Life Traits Review Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering the seven main characteristics of living things along with specific examples from the Life Traits Review worksheet.

Cellular organization

A characteristic of living things referring to the structured arrangement of cells and specialized parts within an organism, such as a tree trunk containing different tubes to transport water and sap.

Metabolism

A characteristic of living things involving all chemical reactions that allow organisms to acquire and use energy, such as a giant kelp leaf absorbing sunlight to produce sugars or a ladybug preying on aphid insects.

Responds to stimuli

A characteristic of living things where organisms react to physical or chemical changes in their environment, such as a person sneezing after walking into a lawn of freshly cut grass.

Reproduction

A characteristic of living things involving the process by which organisms produce new organisms or offspring, such as a planaria worm that is split partway down making two new heads.

Growth and development

A characteristic of living things where an organism grows in size, matures, or develops new physical traits, such as a rhinoceros producing a horn about a year after birth.

Homeostasis

A characteristic of living things where an organism maintains a stable internal environment despite external changes, such as a cheetah's blood vessels widening when oxygen levels decrease.

Change through time

A characteristic of living things where populations evolve over generations, such as the Asian Elephant and the mastodon sharing a common ancestor or naked mole rats arising from a type of rat that has hair.