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biology notes.
Transportation
Transportation refers to movement of essential substances such as food, oxygen, water and
waste products to and from the cells of the body.

Transportation in humans:
In Human beings, blood helps in the
transportation of various substances.
RBCs, WBCs and platelets are
suspended in the fluid medium of
blood called plasma. Plasma
transports food, CO2 and nitrogenous
wastes in dissolved form. Oxygen is
carried by blood as it easily dissolves
in Hemoglobin, a pigment found in
RBCs. We thus need a pumping
organ to push blood around the body,
a network of tubes to reach all the
tissues and a system in place to
ensure that this network can be
repaired if damaged.

biology notes. 1
 In humans, the heart acts as a pumping organ, the arteries and veins are a network of tubes
that help the blood to reach all tissues in the body and platelets help in the maintenance of the
system.
Blood travels through the heart in a specific pathway to ensure efficient circulation of
oxygenated and deoxygenated blood throughout the body. The heart functions as a double
pump with four chambers: the right atrium, right ventricle, left atrium, and left ventricle.
pathway of blood:

Deoxygenated blood from the body enters the heart through two large veins: the superior
vena cava (from the upper body) and the inferior vena cava (from the lower body).

This blood flows into the right atrium.

The right atrium contracts, pushing blood through the tricuspid valve into the right
ventricle.

When the right ventricle contracts, blood is pumped through the pulmonary valve into
the pulmonary artery.

The pulmonary artery carries deoxygenated blood to the lungs, where carbon dioxide is
exchanged for oxygen.

Oxygenated blood returns to the heart via the pulmonary veins and enters the left
atrium.

The left atrium contracts, pushing blood through the bicuspid valve (mitral valve) into
the left ventricle.

The left ventricle contracts forcefully, sending blood through the aortic valve into the
aorta.

The aorta, the largest artery in the body, distributes oxygenated blood to all parts of the
body.

The separation of the right side and the left side of the heart is useful to keep oxygenated and
deoxygenated blood from mixing. Such separation allows a highly efficient supply of oxygen
to the body, which is useful in animals that have high energy needs. The animals that do not
require a lot of energy, like amphibians or many reptiles have three-chambered hearts. Fishes,
on the other hand, have only two chambers to their hearts, and the blood is pumped to the
gills, is oxygenated there, and passes directly to the rest of the body.

Double circulation is the process in which blood flows through the heart twice in one
complete cycle.
The tubes - blood vessels.

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 Arteries are the vessels which carry blood away from the heart to various organs of the
body, except pulmonary arteries. Since the blood emerges from the heart under high
pressure, the arteries have thick elastic walls.

Veins collect the blood from different organs and bring it back to the heart. They do not
need thick walls as blood is under low pressure. Instead they have valves which prevent
the backflow of blood.

Capillaries are smallest vessels which have walls which are one cell thick.

When we start bleeding, the blood has platelet cells which circulate around the body and help
to clot the blood at the points of injury. This prevents loss of pressure due to the leakage
which would reduce the efficiency of pumping system.
Blood Pressure: The force that blood exerts against the wall of a vessel is called blood
pressure. This pressure is much greater in arteries than in veins.

The pressure of blood inside the artery during ventricular systole or contraction is called
systolic pressure. The normal systolic pressure is about 120 mm of Hg.

Pressure in artery during ventricular diastole or relaxation is called diastolic pressure.

The normal diastolic pressure is 80 mm of Hg.

High blood pressure is also called hypertension and is caused by the constriction of arterioles
which results in increased resistance to blood flow. It can lead to rupture of an artery and
internal bleeding.
Lymph or tissue fluid consists of some amount of plasma, proteins and blood cells which
escape into the intercellular spaces through the pores present in walls of capillaries. It is
colorless and contains less protein than plasma. Lymph drains into lymphatic capillaries from
the intercellular spaces, which join to form large blood vessels that finally open into larger
veins. Lymph carries digested and absorbed fat from intestine.

Transportation in plants
Transportation in plants involves the movement of water, minerals, and nutrients throughout
the plant to support its growth, development, and overall functioning. This is primarily
carried out by two vascular tissues: xylem and phloem.

Xylem is responsible for the upward transport of water and dissolved minerals from the roots
to the leaves and other parts of the plant. Xylem consists of four main types of cells:
tracheids, vessels, xylem parenchyma, and xylem fibers. Tracheids and vessels are the
primary water-conducting cells. They are long, tubular structures that form continuous system
of water conducting channels, allowing water to move easily.

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 Water is absorbed by root hairs from the soil through osmosis. Root pressure is created
by the continuous absorption of water from the soil. This pressure pushes water upwards
through the xylem vessels.

In highly organized plants, the primary force driving the movement of water up the plant
is transpiration pull. Transpiration is the loss of water vapor from the leaves through tiny
openings called stomata. This creates a suction, pulling water upward from the roots to
the leaves.

Phloem transports organic nutrients, particularly the products of photosynthesis (mainly

sucrose), from the leaves (where they are produced) to other parts of the plant. This process is
known as translocation. Phloem is composed of sieve tubes, companion cells, phloem
parenchyma, and phloem fibers. Sieve tubes are elongated cells with pores at their ends
(sieve plates) that facilitate the flow of nutrients. Companion cells assist in the transport of
nutrients and help maintain the sieve tubes.
Translocation in phloem is achieved by utilizing energy. Material like sucrose is transferred
into phloem tissue using energy from ATP. This increases the osmotic pressure of the tissue
causing water to move into it. This pressure moves the material in the phloem to tissues
which have less pressure, which allows the phloem to move material according to the plant's
needs.

Excretion
Metabolic activities in the human body generate nitrogenous materials which need to be
removed. The biological process involved in the removal of harmful metabolic waste from
the body is called excretion.

Excretion in humans:
The excretory system of human beings includes a pair of kidneys, a pair of ureters, a urinary
bladder, and a urethra. Humans produce of a variety of waste products including carbon
dioxide, urea, uric acid and excess water.

Blood enters the kidneys through the renal arteries and is filtered in tiny structures called
nephrons. Waste products and excess substances are filtered out while essential nutrients are
reabsorbed into the bloodstream. Useful substances like glucose, amino acids, and certain
ions are reabsorbed back into blood in the kidney tubules. The final urine is collected by the
ureters and transported to the urinary bladder from where it expelled from the body
through the urethra. Urine is stored in the urinary bladder until the pressure of the expanded

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 bladder leads to the urge to pass it out through the urethra. The bladder is muscular, so it is
under nervous control.

Nephrons are filtration units of the kidney, which are large in numbers. The main components
of Nephron are Bowman's capsule, glomerulus, long renal tubule, collecting duct, and
capillaries.
Functioning of the nephron.

The blood enters the kidney through the renal artery, which branches into many
capillaries associated with the glomerulus. The water and solute are transferred to the
nephron and Bowman's capsule.

Some substances in the initial filtrate are selectively reabsorbed as the urine flows along
the tube, and unwanted molecules are added in the urine.

The filtrate then moves down into the loop of Henle where more water is absorbed. From
here the filtrate moves upwards into the distal tubule and finally to the collecting duct.

Collecting ducts collect urine from many nephrons. The urine formed in each kidney
enters a long tube called ureter from where it gets transported to the urinary bladder and
then into the urethra.

Urine is stored in the urinary bladder until the pressure of the expanded bladder leads to
the urge to pass it out through the urethra. The bladder is muscular, so it is under nervous
control.

Hemodialysis (Artificial Kidney):

In case of kidney failure, artificial kidneys are used to remove nitrogenous waste products
from the blood through dialysis. Artificial kidneys contain a number of tubes with semi-
permeable lining suspended in a tank filled with dialysing fluid. The patient's blood is passed
through these tubes. During this passage, the waste products of the blood pass into the
dialysing fluid by diffusion. The purified blood is pumped back into the patient. This function
is similar to kidneys, but there is no reabsorption involved.

Excretion in plants:
Plants produce waste products as a result of metabolic activities like respiration,
photosynthesis, etc.
Methods of excretion in plants:

Oxygen, which is a by-product of photosynthesis, is reused in the process of respiration

in plants. Similarly, carbon dioxide, which is a by-product of respiration, is used during
the process of photosynthesis.

biology notes. 5
 Excess water absorbed by the roots is lost through the process of transpiration through
stomata present in leaves.

Plants store waste products within their cells, particularly in vacuoles. Waste substances
such as raisins, latex and gums are stored in leaves, bark, fruits or seeds and are often
discarded when these parts shed naturally.

Plants can also excrete waste by accumulating them in leaves, bark and flowers which
are then shed.

biology notes. 6