1-1 Characteristics of Life

Objectives Relate relavance of biology to a person’s life Describe the importance of Biology in human society List the characteristics of living things Summarize the hierarchy of organization within multicellular organisms Distinguish between homeostasis & metabolism and between growth, development & reproduction

Biology: the study of life –The natural world –How it works –Large and small Subsets also use suffix “ology” –Can you name an example?

Biology & Society You have to make decisions Make informed ones Technology is advancing faster than morality

Characteristics of Life 7 characteristics to classify it as alive 1.Organized & Has cells -Organized inside & out -Cells are the smallest unit that can perform life’s activities -Unicelllar -Multicellular -Hierarchy of organization

2. Everything alive responds to stimuli Changes happen inside and outside of us It elicits (causes us to respond)

3. & 4. Homeostasis & Metabolism -Keeping “dynamic equilibrium” -Like a thermostat -Metabolism: all the chemical reactions inside an organism -Breaking down -Building up

5. Growth & Development Are crystals alive? Water expands when it cools is it alive? Cells grow and divide. –Its how we get fixed when we get cut –Whole organisms develop into mature adults

6. Reproduction Don’t need it to survive Species need reproduction –There’s lots of ways to do it –Sexual vs. Asexual. What does the prefix mean? Gene: short segment of DNA that contains instructions for a single trait.

7. Change through Time/ evolution A population of organisms changes as different couples produce different offspring that survive at different rates Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny

1.How does biology affect a person’s daily life?

2. How does biology affect society?

3. Name the characteristics shared by living things

4. Summarize the hierarchy of organization found in multi-cellular organisms

5. What are the different functions of homeostasis and metabolism in living things?

6. How does growth among living and nonliving things differ?

7. Why is reproduction an important characteristic of life?

8. Why are crystals alive?