Transcript Characteristics of Living Things

Characteristics of Living
Things
Period 3
Organization & Cells
- organization is a high degree of order within
an organism's internal and external parts and
in its interactions with the living world.
-cell is the smallest unit that can perform all of
life's processes.
-unicellular is when an organism is made up of
only one cell.
Response to Stimuli
● Physical or chemical change in the internal
or external environment.
● Organisms need to respond and react to
changes in their environment to stay alive.
Homeostasis
● Homeostasis, the maintenance of a stable
level of internal conditions. (Example: A cell
can control the amount of water in its body
by taking in or releasing water. If a cell gets
too much water it will suffocate itself and die
and visa versa.)
● All living things have mechanisms that help
them control their internal conditions and
without them, everything would die.
Homeostasis
● Organisms have regulators that help control
their inner conditions like temperature, water
content, and the uptake of nutrients.
(Example: An owl can keep its body
temperature at 40 degrees Celsius by
burning fuel for heat. Also, its feathers help
to provide extra added heat to protect it.)
Metabolism
● metabolism- the sum of all the chemical
reactions that take in and transform energy
and materials from the environment
● plants, algae, and some bacteria =
photosynthesis
● other organisms eat prey for metabo
● some organisms depend on food energy
from other organisms
Growth & Development
● All living things grow in size
● Organisms mature through cell enlargment
and division
● Cell division is the formation of 2 new cells
from an existing cell
● An adult organism is composed of many
different cells that serve many different
purposes
● Cells commonly enlarge following cell
division
Growth & Development
● Development is the process that an
organism takes part in to become a fully
formed adult
● Development involves cell division,
differentation, and specialization
● As a result of specialization, different cells
have different roles
● Some non-living things, like crystals and
icicles grow by accumulating more and more
of the material or mineral they are composed
Reproduction
Reproduction is the process of organisms
producing new ones.
Reproduction is not essential for the survival of
an organism.
Essential for continuation of species.
Organisms transmit hereditary ingo to their
offspring
A short segment of DNA that contains a single
trait is called a gene.
Reproduction
DNA contians all the genes that the cell will
ever need for making the structures and
chemicals necessary for life.
Sexual reproduction- hereditary ingo
recombines form two organisms of same
speices.
Change Through Time
● Living organism evolve or change through
time.
● Ability of population of organism to change
over time is important for survival.
● Explaining the diversity of life-forms.