Life Processes for Science 10th Class Board Exam 2026

With the Class 10 Science board exam 2026 around the corner, students are now in the most crucial phase of revision. The chapter Life Processes is a core part of the syllabus and focuses on four vital processes: nutrition, respiration, transportation, and excretion. This chapter is concept-based and often appears in exams through definitions, reasoning questions, diagram-based problems, and real-life applications.

To make last-minute revision faster and more effective, a mind map–based explanation can help students connect key concepts in a clear and organized manner. This approach ensures that important points are easy to remember, helping students revise quickly and confidently.

For a better understanding, students can also watch the Life Processes Mind Map on the Physics Wallah Foundation YouTube Channel. The mind map explains all key terminology in the simplest way possible, making it an ideal tool to boost Class 10 Science board exam preparation.

Class 10 Life Processes Mind Map Series

The chapter Life Processes is a key part of the Class 10 Science syllabus and carries significant weight in board exams. Many students find it challenging because it covers multiple interconnected concepts like nutrition, respiration, transportation, and excretion. To make learning easier and revision more effective, a simple and organized mind map approach can help.

Also Watch: Life Processes

This mind map video presents the entire chapter in a clear, connected format, making concepts easy to understand and helping students revise quickly and confidently for the Class 10 Science board exam.

1. Nutrition

Nutrition is the process by which an organism obtains and utilizes food. There are two primary modes of nutrition:

Comparative Structure: Modes of Nutrition

Types of Autotrophic Nutrition

1. Photoautotrophic Nutrition: Organisms synthesize food using light energy via photosynthesis. Examples: Green plants, Cyanobacteria.

2. Chemoautotrophic Nutrition: Organisms synthesize food using energy from chemical reactions. Examples: Nitrosomonas, Nitrobacter.

Types of Heterotrophic Nutrition

1. Holozoic Nutrition: Organisms ingest, digest, and absorb complex food. Examples: Humans, cows, dogs, Amoeba, Paramecium.

2. Saprotrophic Nutrition: Organisms feed on dead and decaying organic matter (decomposers). Examples: Fungi (Bread Mould, Yeast, Mushroom).

3. Parasitic Nutrition: Organisms (parasites) live on or inside a host, deriving nutrition without killing it. Examples: Tapeworm, lice, leeches, and Cuscuta (a parasitic plant lacking chlorophyll).

Nutrition in Plants (Photosynthesis)

Plants produce their own food via photosynthesis.

Requirements: Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) , Water (H₂O), Chlorophyll, Sunlight.

Mechanism:

1. Chlorophyll absorbs sunlight.

2. Light energy splits water into hydrogen and oxygen.

3. Oxygen is released.

4. Hydrogen combines with CO₂ to form glucose (C₆H₁₂O₆).

5. Excess glucose is stored as starch (in humans, glycogen).

Stomata

Stomata are tiny pores on leaf surfaces.

Functions:

1. Gaseous Exchange: Intake of CO₂ and release of O₂.

2. Transpiration: Release of excess water vapor.
   Opening and Closing: Regulated by guard cells. Water entering guard cells makes them swell and open the pore; water leaving makes them shrink and close it.

Nutrition in Amoeba

Amoeba exhibits holozoic nutrition.

Steps:

1. Ingestion: Pseudopodia engulf food.

2. Formation of Food Vacuole: Food enclosed in a sac.

3. Digestion: Enzymes break down food.

4. Absorption: Nutrients diffuse into cytoplasm.

5. Assimilation: Nutrients used for growth/energy.

6. Egestion: Undigested waste expelled.

Human Digestive System

Humans use holozoic nutrition.

Path of Food and Digestion:

1. Mouth: Teeth chew, tongue manipulates. Salivary glands secrete salivary amylase (ptyalin), starting starch digestion.

2. Esophagus: Food moves via peristaltic movements.

3. Stomach: Gastric glands secrete gastric juice containing:

• Pepsin: Digests proteins.

• Hydrochloric Acid (HCl): Activates pepsin and kills germs.

• Mucus: Protects stomach lining.

4. Small Intestine: Site of complete digestion and absorption.

• Liver: Secretes bile juice (stored in gall bladder) for emulsification of fats and making food alkaline.

• Pancreas: Secretes pancreatic juice with Pancreatic Amylase (carbohydrates), Trypsin (proteins), Lipase (fats).

• Intestinal Juice: Completes digestion.

• Absorption: Villi (finger-like projections) increase surface area, absorbing digested food into blood.

5. Large Intestine: Absorbs excess water from waste.

6. Rectum and Anus: Stores and expels solid waste. This removal of undigested food is egestion, not excretion. (A memory tip to distinguish egestion from metabolic waste removal (excretion) is to associate egestion with the informal term 'morning business').

2. Respiration

Comparative Structure: Breathing vs. Respiration

Types of Respiration & Breakdown of Glucose

The first step is glucose (6-carbon) breaking into pyruvate (3-carbon) in the cytoplasm. Pyruvate's fate depends on oxygen:

Glucose (6-carbon) → Pyruvate (3-carbon) + Energy (in Cytoplasm)

1. Aerobic Respiration (Presence of Oxygen):

• Location: Mitochondria.

• Products: Carbon Dioxide + Water + Energy (High Amount). Complete glucose breakdown.

2. Anaerobic Respiration (Absence of Oxygen):

• Incomplete glucose breakdown, low energy. Also called fermentation.

• Alcoholic Fermentation (Yeast): Ethanol (Alcohol) + Carbon Dioxide + Energy (Low Amount).

• Lactic Acid Fermentation (Human Muscle Cells): Lactic Acid + Energy (Low Amount) (causes muscle cramps during vigorous exercise).

Human Respiratory System

Pathway of Air: Nostrils → Nasal Passage → Pharynx → Larynx → Trachea → Bronchi → Bronchioles → Alveoli.

Gaseous Exchange: Alveoli (tiny, balloon-like structures) are surrounded by capillaries. O₂ diffuses from alveoli to blood; CO₂ diffuses from blood to alveoli.

Mechanism of Breathing:

• Inhalation: Diaphragm contracts, chest cavity expands, air enters.

• Exhalation: Diaphragm relaxes, chest cavity contracts, air forced out.
  Aquatic Organisms: Use gills. Breathing rate is faster due to low dissolved oxygen in water.

3. Transportation

Transportation in Humans

Transportation is carried out by blood.

Blood Components:

1. Plasma: Liquid matrix; transports food, CO₂, wastes, hormones.

2. Red Blood Cells (RBCs): Contain hemoglobin for oxygen transport.

3. White Blood Cells (WBCs): "Soldiers of the body"; provide immunity.

4. Platelets: Aid in blood clotting.

Comparative Structure: Blood Vessels

The Human Heart & Double Circulation

The heart is a cardiac muscle organ with four chambers: Left Atrium, Right Atrium (upper); Left Ventricle, Right Ventricle (lower). The left side handles oxygenated blood, while the right side handles deoxygenated blood. The septum prevents mixing.

Path of Blood:

1. Pulmonary vein brings oxygenated blood to left atrium.

2. Left atrium to left ventricle, then forcefully to aorta (to body).

3. Body uses O₂, makes blood deoxygenated.

4. Vena cava brings deoxygenated blood to right atrium.

5. Right atrium to right ventricle, then to pulmonary artery (to lungs for oxygenation).
   Double Circulation: Blood passes through the heart twice in one complete cycle, ensuring efficient oxygen supply.

Circulation in Other Animals

Lymph (Tissue Fluid)

Lymph forms from leaked plasma, proteins, and WBCs from capillaries into tissue spaces. It is colorless (lacks RBCs).

Functions: Transports fat, provides immunity, drains excess tissue fluid.

Transportation in Plants

Plants use a vascular system with Xylem and Phloem.

Comparative Structure: Xylem vs. Phloem

4. Excretion

Excretion is the biological process of removing harmful metabolic wastes from the body. It is distinct from egestion (removal of undigested food). Major wastes include nitrogenous wastes like urea.

Human Excretory System

Components:

1. Kidneys: Filter blood, produce urine.

2. Ureters: Carry urine from kidneys to bladder.

3. Urinary Bladder: Stores urine.

4. Urethra: Expels urine.
   Kidney Functions: Remove nitrogenous wastes, regulate water balance, regulate blood pH.

The Nephron and Urine Formation

The nephron is the kidney's structural and functional unit, filtering blood and forming urine. It consists of a Bowman's Capsule, a glomerulus (capillary network), and a tubule.

Three Steps of Urine Formation:

1. Glomerular Filtration: Blood is filtered in the Glomerulus into the Bowman's capsule, forming the initial filtrate.

2. Selective Reabsorption: Useful substances (glucose, amino acids, water, salts) are reabsorbed from the tubule back into the blood.

3. Tubular Secretion: Additional waste products (urea, ions) are secreted from blood into the tubule.
   The remaining fluid is urine, which passes to the ureter, bladder, and is then expelled via the urethra.