Schooling · Class 10 · Science · Life Processes · Chapter on a page
CBSE Class 10 · Science · NCERT Science
Life Processes: chapter on a page
A cut of Shishya's notes for this chapter: the first paragraph of the introduction and the key ideas, formulas and facts, common mistakes and quick revision lists, word for word. Nothing is added or reworded; the worked examples are left out (they are on the chapter page).
About the notes: Written by Shishya's AI on 26 Sept 2026 from the chapter's title and class level, in Shishya's own words — not a copy or summary of the textbook. Read the official chapter for the book's own text, activities and exercises.
This note's current text has no applied fact-check on record.
Mind map
Drawn from the same notes by a fixed rule (no AI): each label is the item's own words — its bold term, its label before a colon, a short formula as written, or its first words.
The mind map as a list
- Key ideas
- Nutrition
- Photosynthesis
- Digestion
- Respiration
- Transportation
- Excretion
- Double circulation
- Formulas and facts
- Photosynthesis equation
- Aerobic respiration equation
- Anaerobic respiration in yeast
- Anaerobic respiration in muscles
- Blood flow path
- Nephron
- Stomata
- Worked examples
- Calculating oxygen released in…
- Understanding blood circulation
- Calculating energy from anaerobic…
- Watch out for
- Confusing breathing with respiration
- Thinking arteries always carry…
- Believing photosynthesis occurs only…
- Assuming plants respire only at night
- Mixing up xylem and phloem functions
What this chapter is about
Life processes are the essential functions that all living organisms perform to stay alive. These include nutrition, respiration, transportation, and excretion. Understanding these processes helps us see how organisms obtain energy, use it for growth and repair, move substances within their bodies, and remove waste products.
Key ideas
- Nutrition is the process of taking in food and converting it into energy and body-building materials. Autotrophs (like green plants) make their own food through photosynthesis; heterotrophs (like animals) depend on others for food.
- Photosynthesis occurs in chloroplasts where carbon dioxide and water, using sunlight energy, produce glucose and oxygen: 6CO₂ + 6H₂O → C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6O₂.
- Digestion in humans involves mechanical breakdown (chewing) and chemical breakdown by enzymes. Saliva contains amylase; stomach secretes pepsin and hydrochloric acid; small intestine completes digestion with bile, pancreatic juice, and intestinal enzymes.
- Respiration has two meanings: breathing (exchange of gases) and cellular respiration (breakdown of glucose in cells to release energy). Aerobic respiration uses oxygen; anaerobic respiration occurs without oxygen.
- Transportation in humans is done by blood through arteries, veins, and capillaries. The heart acts as a double pump with four chambers. In plants, xylem carries water upward; phloem transports food.
- Excretion removes metabolic waste. In humans, kidneys filter blood to form urine. In plants, waste products are stored in leaves that fall off, or in vacuoles, or released as oxygen during photosynthesis.
- Double circulation means blood passes through the heart twice in one complete cycle—once for lungs (pulmonary) and once for the body (systemic).
Formulas and facts to remember
- Photosynthesis equation: 6CO₂ + 6H₂O + sunlight energy → C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6O₂ (carbon dioxide and water form glucose and oxygen in presence of chlorophyll).
- Aerobic respiration equation: C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6O₂ → 6CO₂ + 6H₂O + energy (glucose breaks down with oxygen to release energy, stored as ATP).
- Anaerobic respiration in yeast: C₆H₁₂O₆ → 2C₂H₅OH + 2CO₂ + energy (glucose forms ethanol and carbon dioxide).
- Anaerobic respiration in muscles: C₆H₁₂O₆ → 2C₃H₆O₃ + energy (glucose forms lactic acid, causing muscle cramps).
- Blood flow path: Right atrium → Right ventricle → Lungs → Left atrium → Left ventricle → Body organs → Right atrium.
- Nephron is the functional unit of the kidney; each human kidney contains about one million nephrons.
- Stomata are tiny pores on leaf surfaces that allow gas exchange and transpiration; guard cells control their opening and closing.
- Villi are finger-like projections in the small intestine that increase surface area for absorption of digested food.
Common mistakes
- Confusing breathing with respiration → Breathing is physical gas exchange; respiration is chemical breakdown of glucose in cells.
- Thinking arteries always carry oxygenated blood → Pulmonary artery carries deoxygenated blood from heart to lungs.
- Believing photosynthesis occurs only in leaves → It occurs in all green parts containing chlorophyll, including green stems.
- Assuming plants respire only at night → Plants respire continuously day and night; photosynthesis occurs only in light.
- Mixing up xylem and phloem functions → Xylem transports water upward; phloem transports food in both directions.
Quick revision
- Autotrophs make food; heterotrophs consume food made by others.
- Photosynthesis needs CO₂, water, chlorophyll, and sunlight to produce glucose and oxygen.
- Aerobic respiration releases more energy than anaerobic respiration.
- Human heart has four chambers; double circulation keeps oxygenated and deoxygenated blood separate.
- Kidneys filter blood; nephrons are their functional units; urine contains urea, excess water, and salts.
- In plants, xylem moves water up by transpiration pull; phloem moves food by translocation.