CHARACTERISTICS OF LIFEDefining what it means to be alive

7th grade scienceMr. Ardito

Metabolism

The total of all chemical reactions and life processes that allow an organism to take care of itself.

Everything that happens in your cells is a set of chemical reactions.

Regulation:Responding to the

environment

Living things can monitor (perceive) and respond to changes in their internal and external environment.

Sometimes they can adapt to these changes, sometimes they can’t.

Locomotion

The movement of an organism towards food, water, shelter, mates.

Synthesis

Organisms build big things from little things

They make large molecules that they need from smaller building blocks.

Transport

Movement of stuff within the organism

Like blood through our arteries and veins

Respiration

Burning food for fuel

sugar + oxygen ---> carbon dioxide + water + energy

Nutrition

Living things obtain energy from their environment.

Photosynthesis is key:

carbon dioxide + water -----------> sugar + oxygen + waterSunlight

Growth

More cells and bigger cells

Humans start as 1 cell and grown and develop into an organism of about 50 trillion cells.

Excretion

Getting rid of waste

4 types of excretion

urination (peeps)

defecation (poops)

exhaling

sweating

Reproduction

Living things come from other living things.

Living things make copies of themselves.

Asexual reproduction - only 1 parent

Sexual reproduction - two parents

A Way to RememberM

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A Way to RememberMetabolism

Regulation

Locomotion

Synthesis

Transport

Respiration

Nutrition

Growth

Excretion

Reproduction

How will you remember them?

A song

A poem

A poster

Flash cards

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