WHAT IS LIFEWHAT IS LIFE? Unit 8: Structure and Function of Cells

WHAT IS LIFE?Unit 8:

Structure and Function of Cells

BART SIMPSON: LIVING or NON-LIVING?

CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING THINGS

• All living things share 6 important characteristics with all other living things. All living things…

1. Are made of cells

2. Contain similar chemicals

3. Use energy

4. Grow and develop

5. Respond to their surroundings

6. Can reproduce

CELLULAR ORGANIZATION

• All organisms are made of cells, which carry on the function necessary to sustain life.

• Organisms may be made up of just one cell, such as in bacteria; or made up of about 50 trillion cells such as in Justin Bieber.

THE CHEMICALS OF LIFE

• All living things are composed of chemical compounds.

• The most abundant is water.• Carbohydrates are a main energy

source.• Proteins and lipids are building

materials.• Nucleic acids are the genetic

instructions that direct a cells activities.

ENERGY USE• Cell of organisms use energy to do what living things

must do, such as grow and repair injured parts.

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

• Living things grow and develop. Growth is the process of becoming larger, while development is the process of change that occurs during an organism’s life to produce a more complex organism.

RESPONSE TO SURROUNDINGS

• Like a plant bending toward the light, all organisms react to changes in their environment.

• A change that causes an organism to react is called a stimulus.

REPRODUCTION• Living organisms have the ability to reproduce, or

produce offspring that are similar to the parents.