Human and Social
Biology
Tutor – Mr. Marco-Dean Brown (PhD candidate)
General Class Rules
• Choose a quiet space, free from distractions, to set yourself up for class.
• Turn off cell phones, TVs, etc. Exit other applications on your computer prior to entering
the classroom.
• Come to class early.
• Dress appropriately. Remember this is still a classroom setting.
• Use your full name when you sign into the classroom.
• When you enter the classroom, make sure to enable video. Mute your microphone
during the lesson to avoid disturbing the class with any background noise.
• Be respectful.
• Participate - when you have a question or comment, use the “Raise your Hand” button
that can be found in the window that pops up when you click on Participants in the
bottom menu. Wait to be acknowledged by the teacher before unmuting yourself to speak.
• Use the chat responsibly. It is meant to facilitate conversation around the lesson topic,
not for side-line discussions.
Time Table
Day
Monday
Wednesday
Time
8 – 10 PM
8 – 10 PM
Test and Graded Assignments
ONE MONTHLY TEST
AT LEAST ONE GRADED
ASSIGNMENT EACH MONTH
Contact Information
Mr. M. Brown
(PhD candidate)
Pre University
School
Tele: 876 561-0258
Tele: (876) 702-2405 / 702-3415
Email: brownhsbpreuwi@gmail.com
Email: info@preuniversity.org
• Create Class WhatsApp group
Class
Groups
• Placement of students into class
groups
• Selection of group leaders
Introduction to HSB
• Human and Social Biology is concerned with the study of the
structure and functioning of the human body.
• It also involves the application of biological principles, knowledge and
skills, and technological advances, to the maintenance of health and to
solve the problems of living together.
• The subject incorporates the view that human beings have a
responsibility to their environment and, as such, have an obligation to
conserve, protect, maintain and improve its quality.
Introduction to HSB cont’d
• The CSEC Human and Social Biology syllabus is designed to allow
students to work individually and cooperatively, utilizing theoretical
concepts of the course in interactive and practical activities.
• Students are expected to apply investigative and problem-solving
skills, be effective in communicating scientific knowledge and
demonstrate an appreciation for all living organisms in their
environment.
Introduction to HSB cont’d
The syllabus is organised under five main sections:
Section I
Living organisms and the
environment
Section II
Life processes
Section III
Heredity and variation
Section IV
Disease and its impact on humans
Section V
The impact of health practices on the
environment
Course Outline
Section
Title
I
Living organisms and the
environment
II
Life processes
III
Heredity and variation
IV
Disease and its impact on
humans
V
The impact of health
practices on the environment
Timeline
Introduction to HSB cont’d
FORMAT OF THE EXAMINATION
Candidates will be required to take Paper 01 and Paper 02
Paper 01
(1 hour 15 minutes).
Sixty multiple-choice items drawn from
all areas of the syllabus.
Paper 02 (2 hours)
Section A - four compulsory structured
questions drawn from all areas of the
syllabus. One question will be an
investigative type/practical oriented
question. Each question is worth 15 marks
Section B - two compulsory structured
essay questions drawn from all areas of the
syllabus. Each question is worth 15 marks
Introduction to HSB cont’d
SBA
SECTION A
LIVING ORGANISMS AND THE
ENVIRONMENT
Lecture 1 – Characteristics of Living Organisms
Learning Objectives
At the end of the lesson you should be able to:
• List all characteristics of living things.
• Describe the characteristics of living things
What is Biology?
• The science of life and of living
organisms, including their
structure, function, growth,
origin, evolution, and
distribution.
• It includes botany and zoology
and all their subdivisions
The seven (7)
Characteristics
of Living things
Movement
Reproduction
Sensitivity/
Irritability
Growth
Respiration
Excretion
Nutrition
The seven (7) Characteristics of Living
things cont’d
Mnemonic – MRS. GREN
• M – Movement
• R – Reproduction
• S – Sensitivity / Irritability
• G – Growth
• R – Respiration
• E – Excretion
• N – Nutrition
Movement
• Living things can change position and direction, this is known as
movement.
• Plants move by changing the direction, for example, a plant can
grow towards light.
• Animals can change their positions as well as direction.
• While movement of animals can be noticed as they move from one
place to another it is not always easy to notice movement in plants.
Movement cont’d
• Plants remain in the same position and only certain parts move.
• Roots move towards the moisture while the stem moves towards light.
• Plants movements are usually slow while animals move fast.
Movement cont’d
Movement in Plants:
1. Tropic Movements
Tropic movements are growth movements or responses towards directional
stimuli.
• Phototropism (light)
• Hydrotropism (water)
• Geotropism (gravity)
• Thigmotropism (touch)
• Chemotropism (chemical)
Movement cont’d
Movement in Plants:
1. Tropic Movements cont’d
Movement cont’d
2. Nastic Movements
Non-directional movement of part of a plant is a response to an
external stimulus
• Contact
• Light or heat
Movement cont’d
Movement in Plants
Movement cont’d
Animal movements include:
• Fly
• Walk
• Run
• Swim
• Crawl
Differentiate between movement and locomotion
Differences between Locomotion and
Movement
• While both locomotion and movement sound similar in their
meaning, there are a few interesting differences between the two
terms.
Locomotion
Movement
Moving away from the original position of an
organism is locomotion.
Movement can happen with or without moving
away from an organism’s original position.
It is always voluntary.
It can either be voluntary or involuntary.
Locomotion takes place at the organism level.
A movement takes place at the biological level.
Locomotion doesn’t necessarily require energy
Movement requires energy.
Reproduction
• Another feature of living things is that they have the ability to produce and
give rise to young ones similar to them.
• This is called reproduction.
• Reproduction prevents living things from being extinct or dying off
completely from the earth.
• If organisms do not reproduce as quickly as they die they become extinct.
There is a large variety of ways in which living things reproduce.
Reproduction
cont’d
• Small organisms like
bacteria reproduce by
splitting into two
equal halves
• Each half develop into
two independent
individuals.
• This is known as
binary fission.
Reproduction cont’d
• More complex organisms like Man have specialized reproduction
organs. These organs produce special reproductive cells from young
ones which develop.
Sensitivity/Irritability
• Living things have the ability to detect or perceive changes in their
surroundings and respond to them.
• This makes them take action for or against such changes.
• This character is referred to as sensitivity or irritability.
Sensitivity/Irritability cont’d
• Plants respond to stimuli very slowly and only with certain of their
parts.
• Animals on the other hand respond very quickly.
• Man, as an animal has sense organs for detecting various stimuli in
his or her surroundings.
Sensitivity/Irritability cont’d
• Eyes respond to light to provide vision
• Ears respond to sound to provide hearing
• Nerve endings in the skin provide the sense of touch
• “Taste buds” in our tongues and other parts of the mouth provide a keen
sense of taste
• Millions of sensory neurons on a strip of tissue called the olfactory in the
back of the nose give many animals an acute sense of smell.
Sensitivity/Irritability cont’d
Growth
• Living things start life as tiny beings called eggs or seeds.
• As they feed and remain healthy they grow in size and mass as they
get older.
• The increase in size or mass of an organism by increasing cell
number and or cell size is known as growth
Growth
cont’d
Growth cont’d
Respiration
• This is the ability of living things to produce energy.
• In fact it is a chemical reaction involving the burning of food materials
inside the body cells.
• The result is that energy is produced and the cells are able to perform
their processes.
Food + Oxygen➔ Energy + Carbon Dioxide + Water
Respiration cont’d
• You can see from the equation that respiration uses up food and
oxygen to release energy carbon dioxide and water.
• Animals obtain the oxygen for respiration from the air, by breathing
in.
• Plants obtain oxygen through pores called stomata and most of them
are on the underside of plant leaves.
Respiration cont’d
• The energy produced is used for various activities like moving around
and other processes that take place in the body.
• In animals carbon dioxide is excreted in breathed out air while in
plants it is expelled through the stomata.
Respiration cont’d
Differences between respiration and breathing
Respiration
Takes place in every living cell
Breathing
Takes place in the lungs
A process that involves the release A process of gaseous exchange –
of energy from food
taking air in and out of the body
Uses the oxygen absorbed during
breathing
Removes the carbon dioxide
produced during respiration
Respiration cont’d
How do animals obtain oxygen for respiration?
Most terrestrial
animals have lungs
Insects use breathing tubes called trachea
Fishes, which live under water, obtain
oxygen using gills
Worms get oxygen
through the surface of
their skin
Respiration cont’d
How do plants obtain oxygen for respiration?
Excretion
• Another feature of living things is that they are able to remove waste
products from their bodies and that is called excretion.
• Processes like respiration, movement, growth and others lead to the
production of wastes, which the body must expel to the outside.
• The excretory products are of no use to the organism and if allowed
to accumulate they might be harmful.
Excretion cont’d
• Examples of excretory
products include
carbon dioxide and
urea in animals, which
excreted by breathing
and urinating
respectively.
Nutrition
• Take in, absorb or assimilate nutrients; organic substances, mineral
ions containing raw materials or energy for growth and tissue repair.
• Feeding, as you know from personal experience, means taking in
materials containing nutrients obtained from the environment.
• The materials are generally called food.
Nutrition cont’d
• Plants feed by taking in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and
water from the soil, which they use to make sugar during a process
called photosynthesis.
• As plants take in water they also take in nutrients dissolved in it.
• Animals on the other hand obtain ready-made food by eating other
organisms such as plants and other animals.
Nutrition cont’d
• Feeding methods differ from one organism to the other.
• The intake of food is necessary to provide the organism with energy,
materials for growth and to keep healthy by protecting it from
diseases.
• Humans, like all other animals eat (consumers)
Summary
For an organism to be classified as living, it has to have the following
characteristics:
1. Movement – change position and or direction
2. Reproduction- produce and give rise to young ones
3. Sensitivity/Irritability – detect and respond to changes in their
surroundings
4. Growth- increase in size and or mass
5. Respiration – produce their own energy
6. Excretion – able to remove body waste
7. Nutrition – take in, absorb or assimilate nutrients