1. Characteristics of Living Things

2. Living things are made up of cells
Cells themselves are “alive”, they can grow, reproduce and respond to their surroundings
Some organisms have only one cell – unicellular
Many are multi-cellular and contain hundreds, thousand or even a trillion cells

3. Living Things Reproduce
Sexual reproduction – two cells from different parents (egg and sperm) unite to form the first cell of the new organism
Asexual – a new cell has a single parent – in some the parent cell divides in half forming the new organism

4. Living things are based on a genetic code (DNA)
Flies produce flies, dogs produce dogs, etc.
The parent’s DNA is passed on to the new cell which is why the new organism has similar traits.

5. All Living Things Grow and Develop
All living things grow during at least a part of their life. Multicellular things also develop over time – the original cell reproduces making more, the cell differentiate into specialized cells (heart cells, liver, cells, blood cells) and often changes occur from youth to adult (puberty, metamorphisis, etc)

6. Living things obtain and use materials and energy
Organisms need materials (food, water, nutrients) and energy that comes from the breakdown of these materials - called metabolism – to grow and develop

7. Living things respond to their environment
A stimulus is a signal to which an organism responds
External stimuli – come from outside sources, temperature, light, etc. A plant will bend toward light from a window for example
Internal stimuli – your body produces more insulin after you eat something high in sugar

8. Living things maintain a stable internal environment
Organisms need materials (food, water, nutrients) and energy that comes from the breakdown of these materials - called metabolism – to grow and develop
Homeostasis – maintain a stable internal environment

9. As a group living things change over time.
Evolution occurs over time for a species.
Over a few years the changes seem insignificant over hundreds or thousands of years they become more obvious