Download Characteristics of Living Things

What is Life?
The Characteristics of Living things
What is biology?
Bio = Life
-ology = study of
Biology: the study of life
Characteristics of Living Things
Characteristic #1: Organization
High degree of order within an organism’s
internal and external parts and in its
interactions with its environment
Example: Compare a rock to an owl
A rock has a specific shape, but it is irregular and
different rocks of the same type have different
shapes
An owl is highly organized and owls of the same
species have the same parts arranged in nearly
the same way and interact with the environment
the same way.
Characteristic #2: Cells
All living things are made up of at least
one cell
Unicellular: one-celled (single-celled)
organisms (bacteria)
Multicellular: many-celled organisms (plants
and animals)
Characteristic #3: Response to
Environment (stimuli)
Organisms are able to respond to physical
or chemical changes in the internal or
external environment
Ex: when a cat feels threatened they puff
up and arch their back
Characteristic #4: Homeostasis
Organisms have mechanisms that keep
internal conditions within a specific range,
despite changes in the environment
Ex.: our bodies sweat when our body
temperature is above a specific range
Characteristic #5: Metabolism
 Organisms take in energy from their environment,
and convert it for repair, movement, and growth
Heterotrophic: Organisms that are unable to
create their own food. They must consume other
living things as a food source (ex. Animals)
Autotrophic: organisms create their own food (ex.
Plants)
Characteristic #6: Growth
Organisms become larger through cell
division and enlargement
Development: organisms become a mature
adult as cells divide and differentiate
(specialize), allowing different types of cells to
perform different necessary actions for the
adult organism
Characteristic #7: Reproduce
Organisms can create offspring similar to
themselves through heredity, the ability to
pass on traits through genes
DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid): the large
molecule used to store genetic data
Characteristic #8: Change through
time (evolution)
Populations of organisms change or
evolve over time to adapt to an ever
changing world