1.3 Characteristics of Life

1. Living things are made of cells

• These units help to organize their materials.

Examples of CellsNerve cell

Red blood cell

Fat cell

Egg and sperm

Cheek cell

2. Living things reproduce

• Why is this so important?

• How do plants reproduce?

• How do animals reproduce?

pollenEgg and sperm

Euglena separate

Types of Reproduction

• Sexual Reproduction• Two parents unite to

form a new organism

• Asexual Reproduction

• A single parent divides itself two produce offspring

3. Living things are based on a universal genetic code (DNA).

• All living things have the same bases (A, T, C, G) in their DNA-they are just in different order

4. Living things grow and develop

• Each organism has a pattern of growth and development characteristic of its species.

5. Living things obtain and use

materials and energy• Organisms take in

energy and transform it to perform all of life’s activities.

-metabolism

-photosynthesis

Metabolism

• = Combination of chemical reactions through which an organism builds up or breaks down materials.

6. Living Things Respond to Their Environment

• All organisms respond to environmental stimuli.

• Nikon MicroscopyU Movie Gallery: Paramecium (Protozoan) Video No. 3

Eye spot (responds to light)

Stimulus-Response

• A stimulus is a signal to which an organism responds.

7. Living Things Maintain a Stable Internal Environment

• The environment outside an organism may change, but regulatory mechanisms maintain an organisms’ internal environments within limits that sustain life.

• HowStuffWorks "Homeostasis"

Homeostasis

homeostasis  • The ability to maintain

a relatively constant internal environment.

• EXAMPLES: body temp.

• Blood sugar levels• Water levels• pH

Kidney used for water regulation

Gets rid of wastes

8. Taken as a group, living things change over time.

• Evolution

BIG IDEAS IN BIOLOGY

• Science as a Way of Knowing:•Observe•Question•Experiment• Research• CHAPTER 1

BIG IDEAS IN BIOLOGY

• Interdependence in Nature• All forms of life are connected in

the biosphere with the cycling of energy and matter

• CHAPTERS 3-6

BIG IDEAS IN BIOLOGY

• Matter and Energy• Matter needed for

nutrients • Energy needed to fuel life’s

processes• CHAPTER 2

BIG IDEAS IN BIOLOGY

• Cellular Basis of Life• Smallest units of life• Organisms are made of one

cell or many cells• CHAPTER 7

BIG IDEAS IN BIOLOGY

• Information and Heredity

• All life has a genetic code in DNA

• CHAPTERS 11-14

BIG IDEAS IN BIOLOGY

• Unity and Diversity of Life• All life is made of carbon• All life uses protein to build

its structures• All store genetic information• CHAPTER 2

BIG IDEAS IN BIOLOGY

• Evolution• Living things change through time• Relationships of living things

through 3.5 billion years• CHAPTERS

• 15-17

BIG IDEAS IN BIOLOGY• Structure and Function

• Structure design enabled function

CHAPTER 7

BIG IDEAS IN BIOLOGY

• Homeostasis• Organisms must expend energy

to maintain internal environment in the face of a changing external environment

• CHAPTER 35

Br-r-r-r-r

BIG IDEAS IN SCIENCE

• Science, Technology, and Society (STS) (‘should we’ questions)

• Mad Cow Disease• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome• Genetic Engineering• Cloning• p. 23, p. 253, p. 456, and more

BRANCHES OF BIOLOGY

PUT IN ORDER LARGEST TO SMALLEST

• Biosphere

• Ecosystem

• Community

• Population

• Organism

• Organ Systems

• Organs

• Tissues

• Cells

• Molecules