Characteristics of Life

1. Characteristics of Life

2. What’s the Big Idea All Living Things Share Similar Characteristics of Life in Common

3. Learning Target • I can describe the characteristics of life shared by all living things.

4. Living Thing = Organism • Living Thing = Orgasm

5. Physical Body Structures • CELLS • GENETIC MATERIAL

6. LIFE PROCESSES • OBTAIN ENERGY • RESPIRATION • GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT • MOVEMENT • RESPOND TO STIMULI • MAINTAIN HOMEOSTASIS • METABOLISM • EXCRETION • REPRODUCTION • EVOLUTION

7. Same processes, different methods Roach Spiracles Fish Gills Human Lungs

8. 1. CELLS 1. Cells are the smallest units of life. Living Not Living

9. 2. There are Two Major Types of Cells * Prokaryotic * Eukaryotic Each organism is made of only one cell type 1. CELLS

10. PROKARYOTIC CELLS • Noorganelles surrounded by membranes • Chromosomes not stored in a nucleus. • Only bacteria made of this cell type

11. EUKARYOTIC CELLS • Have organelles surrounded by membranes • Chromosomes stored in nucleus • Animals, Plants, Fungi, Protists made of this cell type

12. 1. CELLS 2. Unicellular – Organism made of one cell ex. Bacteria 3. Multicellular – Organism made of many cells ex. Animals, plants

13. 1. CELLS 4. Eukaryotic cells of multicellular organisms develop specialized jobs through the process of differentiation. Ex. Skin cells, blood cells, nerve cells

14. 2. GENETIC MATERIAL 1. Each cell contains a copy of the genetic code 2.Genetic code determines: a. Body Structure and Functions b. Some personality traits 3. Two types of genetic codes: DNA – DeoxyriboNucleic Acid RNA – RiboNucleic Acid

15. 2. GENETIC MATERIAL • All living things have DNA – it’s the universal genetic code • DNA is passed from one generation to the next through reproduction

16. OBTAIN ENERGY • Energy is needed to power all life processes • Food provides energy (E)

17. OBTAIN ENERGY 2 Methods of Obtaining E rich food molecules • Autotrophs – Capture sunlight or chemical energy to make their own food molecules (ex. Plants, algae, some bacteria) 2. Heterotrophs – Feeds on living or dead organisms or their products (honey,nectar,dung) (ex. Animals, fungi, non-algae protists)

18. RESPIRATION Two Meanings: • Gas exchange between organism and environment (lungs, gills, cell membrane) 2. Cellular process by which E is released from the breakdown of food molecules. Aerobic Respiration – Cell must have oxygen Anaerobic Respiration –Cell doesn’t use oxygen

19. GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT • Growth is the result of cells dividing to make new cells (cell division) • Some cells become specialized and perform different jobs than others (cell differentiation)

20. GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 2. Development – orderly series of changes that result from genetic expression.

21. GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 3. Even though they may live a long time…..All living things eventually die

22. MOVEMENT • Organisms use different methods of locomotion to move. 2. Plant movements are called tropisms. Phototropism – movement toward light Gravitropism – movement in response to gravitational pull

23. RESPOND TO ENVIRONMENTAL STIMULI Stimuli - factors in the environment that living things react to (ex. Light, sound, temperature) Response – physiological or behavioral reaction to stimulus. (ex. sweat)

24. HOMEOSTASIS • Processes that maintain constant conditions inside an organism’s body. • All body's systems work together to maintain homeostasis. Essential to survival. • Makes sure temperature, pH (acidity), and oxygen levels (and many other factors) are set just right for your cell survival. • Homeostasis levels are different for each species. 

25. HOMEOSTASIS Ex. Human body temperature stays at ~ 98.6 degrees F Thermoregulation Ex. Blood Sugar Levels High blood sugar triggers insulin release which helps cells take in sugar Too little, stored sugar is released from liver to blood. Diabetes – results from homeostasis failure

26. METABOLISM • All the chemical reactions that occur in the body Ex. Photosynthesis, Cell Respiration, Digestion Amazingly, many of these reactions are the same in different organisms.

27. EXCRETION • All organisms produce wastes as byproduct of their metabolism. Wastes are poisons that must be removed. • Animals – urine, feces, sweat, CO2 lungs, skin, kidneys • Plants – O2 through leaf stoma • Unicellular organisms – excrete directly through cell membrane

28. REPRODUCTION • Organisms produce more of their own kind by passing down DNA to their offspring through reproduction.

29. REPRODUCTION • Sexual - two sex cells required (sperm and egg) • Asexual - only one parent cell is needed Bacterial binary fission

30. EVOLUTION • Evolution - change in a populationof organisms over time • Individuals DO NOT evolve • Changes that result in adaptations for survival are naturally selected for.

31. Types of Adaptations • Physical / Anatomical (Body Structure)

32. Types of Adaptations • Physiological (Body processes) Rattlesnake Wood Frog Poison Ivy

33. Types of Adaptations • Behavioral Monarchs Sage Grouse Wood frogs mating

34. Summary • Although there is great diversity among all the different living things, the characteristics of life unifies them as being alive. • Unity – Characteristics of Life • Diversity – Ways in which the structures and processes of organisms differ

35. Cool Down • A friend (who didn’t pass Biology) is trying to tell you that fire is alive. Use what you have learned to convince them otherwise. Write out what you would say to them.