm
ORGANISATION OF
CELLS
PRODUCING NEW CELLS

• The cells in your body need to be able to divide to help

your body grow and repair itself
• Cells grow and divide over and over again
• New cells are produced by the division of existing cells
SPECIALISED
CELLS
SPECIALISED CELLS IN ANIMALS

• Specialised cells are those which have developed certain characteristics in order
to perform particular functions. These differences are controlled by genes in the
nucleus
• Cells specialise by undergoing differentiation: this is a process by which cells develop
the structure and characteristics needed to be able to carry out their functions
LEVELS OF
ORGANISATION IN
AN ORGANISM
EXAM TIP

Most incorrect answers here come from not

being able to identify a tissue, so it’s worth
making sure you understand and remember
that tissues are always made up of only one
type of cell.
MAGNIFICATION
FORMULA
Calculating magnification and specimen size using
millimetres as units
Magnification is calculated using the following equation:
• Magnification = Image size ÷ Actual size
Rearranging the equation to find things other than the magnification becomes easy when
you remember the triangle - whatever you are trying to find, place your finger over it and
whatever is left is what you do, so:
• Magnification = image size / actual size
• Actual size = image size / magnification
• Image size = magnification x actual size

• Remember magnification does not have any units and is just written as ‘x 10’ or ‘x 5000’
 EXAM TIP
• This skill most frequently comes up in paper 5 and 6 (although it also comes up in the multiple
choice and occasionally the theory paper) and you will definitely have to calculate either
magnification, drawing size or actual size in a least one paper. To ensure you do not lose marks:
1.Always look at the units that have been given in the question - if you are asked to measure
something, most often you will be expected to measure it in millimetres NOT in centimetres -
double check the question to see!
2.Learn the equation triangle for magnification and write it on the page straight away
3.Don’t forget that magnification has NO UNITS - students often lose a mark because they put one
in
CONVERTING
BETWEEN UNITS:
EXTENDED
• Using millimetres and micrometres as units
• The table below shows how millimetres are related to two other measures
of length
• What this basically means is that 1mm = 1000µm and 1cm = 10,000µm
• This usually comes up in questions where you have two different units and
you need to ensure that you convert them both into the same unit before
proceeding with the calculation
• Remember 1mm = 1000µm
• 2000 / 1000 = 2 so the actual thickness of the leaf is 2mm and the drawing
thickness is 50mm
• Magnification = image size / actual size = 50 / 2 = 25
• So the magnification is x 25 (NO UNITS)
 EXAM TIP
• If you are given a question with two different units in it, make sure you convert them to the same unit before doing
your calculation . If you don’t, there is a good chance that your answer will be the same as one of the incorrect
options in a multiple choice question so you may think you got it right when, in fact, you haven’t ! The following
diagram may help with unit conversion between mm and µm:
MOVEMENT IN AND
OUT OF CELLS
DIFFUSION

• Diffusion is the movement of molecules from a region of its higher concentration to a

region of its lower concentration
• Molecules move down a concentration gradient, as a result of their random movement
• For living cells, the principle of the movement down a concentration gradient is the same,
but the cell is surrounded by a cell membrane which can restrict the free movement of
the molecules
• The cell membrane is a partially permeable membrane - this means it allows some
molecules to cross easily, but others with difficulty or not at all
• The simplest sort of selection is based on the size of the molecules
• Diffusion helps living organisms to:
• obtain many of their requirements
• get rid of many of their waste products
• carry out gas exchange for respiration
EXAMPLES OF
DIFFUSION IN LIVING
ORGANISMS
• You will need to learn examples of substances that organisms obtain by diffusion
• Don’t forget that plants require oxygen for respiration at all times,well as carbon
dioxide for photosynthesis when conditions for photosynthesis are right (e.g. enough
light and a suitable temperature)
Where does the energy for diffusion come from?
• All particles move randomly at all times
• This is known as Brownian motion
• The energy for diffusion comes from the kinetic energy of this random
movement of molecules and ions
FACTORS THAT
INFLUENCE
DIFFUSION
SURFACE AREA TO VOLUME RATIO

• The bigger a cell or structure is, the smaller its surface area to
volume ratio is, slowing down the rate at which substances can
move across its surface
• Many cells which are adapted for diffusion have increased surface
area in some way - eg root hair cells in plants (which absorb water
and mineral ions) and cells lining the ileum in animals (which absorb
the products of digestion)
DISTANCE

• The smaller the distance molecules have to travel the

faster transport will occur
• This is why blood capillaries and alveoli have walls
which are only one cell thick, ensure the rate of
diffusion across them is as fast as possible
TEMPERATURE

• The higher the temperature, the faster molecules move

as they have more energy
• This results in more collisions against the cell
membrane and therefore a faster rate of movement
across them
CONCENTRATION GRADIENT

• The greater the difference in concentration either side of

the membrane, the faster movement across it will occur
• This is because on the side with the higher
concentration, more random collisions against the
membrane will occur
EXAM TIP

• You should have carried out investigations into the

factors that influence the rate of diffusion and as so
should be able to use the information above to explain
experimental results in an exam. You should also be
able to plan and carry out an experiment which can
investigate the effect of one of these factors.
WATER
WATER AS A SOLVENT

• Water is important for all living organisms as many substances are able to dissolve in it (it is
a solvent)
• This makes it incredibly useful and essential for all life on Earth
• Water is important as a solvent in the following situations within organisms:
• Dissolved substances can be easily transported around organisms - eg xylem and phloem of
plants and dissolved food molecules in the blood
• Digested food molecules are in the alimentary canal but need to be moved to cells all over
the body - without water as a solvent this would not be able to happen
• Toxic substances such as urea and substances in excess of requirements such as salts can
dissolve in water which makes them easy to remove from the body in urine
• Water is also an important part of the cytoplasm and plays a role in ensuring metabolic
OSMOSIS
• All cells are surrounded by a cell membrane which is partially permeable
• Water can move in and out of cells by osmosis
• Osmosis is the diffusion of water molecules from a dilute solution (high concentration of
water) to a more concentrated solution (low concentration of water) across a partially
permeable membrane
• In doing this, water is moving down its concentration gradient
• The cell membrane is partially permeable which means it allows small molecules (like water)
through but not larger molecules (like solute molecules)
 OSMOSIS EXPERIMENTS

• Immersing plant cells in solutions of different concentrations

• The most common osmosis practical involves cutting cylinders of root vegetables such
as potato or radish and placing them into distilled water and sucrose solutions of
increasing concentration
• The cylinders are weighed before placing into the solutions
• They are left in the solutions for 20 - 30 minutes and then removed, dried to remove
excess liquid and reweighed
• If the plant tissue gains mass:
• Water must have moved into the plant tissue from the solution surrounding it
by osmosis
• The solution surrounding the tissue is more dilute than the plant tissue (which
is more concentrated)
• If plant tissue loses mass:
• Water must have moved out of the plant tissue into the solution surrounding it
by osmosis
• The solution surrounding the tissue is more concentrated than the plant tissue
(which is more dilute)
• If there is no overall change in mass:
• There has been no net movement of water as the concentration in
both the plant tissue and the solution surrounding it must be
equal
• Remember that water will still be moving into and out of the
plant tissue, but there wouldn’t be any net movement in this case
INVESTIGATING
OSMOSIS USING
DIALYSIS TUBING
• Dialysis tubing (sometimes referred to as visking tubing) is a
non-living partially permeable membrane made from cellulose
• Pores in this membrane are small enough to prevent the
passage of large molecules (such sucrose) but allow smaller
molecules (such as glucose and water) to pass through
by diffusion and osmosis
• This can be demonstrated by:
• Filling a section of dialysis tubing with concentrated sucrose solution
• Suspending the tubing in a boiling tube of water for a set period of time
• Noting whether the water level outside the tubing decreases as water moves
into the tubing via osmosis
• Water moves from a region of higher water potential (dilute solution) to a region of
lower water potential (concentrated solution), through a partially permeable membrane
OSMOSIS IN
ANIMALS & PLANTS
 OSMOSIS IN PLANT TISSUES

• When water moves into a plant cell, the vacuole gets bigger, pushing the cell membrane against the
cell wall
• Water entering the cell by osmosis makes the cell rigid and firm
• This is important for plants as the effect of all the cells in a plant being firm is to provide support and
strength for the plant - making the plant stand upright with its leaves held out to catch sunlight
• The pressure created by the cell wall stops too much water entering and prevents the cell from bursting
• If plants do not receive enough water the cells cannot remain rigid and firm (turgid) and the plant wilts
• Osmosis is the net movement of water molecules from a region of higher water
potential (dilute solution) to a region of lower water potential (concentrated
solution), through a partially permeable membrane
• It can get a little confusing to talk about the 'concentration of water' when we also
talk about solutions being ‘concentrated’ (having a lot of solute in them), so
instead we can say that a dilute solution has a high water potential (the right-
hand side of the diagram below) and a concentrated solution has a low water
potential (the left-hand side of the diagram below):
OSMOSIS IN
ANIMALS &
PLANTS: EXTENDED
PLANT CELLS IN SOLUTIONS OF DIFFERENT CONCENTRATIONS

• When plant cells are placed in a solution that has a higher water
potential (dilute solution) than inside the cells (e.g. distilled
water) then water moves into the plant cells via osmosis
• These water molecules push the cell membrane against the cell
wall, increasing the turgor pressure in the cells which makes
them turgid
• When plant cells are placed in a concentrated solution (with a lower water
potential than inside the cells) water molecules will move out of the plant
cells by osmosis, making them flaccid
• If plant cells become flaccid it can negatively affect the plant's ability to support itself

• If looked at underneath the microscope, the plant cells might

be plasmolysed, meaning the cell membrane has pulled away from the cell
wall
ANIMAL CELLS IN SOLUTIONS OF DIFFERENT
CONCENTRATIONS

• Animal cells also lose and gain water as a result of osmosis

• As animal cells do not have a supporting cell wall, the results on the cell are more
severe
• If an animal cell is placed into a strong sugar solution (with a lower water potential than
the cell), it will lose water by osmosis and become crenated (shrivelled up)
• If an animal cell is placed into distilled water (with a higher water potential than the
cell), it will gain water by osmosis and, as it has no cell wall to create turgor pressure,
will continue to do so until the cell membrane is stretched too far and it bursts
M
ACTIVE
TRANSPORT
ACTIVE TRANSPORT

• Active transport is the movement of particles

through a cell membrane from a region
of lower concentration to a region of higher
concentration using energy from respiration
PROTEINS & ACTIVE
TRANSPORT
 IMPORTANCE OF ACTIVE TRANSPORT:
EXTENDED
• Energy is needed because particles are being moved against a concentration gradient, in
the opposite direction from which they would naturally move (by diffusion)
• Active transport is vital process for the movement of molecules or ions across membranes
• Including:

• uptake of glucose by epithelial cells in the villi of the small intestine and by kidney
tubules in the nephron
• uptake of ions from soil water by root hair cells in plants
PROTEIN CARRIERS: EXTENDED

• Active transport works by using carrier proteins embedded in the cell

membrane to pick up specific molecules and take them through the cell
membrane against their concentration gradient:
1. Substance combines with carrier protein molecule in the cell membrane
2. Carrier transports substances across membrane using energy from respiration to give
them the kinetic energy needed to change shape and move the substance through the
cell membrane
3. Substance released into cell
BIOLOGICAL
MOLECULES
CHEMICALS & LIFE
CHEMICAL ELEMENTS

• Most of the molecules in living organisms fall into three

categories: carbohydrates, proteins and lipids
• These all contain carbon and so are described as
organic molecules
LARGE MOLECULES
ARE MADE FROM
SMALLER MOLECULES
CARBOHYDRATES

• Long chains of simple sugars

• Glucose is a simple sugar ( a monosaccharide)
• When 2 glucose molecules join together maltose is formed (a
disaccharide)
• When lots of glucose molecules join together starch, glycogen
or cellulose can form (a polysaccharide)
 FATS

• Most fats (lipids) in the body are made up of triglycerides

• Their basic unit is 1 glycerol molecule chemically bonded to
3 fatty acid chains
• The fatty acids vary in size and structure
• Lipids are divided into fats (solids at room temperature)
and oils (liquids at room temperature)
PROTEINS

• Long chains of amino acids

• There are about 20 different amino acids
• They all contain the same basic structure but the ‘R’ group is different for each one
• When amino acids are joined together a protein is formed
• The amino acids can be arranged in any order, resulting in hundreds of thousands of
different proteins
• Even a small difference in the order of the amino acids results in a different protein being
formed
FOOD TESTS
TEST FOR GLUCOSE (A REDUCING SUGAR)

• Add Benedict's solution into sample solution in test tube

• Heat at 60 - 70 °c in water bath for 5 minutes
• Take test tube out of water bath and observe the colour
• A positive test will show a colour change from blue to
orange or brick red
 TEST FOR STARCH USING IODINE

We can use iodine to test for the presence or absence of starch in a food sample.
• Add drops of iodine solution to the food sample
• A positive test will show a colour change from orange-brown to blue-black
 TEST FOR PROTEIN

•Add drops of Biuret solution to the food

sample
•A positive test will show a colour change
from blue to violet / purple
TEST FOR LIPIDS

• Food sample is mixed with 2cm3 of ethanol and

shaken
• The ethanol is added to an equal volume of cold
water
• A positive test will show a cloudy emulsion forming
 TEST FOR VITAMIN C

• Add 1cm3 of DCPIP solution to a test tube

• Add a small amount of food sample (as a solution)
• A positive test will show the blue colour of the dye disappearing
EXAM TIP

• When describing food tests in exam

answers, make sure you give the starting
colour of the solution and the colour it
changes to for a positive result.
DNA STRUCTURE:
EXTENDED
STRUCTURE OF A DNA MOLECULE:
EXTENDED

• DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the molecule that

contains the instructions for the growth and
development of all organisms
• It consists of two strands of DNA wound around each
other in what is called a double helix
• The individual units of DNA are called nucleotides
M
• All nucleotides contain the same phosphate and deoxyribose sugar, but
differ from each other in the base attached
• There are four different bases, Adenine (A), Cytosine (C), Thymine
(T) and Guanine (G)
• The bases on each strand pair up with each other, holding the two
strands of DNA in the double helix
• The bases always pair up in the same way:
• Adenine always pairs with Thymine (A-T)
• Cytosine always pairs with Guanine (C-G)
• The phosphate and sugar section of the nucleotides form
the ‘backbone’ of the DNA strand (like the sides of a
ladder) and the base pairs of each strand connect to form
the rungs of the ladder
• It is this sequence of bases that holds the code for the formation
of proteins
ENZYMES
HOW DO ENZYMES WORK?
• Enzymes are specific to one particular substrate
(molecule/s that get broken down or joined together in the
reaction) as the enzyme is a complementary shape to the
substrate
• The product is made from the substrate(s) and is released
ENZYME
INVESTIGATIONS
 INVESTIGATING THE EFFECT OF
TEMPERATURE ON AMYLASE
• Starch solution is heated to a set temperature
• Iodine is added to wells of a spotting tile
• Amylase is added to the starch solution and mixed well
• Every minute, droplets of solution are added to a new well of iodine solution
• This is continued until the iodine stops turning blue-black (this means there is no more
starch left in the solution as the amylase has broken it all down)
• Time taken for the reaction to be completed is recorded
• Experiment is repeated at different temperatures
INVESTIGATING THE EFFECT OF PH ON AMYLASE
• Place single drops of iodine solution in rows on the tile
• Label a test tube with the pH to be tested
• Use the syringe to place 2cm3 of amylase in the test tube
• Add 1cm3 of buffer solution to the test tube using a syringe
• Use another test tube to add 2cm3 of starch solution to the amylase and buffer solution, start the stopwatch whilst
mixing using a pipette
• After 10 seconds, use a pipette to place one drop of mixture on the first drop of iodine, which should turn blue-
black
• Wait another 10 seconds and place another drop of mixture on the second drop of iodine
• Repeat every 10 seconds until iodine solution remains orange-brown
• Repeat experiment at different pH values - the less time the iodine solution takes to remain orange-brown, the
quicker all the starch has been digested and so the better the enzyme works at that pH
ENZYME ACTION &
SPECIFICITY:
EXTENDED
• Enzymes are specific to one particular substrate(s) as the active site of the enzyme,
where the substrate attaches, is a complementary shape to the substrate
• This is because the enzyme is a protein and has a specific 3-D shape
• This is known as the lock and key hypothesis
• When the substrate moves into the enzyme’s active site they become known as
the enzyme-substrate complex
• After the reaction has occurred, the products leave the enzyme’s active site as they no
longer fit it and it is free to take up another substrate
• 1. Enzymes and substrates randomly move about in solution
• 2. When an enzyme and its complementary substrate randomly collide -
with the substrate fitting into the active site of the enzyme - an enzyme-
substrate complex forms, and the reaction occurs.
• 3. A product (or products) forms from the substrate(s) which are then
released from the active site. The enzyme is unchanged and will go on
to catalyse further reactions.
• Increasing the temperature from 0⁰C to the optimum increases the
activity of enzymes as the more energy the molecules have the
faster they move and the number of collisions with the
substrate molecules increases, leading to a faster rate of reaction
• This means that low temperatures do not denature enzymes,
they just make them work more slowly
ENZYMES & PH
• The optimum pH for most enzymes is 7 but some that are produced in acidic conditions,
such as the stomach, have a lower optimum pH (pH 2) and some that are produced in
alkaline conditions, such as the duodenum, have a higher optimum pH (pH 8 or 9)
• If the pH is too high or too low, the bonds that hold the amino acid chain together to
make up the protein can be destroyed
• This will change the shape of the active site, so the substrate can no longer fit into it,
reducing the rate of activity
• Moving too far away from the optimum pH will cause the enzyme to denature and
activity will stop