The Characteristics of Life

Living vs. Non-Living Living things are made up of cells. Non-living things are not made up of cells.

A Tale of Two Dogs Jennifer’s Dog Meredith’s Dog

Jennifer’s Dog Meredith’s Dog Make a list of all the things that Jennifer and her dog will do that Meredith and her dog won’t do.

Organisms An organism is anything that has or once had all of the characteristics of life Can be made of one cell – unicellular Example: Bacteria, Ameoba, Paramecium Can be made of many cells – multicellular Example: Fungi, Plants, Animals

Characteristics of Living Things Life functions – processes carried out by all living things that are necessary for life. If the organism’s cells perform ALL of the life functions, the organisms is considered to be alive.

1. Nutrition Creating or taking in food to get energy

2. Transport Moving things around inside a cell or organism

3. Respiration Completing chemical reactions to get energy stored in food

4. Excretion Eliminating waste products

5. Synthesis Making simple molecules into more complex ones

6. Growth Increasing the size or number of cells

7. Locomotion Moving from place to place

8. Reproduction Producing organisms of the same type

9. Regulation Controlling all the activities of the organism To maintain homeostasis