Chapter 1 What is life?

The Characteristics of Living Things Vocabulary Organism-all living things All living things: Have cellular organization Contain similar chemicals Use energy Grow and develop Respond to their surroundings Reproduce The Characteristics of Living Things

All organisms are made of small building blocks called cells Cells are the basic units of function and structure in an organism Plant cell Animal Cell Organisms may be composed of ONE or MANY cells MULTI-cellular: composed of MANY cells UNI-cellular: composed of ONE cell (single-celled)

UNI-cellular (single-celled) MULTI- cellular Bacteria: most numerous organism on Earth one cell carries out all the functions necessary for the organism to stay alive Specialized cells: used for certain tasks EX- nerve cells, muscle cells, skin cells, etc *animals are multi-cellular*

*Growth and Development* Growth-the process of becoming larger Development-the process of change that occurs during life to produce a more complex organism In order to grow and develop, organisms need to use ENERGY to create new cells *Growth and Development*

Response to Surrounding STIMULUS RESPONSE A change in an organisms surroundings that cause it to react An action or change in behavior Response to Surrounding

Organisms reproduce to create offspring that are similar to their parents EX: Birds lay eggs Plants produce seeds which grow into the same type of plant – to produce their own seeds Bacteria produce other bacteria exactly like itself Reproduction