Download Properties of life!

Properties of life
What makes something alive?
Biology
• Biology:
– “Bio” is a latin prefix that means life.
– The “-ology” suffix means “the study of”.
• Biology is the study of life, but what is
really considered “alive”?
– Are plants considered alive?
– How about bread mold?
– What about rust on iron?
More complicated than you
thought…
• Some things may seem like they’re alive,
but really aren’t.
– In order to make things simpler, biologists
have come up with set characteristics that
help to determine if something is alive or not.
The 7 properties of all living things
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Cellular organization
Homeostasis
Metabolism
Responsiveness
Reproduction
Heredity
Growth
Cellular organization
• Cells are the smallest unit capable of all
life units
– Cells are highly organized, tiny structures,
enclosed in a thin membrane.
– They are the basic structure of all living
things.
– The cells of all living things contain the same
basic properties.
Homeostasis
• All living organisms must maintain a stable
internal environment in order to function
properly.
– If you get hot what does your body do to
maintain temperature homeostasis?
– If you drink too much water, what does your
body do to maintain homeostasis?
Metabolism
• Living things must carry out many
chemical reactions in order to obtain
energy.
• Metabolism is the sum of all these
chemical reactions.
– Where to plants get their energy from?
– What about animals?
– Where does all energy come from?
Responsiveness
• Living organisms must respond to their
environment.
– How do you respond if its very cold outside?
– How do plants respond to sunlight?
Phototropism
Reproduction
• Most living things can reproduce.
– Reproduction is the process of making more
of their own kind.
– No organism lives forever, so reproduction is
an essential part of life.
Heredity
• When an organism reproduces, it passes
on its own traits to its offspring. This is
known as Heredity.
– Inheireted characteristics change over
generations.
– The process is called evoloution.
Growth
• All living organisms grow.
– Some things grow briefly.
– Other organisms grow for hundreds of years.
• As organisms grow, they change. This is called
development.
– Development differs from evolution because
development happens to an individual over a lifetime
– Evolution happens to a population, over several
thousand lifetimes.