In the sentient levels, the goal is to prevail over active motes of various types that hunt and absorb other motes, including the player. Hunting them typically involves absorbing as many inactive motes as possible before chasing down the active ones with the extra mass one has gained.
S1O - artificial life
S1O1 - Absorb the Ovarium
The Ovarium is the first cell that you will encounter. It will attempt to move towards other cells, but will also try evading any attackers. It only shoots motes at a slow rate.
On the normal map, try moving downward to collect the blue motes. When you are large enough, which shouldn't take too long, return to the ovarium and try to claim it.
S1O2 - Absorb the Biophobe
The biophobe won't attack other motes, but if a larger mote gets too close, it will rapidly fire motes in an attempt to escape.