North Eastern Mindanao State University

Formerly Surigao del Sur State University

Bislig Campus
Maharlika, Bislig City, Surigao del Sur

Lesson 5

CHARACTERISTICS OF LIFE

Objectives
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

1. identified the characteristics of life;

2. describe the different Characteristics of life.

Introduction

The search for life on Mars and other planets requires that we recognize life
when we see it to identify the general properties of life on our planet, and then
speculate about similarities and differences scientists might encounter while searching
on Mars and elsewhere in the solar system and universe. After centuries of study and
thought, biologist have come to a consensus about when an entity is alive, or
nonliving.
The problem of recognizing life is clearly fundamental to the search for alien
organisms. But it has other important applications, too. Today’s biologists and
physicians have unprecedented abilities. These include sustaining the human body
and individual organs on life- support machines, freezing human and animal embryos
for later use, and changing and merging hereditary traits of microbes, plants and
animals. Perhaps one day, this list will extend to generating life in attest tube and to
creating hybrids between computers and living things.
To manipulate life’s most fundamental properties, biological engineers need to
know exactly what the boundaries ae, how far they can be stretched and what
changes would be desirable, practical, and worth pursuing. We all know that Biology
is the science that studies life, but what exactly is life? This may sound like a silly
question with an obvious response, but it is not always easy to define life. For example,
a branch of biology called virology studies viruses, which exhibit some of the
characteristics of living entities but lack others. It turns out that although viruses can
attack living organisms, cause diseases, and even reproduce, they do not meet the
criteria that biologists use to define life.
Consequently, virologists are not biologists, strictly speaking. Similarly, some
biologists study the early molecular evolution that gave rise to life; since the events
that preceded life are not biological events, these scientists are also excluded from
biology in the strict sense of the term.

Image Credit: Piklist, Pinterest and Youmatter.

Figure 1. From left Moth Orchid, Kingfisher, Matte, Corals

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 North Eastern Mindanao State University
Formerly Surigao del Sur State University
Bislig Campus
Maharlika, Bislig City, Surigao del Sur

From its earliest beginnings, biology has wrestled with these questions: What,
then is life? What are the shared properties that make something “alive”? You may
be surprised to learn that no one, not basic biologist, bioengineer, or planetary
protector, has a thumbnail definition that lays out the essence of the living state.
Instead they focus on the characteristic’s life as a collective, descriptive definition.
In this lesson, we will learn the characteristics of life and how cells are known to
be the basic units of life.

A car uses energy, is

highly organized, and
is motile…... but it’s not
“alive”. Why not?

Image Credit: Lorenzo Marcinnò

Figure 2.

Characteristics of Life

We defined biology as the branch of science concerned with the study of living
things, or organisms. 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?
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.
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.

Order

Organisms are highly organized, coordinated structures that consist of one or

more cells. Even very simple, single-celled organisms are remarkably complex: inside
each cell, atoms make up molecules; these in turn make up cell organelles and other
cellular inclusions. In multicellular organisms (Figure 3), similar cells form tissues. Tissues,

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Formerly Surigao del Sur State University
Bislig Campus
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in turn, collaborate to create organs

(body structures with a distinct
function). Organs work together to
form organ systems.

Figure 3: A toad represents a highly

organized structure consisting of cells,
tissues, organs, and organ systems.

Metabolism

All organisms use a source of

energy for their metabolic activities.
Some organisms capture energy
from the sun and convert it into
chemical energy in food
(photosynthesis); others use chemical
energy in molecules they take in as
food (cellular respiration) (Figure 4).

Figure 4. The California condor (Gymnogyps

californianus) uses chemical energy derived from food to power flight. California condors are an
endangered species; this bird has a wing tag that helps biologists identify the individual.

Motility

Self- propelled movement, or motility, would certainly have been as good an

indicator of life on Mars as it is here. Even organisms as simple as bacteria can move
on their own. Plants, which cannot move from place to place, do show various subtle
movements based on growth. For example, the little organelles that capture sunlight
in plant cells are in constant motion. The flowers of some plants open in the morning,
trace the sun’s arc through the sky, then close at night. (Figure 2.11) Animals, of course,
have elevated movement to an art form in their pursuit of food, displays of
dominance, and escape from enemies.

Image Credit: Alamy and Telegraph Garden Shop. Figure 5: (a). rattlesnake (b) coneflower

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Responsiveness
Organisms respond to diverse stimuli. For example, plants can bend toward a
source of light, climb on fences and walls, or respond to touch (Figure 6). Even tiny
bacteria can move toward or away from chemicals (a process called chemotaxis) or
light (phototaxis). Movement toward a stimulus is considered a positive response, while
movement away from a stimulus is considered a negative response.

Figure 6: The leaves of this sensitive plant (Mimosa

pudica) will instantly droop and fold when touched.
After a few minutes, the plant returns to normal.
(credit: Alex Lomas)

Reproduction
Single-celled organisms reproduce by first duplicating their DNA, and then
dividing it equally as the cell prepares to divide to form two new cells. Multicellular
organisms often produce specialized reproductive germline cells that will form new
individuals. (Figure 7) When reproduction occurs, genes containing DNA are passed
along to an organism. These genes ensure that the offspring will belong to the same
species and will have similar characteristics, such as size and shape.

Image Credit: Getty Images, Copyright ©

2013 Robert Muckley
Figure 7. Mother and baby Giraffe.

Growth and Development

Organisms grow and develop following
specific instructions coded for by their genes.
These genes provide instructions that will direct
cellular growth and development, ensuring
that a species’ young (Figure 8) will grow up to
exhibit many of the same characteristics as its
parents.

Figure 8. Although no two looks alike, these puppies have

inherited genes from both parents and share many of the
same characteristics.

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Heredity
One of the most intriguing questions in
all biology is how a fertilized egg
developed into millions of cells of
various types that function as a viable
organism. (Figure 9) The answer lies in
the remarkable process of heredity, the
transmission of genetic characters from
parents to offspring. Biologists have
identified the units of inheritance that
control an organism’s trait and call
them genes.
Image Credit: Freepik, Figure 9. Cell Division

Evolution

Image Credit: Getty Images iStockPhoto and Wikipedia. Figure 10. (a) fossil (b)Darwin’s finches

Over time, life forms change. Biologists call this descent with modification
evolution, and it is based on changes in the frequencies of genes within populations
over time. In part, we can tell that life evolves from our analysis of the fossilized imprints
of early organisms (Figure 10a). The older fossil, the less similar it is likely to be to present-
day forms. This dissimilarity is good evidence not only of change but also of continued
change in living species (Figure 10b). Using fossils, DNA analysis, and other evidence
of changes in gene frequencies, biologists can trace an organism’s family tree.

Homeostasis
Postlethwait and Hopson (2012) mentioned that in order to function properly,
cells need to have appropriate conditions such as proper temperature, pH, and
appropriate concentration of diverse chemicals. These conditions may, however,
change from one moment to the next. Organisms are able to maintain internal
conditions within a narrow range almost constantly, despite environmental changes,
through homeostasis (literally, “steady state”)—the ability of an organism to maintain
constant internal conditions. For example, an organism needs to regulate body
temperature through a process known as thermoregulation. Organisms that live in
cold climates, such as the polar bear (Figure 11), have body structures that help them
withstand low temperatures and conserve body heat. Structures that aid in this type
of insulation include fur, feathers, blubber, and fat. In hot climates, organisms have

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Formerly Surigao del Sur State University
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methods (such as perspiration in humans or panting in dogs) that help them to shed
excess body heat.

Figure 11. Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) and other mammals living in ice-covered regions maintain
their body temperature by generating heat and reducing heat loss through thick fur and a dense
layer of fat under their skin. (Image Credit: Subject to copyright)

All living organisms share several key characteristics or functions: order, sensitivity
or response to the environment, reproduction, growth and development, movement,
heredity, evolution, regulation, homeostasis, and energy processing. When viewed
together, these characteristics serve to define life.

The table 1 below described the characteristics of life.

LIFE CHARACTERISTIC PROPERTY

Each structure or activity lies in a specific
1. Order relationship to all other structures and
activities
Organized chemical steps break down
2. Metabolism and build up molecules making energy
available or building needed parts.
Using their own power, organisms move
3. Motility
themselves or their body parts.
Organisms perceive the environment
4. Responsiveness
and react to it.
Organisms give rise to others of the same
5. Reproduction
type.
Ordered sequences of progressive
6. Development changes result in an individual acquiring
increased complexity
Organisms have units of inheritance
called genes that are passed from
7. Heredity
parent to offspring and control physical,
chemical and behavioral traits.

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 North Eastern Mindanao State University
Formerly Surigao del Sur State University
Bislig Campus
Maharlika, Bislig City, Surigao del Sur

Populations of organisms change over

time, acquiring new ways to survive, to
8. Evolution
obtain and use energy, and to
reproduce
Specific structures, behaviors, and
9. Adaptations abilities suit life- forms to their
environment.
Organisms are able to maintain internal
conditions within a narrow range almost
10. Homeostasis
constantly, despite environmental
changes.

ASSESSMENT TASK

Make a 2-minute video presentation that shows and describes the

characteristics of life. Rubrics below for your referral.

SUMMARY
Biology is the science that studies life, but what exactly is life? This may sound like
a silly question with an obvious response, but it is not always easy to define life. Living

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 North Eastern Mindanao State University
Formerly Surigao del Sur State University
Bislig Campus
Maharlika, Bislig City, Surigao del Sur

systems have internal order, or a high degree of organization. To maintain that order,
living things carry out metabolism: they use energy to transform and organize
materials. Living things also use energy to move under their own power, a trait biologist
call motility.
They also use energy to react to outside stimuli, a trait called responsiveness.
While living things do all of the above, they also do more. Living things have the ability
for self- replication or reproduction. They show growth and development or the
expansion of young organisms in size and complexity. Living things are related by
heredity: that is, organisms give rise to like organisms.
Finally, living things evolve or change over many generations, and they adapt
or change to better fit shifting environments. All organisms (living things) are
composed of cells: the smallest and most fundamental structural and functional units
of life. They are minute compartments covered with a thin membrane and within
which the processes of life occur.
The idea that all living things are composed of cells is called the cell theory and
it is the most widely accepted scientific theory in biology. Organisms may consist of a
single cell (bacteria, for instance) or huge numbers of cells, as is the case for most
plants and animals. On the basis of their cell structure, organisms can be classified as
either eukaryotic or prokaryotic.

Reflection

Answer these questions comprehensively.

1. Why is it important to understand the characteristics of life?
2. What are some examples of objects that we use that were once living things,
but are not anymore?

Cited References:

Miller, G. T. & Spoolman, S. E. (2009). Essentials of ecology. Brooks/Cole, Cengage

Learning.

Miller, G. T. & Spoolman, S. E. (2011). Introduction to environmental science, Second

Edition. Cengage learning Asia Pte. Ltd (Philippine Branch).

Postlethwait, J. H. & Hopson, J.L. (2012). The World of biology. Cengage learning Asia
Pte. Ltd (Philippine Branch).

Jaiswal, A. (2018). Ecology and ecosystem. Department of Anthropology, Pondicherry

University. Central University of Tamil Nadu. Retrieved from
https://www.scribd.com/document/408284209/EcologyandEcosystem-pdf and
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328306598

Khan Academy (August 26, 2016). Retrieved from

https://www.khanacademy.org/science/high-school-biology/hs-
ecology/trophic-levels/v/flow-of-energy-and-matter-through-ecosystems

Bear, Robert, et.al (1999- 2020)- Principles of Biology. Supported by William Flora
Hewlett Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Michelson 20MM

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 North Eastern Mindanao State University
Formerly Surigao del Sur State University
Bislig Campus
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Foundation, Maxfield Foundation, Open Society Foundations, and Rice

University. Powered by OpenStax CNX. Retrieved from
https://cnx.org/contents/24nI-KJ8@24.18:vnAuFqQi@7/The-Scope-of-Ecology

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