Characteristics Of Life

Characteristics of life (list all 8)

Reproduction; growth and development; energy (metabolism); respond to the environment; made of cells; change over time (evolve); homeostasis; heredity

Organism

A living thing that meets all of the characteristics of life

Reproduction

All living things (as species) are capable of making offspring

Sexual reproduction

Cells from two different parents unite to form the first cell of the new organism

Asexual reproduction

A single parent produces offspring that are identical to itself

Two types of asexual reproduction in notes

Binary fission and budding

Binary fission

A cell splits into two identical cells (example: bacteria)

Budding

A new organism grows off the parent's body (examples: hydra, yeast)

Growth and development

Every organism has a pattern of growth and development; as cells divide they differentiate

Differentiate

Cells begin to look different from one another and perform different functions

Energy (metabolism) characteristic

Organisms take in materials and energy to grow, develop and reproduce

Metabolism

All the chemical reactions through which an organism builds or breaks down materials

Respond to the environment

All organisms can detect (sense) and respond to their environment

Stimulus

A signal to which an organism responds

Response

A change in the organism that is initiated because of the stimulus

Made of cells

All living things are made of one or more cells

Cell

The smallest unit of an organism that can be considered alive

Unicellular

Made of one cell; the single cell does all life functions (example: bacteria)

Multicellular

Made of many cells that specialize and depend on one another (example: humans)

Evolution

The change of heritable traits in a population over many generations

Common origin of life

Evolutionary change links all life to a common origin more than 3.5 billion years ago

Homeostasis

Keeping conditions inside the body as constant as possible; maintaining a stable internal environment

Heredity

The process by which genetic information and traits are passed from parents to offspring during reproduction

Organic

Contains carbon and hydrogen bonded together; alive or once alive (examples: carbohydrates, lipids, proteins)

Inorganic

Non-living; no carbon-hydrogen bonds (examples: water, salts, minerals)

Biotic factor

Living things or things that were once alive (plants, animals, bacteria)

Abiotic factor

Nonliving things in an environment (water, sunlight, air, rocks)

Does one adult that never reproduces fail to be alive?

No. Reproduction is a characteristic of the species; the individual is still alive if it meets the others

Is a rock with crystals growing on it alive?

No. It grows but does not meet all 8 characteristics (no cells, no metabolism, no heredity)