1. Studying Life
1-3

2. Key Concepts Pg 15 What are the characteristics of living things?
Meaning: What makes something “alive”?
How can life be studied at different levels?
Why can’t a biologist study all of biology?
By organizing into levels, we create branches and specializations within the field of biology!

3. Vocabulary Biology: science that studies life
Cell: smallest unit that makes an organism
Homeostasis: constant internal conditions
Sexual Reproduction: 2 different parents reproduce
Asexual Reproduction: single parent reproduction
Metabolism: sum of chemical reactions used to build or break down materials
Stimulus: signal to which an organism responds

4. Characteristics of Life
Examples
Living things are made up of units called cells.
Many microorganisms consist of only a single cell. Animals and trees are multicellular.
Living things reproduce
Maple trees reproduce sexually. A hydra can reproduce asexually by budding.
Living things are based on a universal genetic code.
Flies produce flies. Dogs produce dogs. Seeds from maple trees produce maple trees.
Living things grow and develop.
Flies begin life as eggs, then become maggots, and then become adult flies.
Living things obtain and use materials and energy.
Plants obtain their energy from sunlight. Animals obtain their energy from the food they eat.
Living things respond to their environment.
Leaves and stems of plants grow toward light.
Living things maintain a stable internal environment.
Despite changes in the temperature of the environment, a robin maintains a constant body temperature.
Taken as a group, living things change over time.
Plants that live in the desert survive because they have become adapted to the desert conditions.

5. Which is alive?
Make an argument by listing the examples of characteristics that could make the following objects alive:
For help read pgs !

6. Branches of Biology -Fill in the boxes with the level and description
Most Diverse B E C P

7. Branches continued… O T
Least Diverse C
Not Living! M

8. QUESTION
If molecules aren’t alive, why are they studied by biologists?
Molecular biology and biochemistry are interrelated! They hold the key in truly understanding the workings of the cell!

9. You’re never alone! Biology cannot be studied in a bubble!
You must apply information attained from not only chemistry but also physics in order to “get it”!
This means you WILL be using what you learned last year!