Characteristics of Living Things Section 1

What is Biology? “Bio-” life; living things “-logy” the study of Biology is the study of life What makes a living thing? Nutrition Respiration Movement Growth Excretion Sensitivity Reproduction

What makes a Living Thing? Nutrition Obtaining food to it can have energy and the substances need to grow and repair itself Examples? Carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, minerals… How do plants get nutrition? Photosynthesis (energy from light) Soil How do animals get nutrition? Ingestion (eating and drinking)

What makes a Living Thing? 2) Respiration Taking in gases to help make or break compounds Help in chemical reactions What do gas do animals need? O2 (Oxygen) Glucose + O2  CO2 +H2O +Energy What do gas do plants need? CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) CO2 + H2O + Energy  Glucose + O2 Do all animals need oxygen? No. Some bacteria live without O2

What makes a Living Thing? 3) Movement All living things can move but some move slower than others Animals move fast to catch food or escape danger Cheetah 115 km/h Falcon 320 km/h Tiger beetle 494 km/h! Plants move slower Leaves reach up to get as much sun as possible Roots dive down to make the plant stable

What makes a Living Thing? 4) Growth Bodies grow in size over time More cells are produced/ cells grow in size 5) Excretion Waste material produced from eating and growing Metabolism chemical reactions in the organism Urine (pee), Fecal (poop), CO2… Is O2 from plants a waste material? No. Plants can use O2 too

What makes a Living Thing? 6) Sensitivity Responding to the environment Stimulus a change or information Response reacting to stimulus What stimulus do you take in everyday? How do you respond?

What makes a Living Thing? 7) Reproduction Making new organisms All living things die, so new living things must be produced to replace them Asexual organism divides into two identical copies Sexual two organisms combine gametes (sex cells) to produce an offspring Produces variation which helps surviving changes in the environment

Mrs. Gren How can I remember all of these new words?! Memory device: Movement Respiration Sensitivity Growth Reproduction Excretion Nutrition Memory devices are very common in biology

Wow! Biology is SO cool! Homework Read 1.1-1.3 Vocabulary List for ALL Bolded words Answer summary questions on p. 3 in your notes