CHARACTERISTICS OF LIFE What does it mean to be alive?

C HARACTERISTICS OF L IFE All living things share certain characteristics When an organism has ALL of these, it is considered living Anything that has ALL of the Characteristics of Life is called an organism

C ELLS /O RGANIZATION All living things are made of cells. Different cells have different jobs Nerve Cells Blood Cells Skin Cells

E NERGY U SE Energy is used for life processes Transport Nutrition/Digestion Excretion Respiration Locomotion Growth/Development Reproduction Maintaining Homeostasis Sum of all chemical processes that occur in an organism is metabolism

G ROWTH AND D EVELOPMENT Growth: Increase in the amount of living material/formation of new structures Development: All of the changes that take place during the life of an organism

M AINTAIN H OMEOSTASIS Living things adjust to their environment. Stimulus: Something in the environment (internal or external) that causes a reaction Reaction: Response to stimuli

A DAPT /E VOLVE Adaptation: Structure, behavior, or process that helps an organism survive and reproduce Inherited from previous generations Evolution: Gradual change in a species through adaptations over time

R EPRODUCTION Living things have the ability to produce fertile offspring Reproduction is essential for the survival of a species, not a single organism

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P ROVE THESE ARE A LIVE !