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Unit 5: Diversity of Life
Content Outline: Characteristics and Hierarchy of Life (5.1) – Part 1
I. Characteristics of living things
A. All living things are made of cells.
1. They can be made of one cell (unicellular), or many (multicellular)
B. Living things have different levels of complexity.
C. Living things contain similar chemicals, such as Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Nitrogen.
D. Living things get energy from their environment.
1. The chemical reactions to get and use energy are called metabolism.
2. These chemical reactions help maintain homeostasis, which is a stable internal environment.
E. Living things respond & adapt to their environment.
F. All living things grow and develop.
1. They grow through cell division, adding more cells.
2. Development is change to existing structures, adding new functions, producing a more complex
organism.
G. All living things reproduce.
1. Reproduction can be either asexual, forming offspring identical to the parent, or sexual, forming
offspring that differ genetically from both parents.
H. All living things need food, water, living space, and to maintain stable internal conditions to survive.
1. Some living things make their own food from light or chemical energy and are called autotrophs
2. Some living things cannot make their own food and must get energy by feeding on other
organisms and are call heterotrophs.
Unit 4: Diversity of Life
Content Outline: Characteristics and Hierarchy of Life (5.1) – Part 2
I. Hierarchy of life:
A. Cells – the basic unit of life. Living things can be made of one cell or many cells.
B. Tissues – made of cells with common structure and function.
C. Organs – a collection of similar tissues working together to perform a specific life function.
D. Organ Systems – two or more organs working together to perform a major life function.
E. Organism – all the organ systems that work together to create a multi-cellular organism.
F. Population – A group of the same species, in the same place, at the same time
G. Community – A group of interacting populations in the same area at the same time.
H. Ecosystem – Groups of interacting communities that are all experiencing common abiotic factors.
I. Biosphere – The entire part of the planet that can support life.
Content Outline: Characteristics and Hierarchy of Life (5.1) – Part 3
I. Classifying Life
A. Classification
1. The process of grouping things based on similarities.
B. Carolus Linnaeus (1707 – 1778)
1. He is considered the Father of Taxonomy. Taxonomy is the science of classification of living
things. There were originally only two Kingdoms in his system: Plantae & Animalia.
2. Linnaeus’ system placed organisms into groups based on observable characteristics.
C. Linnaeus’ system uses Binomial Nomenclature. This term means “Two name Naming system”.
1. Rules of Binomial Nomenclature:
a. The Genus name is written first and has a capitalized first letter; contains similar,
closely related organisms.
b. The species name is written second and is not capitalized. It often describes a
characteristic. A species is a group of organisms that can mate with each other and
produce offspring that can also mate and reproduce.
c. The scientific name is written in Latin and italicized if printed, underlined if handwritten.
Latin is used because Latin is considered a “dead” language. Therefore, the meaning of
words will NOT change over time.
D. The current levels (“taxon” singular, or “taxa”, plural) of classification.
1. Domain (This is the most inclusive, yet least specific taxon.)
a. Domains include similar Kingdoms.
2. Kingdoms
a. include similar Phyla (singular: phylum) or Divisions (if plants).
b. Classification of kingdoms has changed over time
i. 1870’s: Five Kingdom system- Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, Protista, and Monera
(prokaryotes, organisms without a nucleus)
ii. 1990’s: Six Kingdom system – Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, Protista, Archaebacteria,
Eubacteria (prokaryotes divided into two kingdoms based on differences in structure,
biochemistry and physiology)
iii. classification will probably continue to change over time as new discoveries are made
3. Phyla or Divisions (plants)
a. Phyla or Divisions include similar Classes.
4. Classes
a. Classes include similar Orders.
5. Order
a. Orders include similar Families.
6. Family
a. Families include one or more similar Genera (singular: Genus).
7. Genus
a. Genus includes one or more similar Species.
8. Species (This is the least inclusive; yet most specific taxon)
9. The more levels two organisms share, the more characteristics they have in common and the
more closely related they are.
10. Mnemonic device (memory aide) to remember the order of system: Dominating King Phillip
Came Over For Green Salad.
E. Taxonomic keys are useful tools that help determine the identity of organisms.
1. Taxonomic keys are a series of paired statements that describe physical characteristics
2. Each statement that matches the organism leads to a new pair of statements and eventually
identification of the organism.