Characteristic of Life - Biology

08/19

Organization

Living things exhibit a high degree of organization, with specialized parts that function together. The most basic unit of life is the cell.

Respond to stimuli

Living things can detect and respond to changes in their environment

Growth and Development

Living things grow and develop over time. This involves increasing in size, complexity, and sometimes changing in form throughout their lifespan

Reproduction

Living things ability to reproduce and pass on DNA creating new individual

Metabolism

Living things need energy to survive → eating & converting food into usable energy

Homeostasis

Living organisms maintain a stable or balanced internal environment despite external changes

Adaptation through evolution

Over generations, living organism adapt to their environment through evolution, developing traits to enhance survival & reproduction

Prokaryotic cell

Cells that don’t enclose DNA in nuclei

Eukaryotic cell

cells that enclose their DNA in nuclei

Unicellular organism

one cell that does all the work to stay alive

Multicellular organism

made of many cells that work together, with different cells doing specific jobs

Archeabacteria & Eubacteria

Prokaryotic | Unicellular | Uses sun, eats, or absorbs materials

Protist

Eukaryotic | Unicellular (mostly) or Multicellular | Uses sun, eats or absorbs materials

Fungi

Eukaryotic | Multicellular | Absorbs materials for energy

Plant

Eukaryotic | Multicellular | Uses sun

Animal

Eukaryotic | Multicellular | Eats for energy

Parts that ALL cells have in common

Cell membrane, Cytoplasm, Ribosomes, DNA

Describe the cell membrane and its function for the cell

A flexible lipid bilayer that controls what enters and exits the cell while providing protection and support.

How is the cell membrane involved in homeostasis?

It regulates transport to keep internal water, nutrient, and waste levels balanced

How is the cell membrane involved in unicellular reproduction?

It pinches inward to split one cell into two seperate cells

How is the cell membrane involved in multicellular cell growth?

It expands its surface area as the cell grows larger

What is the relationship between organelle boundaries and the cell membrane?

Both are mad of the same lipid bilayer, allowing them to fuse and transport material inside the cell.