What Does it Mean to Be Alive?

1
What Does it Mean to Be Alive?
What Are The Characteristics of Life?
2
Exploring LIFE

• Biology The study of Life
• What does it mean to be ALIVE?
• How do you know if something is ALIVE?

3
Is Fire ALIVE?
4
Characteristics of Life!
All living things share some basic properties ?
Seven Characteristics of Life

• M ? Metabolism
• R ? Respond to Stimuli
• G ? Growth Development
• R ? Reproduction
• E ? Evolve Adapt
• C ? Composed of cells (1)
• H ? Homeostasis

5
METABOLISM
All living organisms obtain use energy to grow,
develop, repair damage, and reproduce
6
Living Organisms

• 1. PRODUCERS
• - Plants and other photosynthetic organisms
• - Produce their own food (from CO2, H2O, the
  sun)
• upon which the entire ecosystem depends
• 2. CONSUMERS
• - Animals
• Obtain nutrients and energy from consuming the
  food made by producers

7
Anabolism
Process of building up complex substances from
simpler substances

• Building up cells and cellular components
• Photosynthesis

8
Catabolism
Process of breaking down complex substances into
simpler substances to release energy

• Digestion
• Cellular Respiration

9
Metabolism
All chemical reactions occurring within an
organism

• Anabolism Catabolism Metabolism

10
All Living Things Respond to Their Environment
Example A plants leaves and stems grow toward
light

• Organisms react to stimuli
• Light
• Temperature
• Odor
• Sound
• Gravity
• Heat
• Water
• Pressure

11
Growth Development
ALL ORGANISMS GROW DEVELOP
12
All Living Things Grow
Growth means to get bigger in size
13
All Living Things Develop
Development involves a change in the physical
form or physiological make-up of an organism
14
All Living Things Reproduce
Reproduction is the process of producing new
organisms of the same type
Asexual Reproduction

• A single parent organism reproducing by itself

15
Sexual Reproduction

• Two different parent organisms contribute genetic
  information
• Involves the combination of male and female sex
  cells

16
All Organisms Pass Along Hereditary Traits
Genes carry hereditary information Genes are
composed of DNA Heredity is the reason children
resemble their parents
Mutations change DNA code and can be passed from
generation to generation
17
Evolution

• While looking for the unity of life processes ?
  Recognize the great diversity of appearance and
  behavior of species on this Earth
• Species differ greatly in their adaptations to
  the many distinct environments on Earth
• Both the unity and diversity of organisms can be
  explained by the mechanisms of evolution

18
All Living Things Adapt to Their
Environment Through Evolution
Adaptation

• A process that enables organisms to become better
  suited to their environment
• Species obtain adaptations through evolution,
  which occurs over great periods of time

19
An Example of Adaptation
Desert plants have succulent waxy leaves and
stems to store water and reduce water loss
20
Cellular Organization

• Living organisms
• Consist of organic molecules ? organized to form
  cells
• Cells ? Lifes basic units of structure and
  function
• Composed of one or more cells

21
All Living Things are Made Up of Cells
Smallest unit capable of all life functions
Unicellular Organisms

• Entire organism is made up of one single cell
• Bacteria and protists

22
Multicellular Organisms

• The organism is made up of many cells
• Cells have specialized functions within the
  organism

23
All Organisms Maintain Homeostasis

A stable state of conditions in the body that are
necessary for life

• Body temperature
• Blood volume
• pH balance
• Water balance

24
Living Organisms are Homeostatic

• Homeostasis
• Ability of an organism to maintain relatively
  constant internal conditions
• Example Temperature regulation in the human
  body
• All organ systems contribute to homeostasis

25
Characteristics of Life!
All living things share 7 basic properties ?
Seven Characteristics of Life

• M ? Metabolism
• R ? Respond to Stimuli
• G ? Growth Development
• R ? Reproduction
• E ? Evolve Adapt
• C ? Composed of cells (1)
• H ? Homeostasis
• Disclaimer This powerpoint presentation is a
  compilation of various works.