To be alive you must be able to do the

following things…
 Be made up of one or more Cells
 Reproduce
 Grow and develop
 Interdependence: Respond to the
environment and other organisms
 Metabolism: Obtain and use energy
 Heredity: universal genetic code
 Homeostasis
 Evolution
 Made up of one or more cells
 One cell=
unicellular
 Many cells=
multicellular
 Cells are never
formed from non-
living things: all life
comes from life.
Reproduce- produce new organisms

 sexual
reproduction
(from 2 cells)
 asexual
reproduction
(from 1 cell)
 Grow and Develop
grow= to
increase the
amount of living
material
develop= change
that takes place
over the lifetime
of the organism
 Obtain and Use Energy
 anabolism- making
complex substances
from simple
substances
 catabolism-
breakdown of
complex substances
to simpler
substances to
obtain energy
 metabolism- sum of all
chemical reactions in the body
anabolism + catabolism = metabolism
How do you speed up metabolism?
 Homeostasis
 The regulation of the internal
environment to maintain life
• Organisms need constant
internal conditions to remain
alive
• they can not live if their internal
conditions are only controlled by
the external environment
– Some of the internal conditions
are temperature, water levels
and food for energy

– Ex:
Your body temperature is
constantly around 98.6oF no
matter if it’s summer or winter
 Have a universal genetic code
 Allliving organisms use the same
genetic code to determine the
inherited traits

 Allliving organisms carry this

information in molecules of DNA or
RNA
 Evolution
 Evolution is change over time.

 Populations of living organisms have

changed over time to become how
they are today.

 These changes allow the organism to

adapt and live in the world’s
changing conditions.
 Respond to Their Environment
 slow= metabolism
 fast= change in
behavior
 stimulus- condition
to which an
organism must
adjust
 response- reaction
to a stimulus
 irritability-
how
organisms respond
to stimuli in a way
to improve their
chances for
survival
 There are both
internal and
external stimulus
and responses
Death
 Organizing Life
 Scientists estimate that only 2
million of the 5 to 30 million
species of organism that live on
our planet have been identified.
 How do you organize 2 million+
organisms?
 Classification=
the grouping of
things based on
similarities.
 Taxonomy =
branch of
biology that
deals with the
grouping and
naming of
organisms.
 First classification Aristotle
system
 Plants and animals
Not too specific
Ex: Bats, birds,
and flying insects
were counted as
all the same even
though they have
little in common.
Used physical
characteristics
(similarities) for grouping Linnaeus
Binomial nomenclature
-Name is made up of the
genus and species of
the organism.
Scientific names? Why?
Common names can be
misleading… sea horse,
cat fish, titmouse…
 Binomial nomenclature (new box)

 Based on Latin
 1st word: genus name
 2nd word: species name
 AKA: scientific name
 The genus name should be capitalized
 The species name should be lowercase
 If typed = italics
 If handwritten = underlined
 Example: The Gray Wolf
 Kingdom: Animalia
 Phylum: Chordata
 Class: Mammalia
 Order: Carnivora
 Family: Canidae
 Genus: Canis
 Species: lupis
 Kingdom: Animalia
 Phylum: Chordata
 Subphylum: Vertebrata
 Class: Mammalia
 Subclass: Placental
 Order: Primates
 Family: Hominidae
 Genus: Homo
 Species: sapiens
 The Kingdom System
 The current
classification
system: goes
from very
broad groups
to more
precise groups.
 Taxonomic Categories
Kingdom Largest, least
Phylum specific
category (5 or
Class 6 kingdoms)
Order
Smallest, most
Family
specific groups
Genus (millions of
Species these)
 Species: a population of organisms
that share similar characteristics and
can breed with one another, to
produce fertile offspring.
 Species are classified based on their
similarities in structure, chemistry,
and behavior.
 Kingdom Eubacteria

true bacteria
Prokaryotes (no nucleus)
Microscopic
Most are unicellular
AKA: Bacteria
 Kingdom Archaebacteria

Ancient bacteria
Found in extreme
environments
(salt lakes, ocean
vents…)
Few have been
discovered
 Kingdom Protista
 Uni- & multicellular
 Plant, animal or
fungal like
 Eukaryotic ,but no
complex organ
system
 Lives in moist
environments
 Greatest diversity
found here
 Kingdom Fungi
 Consumers
 Stationary
 Uni-& multicellular
 Heterotrophic
(decomposes dead
organisms and
wastes)
 eukaryotic
 Kingdom Plantae
 Stationary
 Multicellular
 Eukaryotes
 Photosynthesis
 Cellulose in most cell
walls
 Tissues organized into
organs and organ
systems
 Kingdom Animalia
 Multicellular
 Consumers
 No cell walls
 Mobile
 Tissues organized
into organs and
complex organ
systems
 Nervous systems
and sense organs
 Modern Taxonomy

 Phylogeny – using
an organisms
evolutionary back
ground to classify
them.
 Phylogenetic tree
 Dichotomous Keys (examples)
 There are two main ways to identify and
classify organisms.
 1. Field Guides: with pictures and detailed
descriptions
 2. Dichotomous Keys: with paired questions
about the organism to direct you to the
correct name