Characteristics of Living Things
Biology is the Study of Life Biologists study the interactions of life.
How does one define life? All living things share specific common characteristics. There are 6 different characteristics that an organism MUST have to be considered living.
1. Cells/Organization Living things are highly organized: they are all composed of tiny living units called cells. Cell tissue organ organ system organism Some organisms consist of only a single cell, others have trillions. Unicellular Multicellular Image from:
2. Grow/Develop Living things grow over their lifetimes. Single-celled organisms increase their volume and multicellular organisms add to the number of cells in their body. Image from
3. Reproduction Individual organisms die, but the species continues because of reproduction. Reproduction with genetic material from one parent is called asexual. Sexual reproduction produces offspring with genetic material from two parents. Image from Image from
4. Energy Transformation Living things take in energy and change it into different forms. The transformed energy is used to power all of life’s processes (growth, etc.) Metabolism is the term for all of an organism’s energy transformations. Image from
4. Energy Transformation Living things have different ways of taking in their needed energy. Autotrophs: produce own food Heterotrophs: must consume food Herbivores eat plants Carnivores eat meat Omnivores eat plants and animals Decomposers: break down dead material for food
5. Homeostasis: Stable Internal Environment Living things maintain stable internal conditions when outside conditions change. There is a limit to the amount of change that can occur within an organism. Example: A person might sweat or shiver to adjust to a temperature change, but would only survive a few hours in water below 10° C.
6. Respond to the Environment Living things react to and interact with factors in their surroundings. These reactions can take place almost instantly or over a period of hours, days, months, years, or even generations.
6. Respond to the Environment When presented with the proper stimulus, a living organism will respond. A complex set of responses is called behavior. Image from betta/betta.html
6. Respond:Adaptations Over long periods of time (several to thousands of generations, depending on the organism), environmental pressures may lead to permanent genetic changes in groups of organisms. These changes are called adaptations. They help the organism survive and reproduce in its environment. Image from educational_trips.html
Non-Living In order to consider something non-living, it must not have any of the 6 characteristics of living things. Examples: chair, pen, desk, water or It was living or dead and has been processed (chemically altered) Examples: paper, leather shoes, apple juice
Dead In order to consider something dead, it must have been alive at one time and it no longer has any of the six characteristics of living things.
Living, Non-Living or Dead? You be the judge!
Tree
Living It is able to do all 6 functions necessary to all living things 1. It is made up of cells (organization). 2. It can grow and develop. 3. It can make seeds that grow into trees. 4. It can transform energy through photosynthesis. 5. It has homeostasis. 6. It can respond to environment/adapt.
Wood
Dead It is NOT able to do all 6 functions necessary to all living things 1. It is made up of cells (organization), but the cells are dead 2. It cannot grow in response to sunlight 3. It cannot make seeds that grow into trees. 4. It cannot transform energy through photosynthesis. 5. It does not have homeostasis. 6. It cannot respond to environment/adapt.
Paper
Non-Living Although as a tree it was once living, now it is NOT able to do all 6 functions necessary to all living things and it has been processed 1. It was made up of cells (organization), but the cells were broken down when the wood was chopped up to make the paper 2. It cannot grow in response to sunlight. 3. It cannot make seeds that grow into trees. 4. It cannot transform energy through photosynthesis. 5. It does not have homeostasis. 6. It cannot respond to environment/adapt.
Potential for life When something has the potential for life, it means that it could have all of the characteristics of a living thing if it was under the right conditions. Examples would be: Seeds Nuts Eggs
Matching _____ 1. dog _____ 2. seed _____ 3. leather wallet _____ 4. chicken bone _____ 5. metal desk _____ 6. lemonade A. Living B. Non-living C. Dead D. Potential for life
Matching _____ 1. dog _____ 2. seed _____ 3. leather wallet _____ 4. chicken bone _____ 5. metal desk _____ 6. lemonade A B B B C D A. Living B. Non-living C. Dead D. Potential for life
Summary LIVING Has all 6 characteristics necessary to living things. NON-LIVING Does not have all 6 characteristics necessary to living things. DEAD Used to have all 6 characteristics necessary to living things, but doesn't anymore. Example: Tree Example: Paper Example: Wood