1. Emergent Properties of Life

2. Living Things are Organized
Organization of living systems begins with atoms, which make up basic building blocks called elements.
The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all living things.
Different cells combine to make up tissues.
Tissues combine to make up an organ.
Specific organs work together as a system .
Multicellular organisms (each an “individual” within a particular species) contain organ systems.

3. And up …
A species in a particular area (e.g., gray squirrels in a forest) constitutes a population.
Interacting populations in a particular area comprise a community.
A community plus its physical environment is an ecosystem.
The biosphere is comprised of regions of the Earth’s crust, waters, and atmosphere inhabited by organisms.

4. Organization continued
Each level of organization is more complex than the level preceding it.
Each level of organization has emergent properties due to interactions between the parts making up the whole; all emergent properties follow the laws of physics and chemistry.

5. What is it? Properties that appear as complexity increases.
Produced by interaction of the components of the whole.
The whole is greater than its parts.

6. Example of Emergent Properties

7. Emergent Property
Smooth liner tissue that allows diffusion, filtration and secretion (property not exhibited by individual cells - can’t form a barrier alone). Capillaries transport blood (property not exhibited by flat sheet of endothelial cells).