CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING THINGS (Organisms)

CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING THINGS All living things are made up of cells Unicellular – organisms that are made of only one cell Multicellular – organisms that are made of more than one cell Colonial – unicellular organisms that live in a group

CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING THINGS All living things have the ability to reproduce to produce new organisms Sexual reproduction – two cells from different individuals combine to form the first cells of a new organism Asexual reproduction – all or part of the organism is used to make a new organism

CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING THINGS All living things will grow, develop and age Growth – some cells get larger and other new cells are added Development – cells and body parts become specialized for certain jobs Aging – cells and body parts become damaged and cannot be repaired

CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING THINGS All living things Obtain and Use Energy from Environment Anabolism – process of making complex substances from simpler substances Catabolism – breaking down complex substances into simpler substances Metabolism – sum of all of the anabolism and catabolism of an organism

CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING THINGS All living things Obtain and Use Energy from Environment Autotroph – organism that can make its own food from it’s environment Heterotroph – organism that has to obtain its energy from another organism

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CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING THINGS All living things Respond to the Environment Stimulus – anything in the environment that causes a reaction from an organism Reflex – automatic response to a stimulus Behavior – learned or inherited response to a stimulus

CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING THINGS All living things Respond to the Environment (continued) Homeostasis – an organism’s response to the environment that keep conditions suitable for life

When your body gets too warm due to activity or stress, you will sweat to cool it down.

CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING THINGS Are all based on the same chemical code DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) stores information on how to make a living thing and how it is supposed to work

CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING THINGS All groups of organisms evolve over time Evolution is the change in the characteristics of a group of organisms over time Individual organisms do NOT evolve

Review Questions: Please answer on separate paper. Describe unicellular, multicellular and colonial organisms in terms of number of cells present. How is asexual reproduction different from sexual reproduction? How is anabolism different from catabolism? What are the three stages of the life cycle? How are heterotrophs different from autotrophs?

Review Questions: Please answer on separate paper. How is a behavior different from a reflex? What is homeostasis? What chemical is the basis of all life on earth?