Characteristics of Life

What’s the Big Idea

All Living Things Share Similar Characteristics of Life in Common

Learning Target

I can describe the characteristics of life shared by all living things.

• Living Thing = Organism

• Living Thing =Orgasm

Physical Body Structures

1. CELLS

2. GENETIC MATERIAL

LIFE PROCESSES

1. OBTAIN ENERGY

2. RESPIRATION

3. GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

4. MOVEMENT

5. RESPOND TO STIMULI

6. MAINTAIN HOMEOSTASIS

7. METABOLISM

8. EXCRETION

9. REPRODUCTION

10. EVOLUTION

Same processes, different methods

Fish Gills

Human Lungs

Roach Spiracles

1. CELLS

1. Cells are the smallest units of life.Living

Not Living

1. CELLS

2. There are Two Major Types of Cells

* Prokaryotic

* Eukaryotic

•Each organism is made of only one cell type

PROKARYOTIC CELLS• No organelles surrounded by membranes

• Chromosomes not stored in a nucleus.

• Only bacteria made of this cell type

EUKARYOTIC CELLS• Have organelles surrounded by membranes

• Chromosomes stored in nucleus

• Animals, Plants, Fungi, Protists

made of this cell type

1. CELLS

2. Unicellular –

Organism made of one cell

ex. Bacteria

3. Multicellular –

Organism made of many cells

ex. Animals, plants

1. CELLS

4. Eukaryotic cells of multicellular organisms develop specialized jobs through the process of differentiation.

Ex. Skin cells, blood cells, nerve cells

2. GENETIC MATERIAL

1. Each cell contains a copy of the genetic code

2.Genetic code determines:

a. Body Structure and Functions

b. Some personality traits

3. Two types of genetic codes:

DNA – DeoxyriboNucleic Acid

RNA – RiboNucleic Acid

2. GENETIC MATERIAL

All living things have DNA – it’s the universal genetic code

DNA is passed from one generation to the next through

reproduction

OBTAIN ENERGY

1. Energy is needed to power all life processes

2. Food provides energy (E)

OBTAIN ENERGY

2 Methods of Obtaining E rich food molecules

1.Autotrophs – Capture sunlight or chemical energy to make their own food molecules

(ex. Plants, algae, some bacteria)

2. Heterotrophs – Feeds on living or dead organisms or their products (honey,nectar,dung)

(ex. Animals, fungi, non-algae protists)

RESPIRATION

Two Meanings:

1.Gas exchange between organism and environment (lungs, gills, cell membrane)

2. Cellular process by which E is released from the breakdown of food molecules.

Aerobic Respiration – Cell must have oxygen

Anaerobic Respiration –Cell doesn’t use oxygen

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Growth is the result of cells dividing to make new cells (cell division)

Some cells become specialized and perform different jobs than others (cell differentiation)

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

2. Development – orderly series of changes that result from genetic expression.

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

3. Even though they may live a long time…..All living things eventually die

MOVEMENT

1. Organisms use different methods

of locomotion to move.

2. Plant movements are called tropisms.

Phototropism – movement toward light

Gravitropism – movement in response

to gravitational pull

RESPOND TO ENVIRONMENTAL STIMULI

Stimuli - factors in the environment that living things react to

(ex. Light, sound, temperature)

Response – physiological or behavioral reaction to stimulus. (ex. sweat)

HOMEOSTASIS

1.Processes that maintain constant conditions inside an organism’s body.

2.All body's systems work together to maintain homeostasis. Essential to survival.

3.Makes sure temperature, pH (acidity), and oxygen levels (and many other factors) are set just right for your cell survival.

4.Homeostasis levels are different for each species. 

HOMEOSTASIS

Ex. Human body temperature stays at

~ 98.6 degrees F

Thermoregulation

Ex. Blood Sugar Levels

High blood sugar triggers insulin release which helps cells take in sugar

Too little, stored sugar is released from liver to blood.

Diabetes – results from homeostasis failure

METABOLISM

1. All the chemical reactions that occur in the body

Ex. Photosynthesis, Cell Respiration, Digestion

Amazingly, many of these reactions are the same in different organisms.

EXCRETION

1. All organisms produce wastes as byproduct of their metabolism. Wastes are poisons that must be removed.

• Animals – urine, feces, sweat, CO2

lungs, skin, kidneys• Plants – O2 through leaf stoma• Unicellular organisms – excrete directly

through cell membrane

REPRODUCTION

Organisms produce more of their own kind by passing down DNA to their offspring through reproduction.

REPRODUCTION

Sexual - two sex cells required (sperm and egg)

Asexual - only one parent cell is needed

Bacterial binary fission

EVOLUTION

Evolution - change in a population of organisms over time

Individuals DO NOT evolve

Changes that result in adaptations for survival are naturally selected for.

Types of Adaptations

Physical / Anatomical (Body Structure)

Types of Adaptations

Physiological (Body processes)

Wood Frog

Poison Ivy

Rattlesnake

Types of Adaptations

Behavioral Monarchs

Wood frogs mating

Sage Grouse

Summary

Although there is great diversity among all the different living things, the characteristics of life unifies them as being alive.

Unity – Characteristics of Life

Diversity – Ways in which the structures and processes of organisms differ

Cool Down

A friend (who didn’t pass Biology) is trying to tell you that fire is alive. Use what you have learned to convince them otherwise. Write out what you would say to them.