Life
Question How do we know what is alive and what is not? What are the properties of Life?
1. Order Living things are highly organized in structure and function.
Analyzing a biological structure gives us clues about what it does and how it works
Structure and Function are related at all levels system organism
2. Reproduction Organisms reproduce their own kind.
Life on Earth uses the nucleic acid and code for Heritable Information.
3. Growth & Development Organisms increase in size and complexity.
Growth - increase in size. Development - increase in complexity. Life - grows by internal changes.
4. Energy Utilization Organisms take in energy and transform it to do work.
Organisms are “open” systems, they must continually take in energy.
5. Response To Environment Organisms respond to changes or stimuli in their environment.
The speed of the response may be “fast” or “slow”.
6. Homeostasis Organisms maintain their internal environment within tolerable limits. “homeo” = same “stasis” = state
7. Evolutionary Adaptation Organisms change over time as they adapt to their environment.
Populations must adapt, move, or die!
8. The Cell Is the “basic unit” of Life
9. Organisms Die