Nutrition
Nutrition is the taking in of materials for energy, growth and development 1.
Two Ways of Feeding
| Mode | Definition | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Autotrophic (producers) | Make organic nutrients using light energy and photosynthesis | Green plants |
| Heterotrophic (consumers) | Obtain energy by feeding on other organisms | Animals, fungi |
Photosynthesis
Plants synthesise carbohydrates from raw materials using light energy:
Chlorophyll, the green pigment in chloroplasts, transfers light energy into chemical energy 1. Photosynthesis is therefore an endothermic change; its glucose is used in respiration, stored as starch, built into cellulose or transported as sucrose — sunlight captured this way enters almost every food chain.
Human Nutrition
A balanced diet supplies carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, water and dietary fibre. Chemical digestion breaks large insoluble molecules into small soluble ones, absorbed through the villi and microvilli of the small intestine 1. Materials taken in serve growth and repair as well as energy supply.
Related
- Living Thing - Entity carrying out all seven life processes.
- Organism - Individual living thing.
- Respiration - Breaks down supplied molecules.
- Chloroplast - Organelle where photosynthesis occurs.
- Growth - Materials for new cells.
- Excretion - Removes surplus water and ions.
- Endothermic Change - Photosynthesis stores light energy in chemicals.
- Biology - Cambridge IGCSE life-science area.
Footnotes
-
Cambridge IGCSE Biology 0610 syllabus for examination in 2026, 2027 and 2028 - Nutrition (1.1g), photosynthesis (6.1), human nutrition and digestion (7.1-7.5), producers and consumers (19.2). ↩ ↩2 ↩3