Characteristics of Life

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Characteristics of Life
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Objectives

• List six characteristics of life
• Describe how a living thing is organized
• Explain why all living things on Earth are not
  yet well understood

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The Characteristics of Life

• How can you tell if something is alive?

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The Characteristics of Life

• Biologists have devised a list of 6
  characteristics that define life.
• Something can be considered alive ONLY if it
  displays ALL 6 of the characteristics.
• Anything that possesses all 6 of the
  characteristics of life is called an organism.

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The 6 characteristics of life

• 1. Made up of Cell(s)
• 2. Cellular Organization cell?tissue?organ?system?
  organism
• 3. Growth Development
• 4. Reproduction
• 5. Adaptation to environment
  response to a stimulus
• 6. Maintaining Homeostasis

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1. Cells

• Basic unit of life
• All living things are made up of one or more
  cells
• Cells are made up of smaller parts called
  organelles

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2. Cellular Organization

• Cell -gt Tissue -gt Organ -gt Organ System -gt
  Organism
• Specific parts of cells (organelles) carry out
  different functions

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3. Growth Development

• All living organisms grow and develop during
  their life spans.
• Growth an increase in the size of an organism
  due to an increase in the size and number of
  cells
• Development all of the changes that take place
  throughout the life span of an organism

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4. Reproduction

• All living organisms are able to produce live
  offspring.
• Species produce offspring similar to themselves
• NOT essential of the survival of an individual
  organism
• Essential for continuation of the species

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5. Adaptation to Environment

• All living organisms are able to adapt to their
  surroundings.
• They are able to react, or respond to an
  environmental condition, or stimulus.

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6. Homeostasis

• All living organisms are able to maintain a
  relatively constant internal environment.
• Homeostasis Maintain a constant stable internal
  environment suitable for life
• When an organisms is unable to maintain
  homeostasis it dies
• Metabolism provides the raw materials and energy
  to maintain homeostasis
• Metabolism sum of all the chemical reactions
  that occur in the organism

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The Living World

• World of biology is rich with organisms and
  diverse with different types of life yet many
  organism have yet to be discovered this and more
  will be discussed in classification.

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Fun Facts about Organisms

• Largest Animal Alive Today
• Blue Whale
• 30 meters in length 120 feet
• weigh up to 130 metric tons ( 30 elephants)
• Largest Plant Alive Today
• Giant Sequoia Tree
• height over 100 meters 300 feet

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More Fun Facts

• Smallest Living Things
• Bacteria
• As small as 1000 nanometers in length
• Viruses
• 100 times smaller than bacteria but cant be
  classified as an organism.
• Are viruses alive?