Characteristics of Living ThingsSection 1

What is Biology?• “Bio-” life; living things• “-logy” the study of• Biology is the study of life• What makes a living thing?1) Nutrition2) Respiration3) Movement4) Growth5) Excretion6) Sensitivity7) Reproduction

What makes a Living Thing?1) Nutrition– Obtaining food to it can have

energy and the substances need to grow and repair itself

– Examples?• Carbohydrates, protein,

vitamins, minerals…• How do plants get nutrition?– Photosynthesis (energy from

light)– Soil

• How do animals get nutrition?– Ingestion (eating and drinking)

What makes a Living Thing?2) Respiration–Taking in gases to help make or break compounds– Help in chemical reactions

• What do gas do animals need?– O2 (Oxygen)

– Glucose + O2 CO2 +H2O +Energy

• What do gas do plants need?– CO2 (Carbon Dioxide)

– CO2 + H2O + Energy Glucose + O2

• Do all animals need oxygen?– No. Some bacteria live without O2

What makes a Living Thing?3) Movement •All living things can move but some move slower than others

•Animals move fast to catch food or escape danger–Cheetah 115 km/h–Falcon 320 km/h–Tiger beetle 494 km/h!

• Plants move slower–Leaves reach up to get as much sun as possible–Roots dive down to make the plant stable

What makes a Living Thing?4) Growth• Bodies grow in size over time• More cells are produced/ cells

grow in size5) Excretion• Waste material produced from

eating and growing• Metabolism chemical reactions

in the organism• Urine (pee), Fecal (poop), CO2…

• Is O2 from plants a waste material?– No. Plants can use O2 too

What makes a Living Thing?6) Sensitivity– Responding to the

environment • Stimulus a change or

information• Response reacting to

stimulus• What stimulus do you take

in everyday? How do you respond?

What makes a Living Thing?7) Reproduction– Making new organisms

• All living things die, so new living things must be produced to replace them

• Asexual organism divides into two identical copies

• Sexual two organisms combine gametes (sex cells) to produce an offspring– Produces variation which helps

surviving changes in the environment

Mrs. Gren• How can I remember all of

these new words?!• Memory device:– Movement– Respiration– Sensitivity– Growth– Reproduction– Excretion– Nutrition

• Memory devices are very common in biology

Homework1) Read 1.1-1.32) Vocabulary List for

ALL Bolded words3) Answer summary

questions on p. 3 in your notes

Wow! Biology is SO cool!