biology-unit-1 - Churchill High School
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Transcript biology-unit-1 - Churchill High School
An unmanned space
probe was sent to
Mars to check for
signs of life on the
planet. How could
such a probe confirm
the existence of life?
Unit One: The Nature
of Life
BIOLOGY
It is the study of living
things
Characteristics of Life
Each living thing is called an organism
Organisms have the following characteristics:
1) Living things are highly organized and contain
many complex chemical substances
2) Living things are made up of one or more cells,
which are the smallest units that can be said to be
alive
Organisms cont’d
Living things use energy
Living things have a definite form and a limited
size
Living things have a limited life span
Living things grow
Organisms cont’d
Living things respond to changes in the
environment
Living things are able to reproduce
Groups of living things evolve, or change, over
time
Non-living objects may show one or a few of
these characteristics but never all
There are some “borderline” cases:
Viruses- can be stored like chemicals in a bottles
but when inside living cells, they will reproduce
(but they still don’t have all the characteristics of
living things)
Life Processes
Living things carry out many different kinds of
processes
Nutrition
Transport
Respiration
Synthesis and Assimilation
Growth
Excretion
Regulation
Reproduction
Many of these life processes are required for
maintaining a constant environment within an
organism despite its changing external
environment
The condition of a constant internal
environment is known as homeostasis
Nutrition
All organisms take materials from its external
environment and changes it into a more
usable form
Nutrients are the substances that an
organism needs for energy, growth, repair or
maintenance
Taking in food from the environment is
ingestion
Digestion is the breakdown of food materials
into simpler forms
Transport
This is the process by which substances
enter and leave cells and become distributed
within the cells
Transport varies between single celled
organisms and multi-cellular organisms
Ex. Circulatory system in humans
Respiration
All life processes require a constant supply of
energy
Respiration deals with energy released within
cells
This may or may not involve breathing
Synthesis and Assimilation
Synthesis is when organisms are able to
combine simple substances chemically to
form more complex substances
Synthesis produces materials that can
become part of the structure of an organism
It also allows the organism to `grow
The incorporation of materials into the
organism’s body is called assimilation
Growth
Growth is the process by which living
organisms increase in size
This is one of the results of the assimilation of
nutrients
Growth in animals usually follows a pattern
and will end
Some plants will continuously grow
Excretion
All organisms produce waste
Waste, if accumulated, can be harmful to the
body
Removal of wastes is excretion
Regulation
All activities that help to maintain an
organism’s homeostasis make up the
process of regulation
Ex. Digestive system
Ex. Nervous system
Ex. Excretory system
Reproduction
This is the process by which living things
produce new organisms of their own kind
2 types:
Asexual (single individual produces offspring
identical to the parent)
Sexual (2 parents and offspring are not identical
to either parent)
Metabolism
All the chemical reactions occurring within the
cells of an organism are called its metabolism
This includes processes that build up
complex substances from simpler ones and
breaks down complex substances into
simpler ones
Questions
How are humans and crystals, such as those
that form on a window, alike in terms of their
signs of life? How are they different?
Looking at the pictures shown previously, list
all the characteristics that prove an organism
is living. (rock, plant, mouse, paramecium,
dead tree, cockroach, kitten)
Questions
List 4 ways in which a car is like a living thing.
List 4 ways a car is not a living thing.
In PAIRS ONLY- create a mnemonic device
that will help you remember all 9 life
processes
Ex. Planets- My Very Eager Mother Just
Served Us Nachos