CHARACTERISTICS OF LIFE
REPRODUCTION
1. CELLULAR ORGANIZATION
All cells have the same basic structure :
a. a membrane that encloses the cell
and controls materials that move in and
out;
b. an internal fluid known as the
cytoplasm where the organelles are
suspended;
c. nucleus that contains the hereditary
genes DNA.
2. METABOLISM
The sum of all chemical processes that
maintain the living state of an organism
is a called metabolism
All living things use energy. Moving,
growing, thinking and everything you
do requires energy. Where does all this
energy come from? It is captured from
sunlight by plants and algae. To get the
energy needed, plants or plant-eating
animals are consumed. These foods are
converted into a useful form of energy.
All organisms use energy to grow, and
all organism transport this energy form
one place to another within cells using
special energy carrying molecule called
ATP.
3. HOMEOSTASIS
While the environment often varies a
lot, organism act to keep their interior
conditions relatively constant in a
process called homeostasis.
All living things maintain stable internal
conditions. The human body maintains
an internal temperature of 37°C
(98.5°F), however hot or cold the
weather may be.
4.
Reproduction involves the transfer of
genetic information from parents to
offspring. All living things reproduce.
Reproduction can be asexual or sexual.
Asexual reproduction produces
offspring that are genetically identical
to a single parent, while sexual
reproduction involves two parents
contributing genetic information to
produce a unique offspring.
5. HEREDITY
The transmission of characteristics form
parent to offspring is called heredity.
All organisms possess a genetic system
that is based on the replication and
duplication of a long molecule called
DEOXYRIBONUCLEIC ACID (DNA) . The
information that determines what an
individual organism will be like is
written in a code dictated by the
sequence of the DNA molecule. Each
set of instruction within the DNA is
called a gene. Because the DNA is
faithfully copied from one generation to
the next, any change in a gene is also
preserved and passed on to future
generations.