Characteristics of Life

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Characteristics of Life

• What defines LIFE?

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1. Cells

• All living things have at least one cell.

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2. Organization

• Living things are highly organized, from the
• smallest part to the largest.
• Complex organism, like humans, are
• multicellular. Cells are organized into tissues,
• which have a common function like a muscle.
• Tissues are organized into organs like the heart.

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3. Energy Use

• All living organisms are able to
• get their own energy from food
• or produce their own energy.

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4. Respond to the environment

• All living organisms are able to
• react /respond to a stimulus in
• their environment.
• Homeostasis maintain stable
• internal conditions.

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5. Growth

• All living things are able to
• develop and grow.
• They may do this by growing
• larger cells or by cell division to
• add more cells.

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6. Reproduction

• All living organisms are able to create
• other organisms similar to themselves.
• Reproduction is not essential for
• the survival of an individual organism,
• it is essential for the continuity of life.

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7. Adaptation

• All living creatures are able to change
• behaviors and over time physical traits to
• better fit their environment.

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• Many non-living things have some characteristics
  of life. For example ice crystals may grow, a
  television uses energy, and water moves.
• All seven characteristics of life must be present
  for something to be alive.

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Levels of Organization
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1. Cellular Level

• The smallest unit of life capable of carrying out
  all the functions of living things.

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2. Tissue Level

• A group of similar cells that perform a specific
  in an organism

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3. Organ Level

• Several different types of tissues that function
  together for a specific purpose

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4. Organ System Level

• Several organs working together to perform a
  specific function

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5. Organism Level

• All the organ systems of the body functioning
  together with one another
• Makes up the organism

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6. Population Level

• A group of organisms of the same species that
  live together in a particular location
• Species -

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7. Community Level

• All the populations of different species living
  in a particular location

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8. Ecosystem Level

• All the communities of an area plus the nonliving
  factors of the environment

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9. Biosphere

• All the ecosystems