Introduction

Human and Social Biology ​may be defined as the branch of science concerned with the study of
the human body and the environment. That definition is pretty straightforward. However, it
opens the door to more difficult—and more interesting—questions: What is life? What does it
mean to be alive?

1. You are alive, and so am I. The dog I can hear barking is alive, and so is the tree outside
my window. However, snow falling from the clouds is not alive. The computer you’re
using to read this article is not alive, and neither is a chair or table. The parts of a chair
that are made of wood were once alive, but they aren’t any longer. If you were to burn the
wood in a fire, the fire would not be alive either.
2. What is it that defines life? How can we tell that one thing is alive and another is not?
Most people have an intuitive understanding of what it means for something to be alive.
However, it’s surprisingly hard to come up with a precise definition of life. Because of
this, many definitions of life are operational definitions—they allow us to separate living
things from nonliving ones, but they don’t actually pin down what life is. To make this
separation, we must come up with a list of properties that are, as a group, uniquely
characteristic of living organisms.
Life process Explanation
Movement All living things move in
some way. This may be
obvious, such as animals that
are able to walk, or less
obvious, such as plants that
have parts that move to track
the movement of the sun.
Respiration Respiration is a chemical
reaction that happens within
cells to release energy from
food.
Sensitivity The ability to detect changes
in the surrounding
environment.
Growth All living things grow.
Earthworms
Earthworms use circular and longitudinal muscles
to move through soil or along surfaces.
The food that earthworms eat supplies their body
with energy-rich molecules such as glucose. On
entering the cells of their body, these molecules are
broken down in a series of steps to release energy
kto be used by the body, producing carbon dioxide
and water as waste products.
Earthworms have light-sensitive cells scattered in
their outer skin. Their skin cells are also sensitive
to touch and chemicals.
Earthworms hatch from eggs and can grow up to a
metre or more in length! Some earthworms are also
able to regrow small parts of their body that have
been lost or injured.
Reproduction The ability to reproduce and
pass genetic information
onto their offspring.
Excretion Getting rid of metabolic
waste.
Nutrition The intake and use of
nutrients. This occurs in very
different ways in different
kinds of living things.
Earthworms have both sperm and eggs within their
bodies (they are hermaphrodites) but they cannot
self-fertilise and need to mate with another
individual. After mating, a cocoon containing the
fertilised eggs is deposited in the soil.
Earthworms excrete waste from their anus – the last
segment of their body.
Earthworm nutrition comes from a variety of
sources, depending on their species. Food types
include manure, compost, plant material, fungi,
microorganisms and decaying animals. They take
in food through their mouths.
Living Things Are Made of Cells
Cells​ are the basic building blocks of life. They are like tiny factories where virtually all
life processes take place. Some living things, like bacteria consist of just one cell. They
are called single-celled organisms. Some living things are composed of a few to many
trillions of cells. They are called multicellular organisms. Your body is composed of
trillions of cells.
 Diagram 1

‘Celly’ Activity Just for you