Characteristics of Living Things It grows, it moves, it reproduces Is it alive?

Characteristics of Living Things  Orderly structure  Produce offspring  Grow and develop  Adjust to changes in environment  Anything that has all these qualities is an organism

Living things have orderly structure  Cellular organization – all living things are made up of cells, parts work together

Living things produce offspring  Reproduction – the production of offspring, more organisms like them  Individuals die, must replace themselves  Species – group of organisms that can interbreed and produce offspring

Living things grow and develop  Organisms change over lifetime Start as one cell, become adult  Growth – increase in amount of living material, form new structures  Development – all changes during life of an organism

Living things adapt to changes  Changes in environment (air, water, weather, temperature, other organisms) Stimulus - change in environment Response – reaction to the stimulus

Living things adapt to changes  Organisms also adjust to internal changes  Homeostasis – regulation of internal environment  Reproduction, growth, adapting to change require energy Energy – the ability to do work

Living things adapt to changes  Adapting to change over many generations  Adaptation – any structure, behavior, internal process that allows organism to respond to stimuli better Allows them to survive and have more offspring

Living things adapt to changes  Over time more adaptations lead th change in species - evolution

Characteristics of Living Things  Orderly structure  Produce offspring  Grow and develop  Adjust to changes in environment Stimulus/Response Internal environment – homeostasis Adaptation/Evolution