ALIVE or DEAD?

Humans Fire/flames
Stones Bacteria
Plants Molecules
Animals Fungi

Based on this list, can you determine at

least 4 characteristics of life?
All living things share some basic properties.
1. Cellular Organization
2. Reproduction
3. Metabolism (Obtain and Use Energy)
4. Homeostasis
5. Heredity
6. Responsiveness
7. Growth and Development
8. Adapt Through Evolution
1.

Smallest unit capable of all life functions

Unicellular Organisms
Entire organism is made up of one single cell
Bacteria and protists
Multicellular Organisms
The organism is made up of many
cells
Cells have specialized functions
within the organism
2.

Reproduction is the process of producing new

organisms of the same type

Asexual Reproduction
A single parent organism reproducing by itself
Sexual Reproduction
Two different parent organisms contribute genetic
information
Involves the combination of male and female sex
cells
3.

Living organisms need energy to

grow, develop, repair damage, and
reproduce
 Anabolism
The process of building up complex substances
from simpler substances
 Building up cells and cellular components
 Photosynthesis
 Catabolism
The process of breaking down complex
substances into simpler substances to release
energy
 Digestion

 Cellular Respiration
 Metabolism
The total of all chemical reactions in
an organism
 Anabolism + Catabolism = Metabolism
4.

A stable state of conditions in the body that

are necessary for life

Body temperature
Blood pressure
pH
Water
5.

Genes carry hereditary information

Genes are composed of DNA
Heredity is the reason children resemble their parents

Mutations change
DNA code and can be
passed from
generation to
generation
6.

An example is a plant’s
Organisms react to stimuli: leaves and stems growing
Light toward light

Temperature
Odour
Sound
Gravity
Heat
Water
Pressure
7.

Growth means to get bigger in size

Development involves a change in the
physical form or physiological make-up of
an organism
8.

Adaptation
A process that enables
organisms to become better
suited to their environment
 Species obtain adaptations
through evolution over great
periods of time
 An Example of Adaptation

Desert plants have succulent waxy leaves and

stems to store water and reduce water loss
What about VIRUSES?
DEAD OR ALIVE??
 All living things are classified
into groups called “Kingdoms”
There are 6 kingdoms:

1. Archaebacteria
2. Eubacteria
3. Protista
4. Fungi
5. Plantae
6. Animalia
 Classifying Kingdoms
Nutrition Heterotrophic Autotrophic
-consumes living or -uses sun’s energy
dead organisms to
-makes own food
obtain energy

# of cells Unicellular Multicellular

-one cell -more than one cell

Sexual
Reproduction Asexual
-production of
-offspring produced
offspring from
from a single parent
fusion of 2 sex cells
(genetically identical
(offspring differ
to parent
from parents)
 Classifying Kingdoms
Habitat -where does the organism live?

Cell Type Prokaryotic Eukaryotic

-circular
-double stranded
chromosome
chromosomes in nucleus
-no membrane
-membrane bound
bound organelles
organelles
(e.g. no true
nucleus) -larger (10-100 um)
-very small (less -reproduce by mitosis or
than 2 um) meiosis
-reproduce by
binary fission