Download Characteristics of Life Notes

Page _____- Biology Notes – Unit 1: The Characteristics of Life
The Characteristics of Living Things Notes
Term or Concept
Biosphere
Biodiversity
Species
Biology
Organism
Cell
Metabolism
DNA
System
Meaning
Example
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Ecosystem
Homeostasis
Evolution
Adaptation
Autotrophs
Chemoautotrophs
Heterotrophs
Abiotic
Biotic
Sexual Reproduction
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Asexual Reproduction
Budding
Fragmentation
Binary Fission
Use Quizlet or Index Cards to help you
prepare for vocabulary tests!
The Nine Characteristics of Living Things
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
_______________________________
_______________________________
_______________________________
_______________________________
_______________________________
6.__________________________________
7.__________________________________
8.__________________________________
9.__________________________________
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 Life is organized into many levels.
 Each level builds on the next.
1. Cells:
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Different cells have specialized functions. For example, your muscle cells contract
and relax, while your stomach cells secrete digestive juices.
2. Metabolism:
 ___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
 ___________________________________________________________________
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 ___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
 Autotrophs- make their own food through photosynthesis, such as plants.
 Chemoautotrophs- make their own food through chemicals / chemosynthesis.
 Heterotrophs- rely on others for food.
 Where do we get our energy from?
i. Indirectly from photosynthesis and directly from cellular respiration, in the
form of ATP- Adenosine Triphosphate.
Let’s see how much you
can recall about
photosynthesis and
cellular respiration. Let’s
look at the graphic
organizer!
3. Stimulus:
 ___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
 ___________________________________________________________________
i. Abiotic- nonliving, such as rocks, temperature, nutrients, pH, etc
ii. Biotic- living things, such as plants, animals, bacteria, fungi, etc.
1. The relationship between abiotic and biotic factors
 _____________ are made up of both living and nonliving
things.
 The abiotic factors ____________________ the biotic factors.
 For example, if the temperature of the bay drastically drops,
many of the fish may die because they can’t regulate their
body temperature.
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4. DNA- Deoxyribonucleic acid:
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Made up of nucleotides (4 nitrogenous base pairs-AGCT), sugars, and phosphates.
Adenine (A) pairs up with Thymine (T)
Guanine (G) pairs up with Cytosine (C)
The sequence of the bases is what codes for the order of amino acids in the
protein sequence (amino acids).
5. Evolution:
 ___________________________________________________________________
 ___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
 Examples of evidence- fossil record, embryology, comparative anatomy,
biogeography, and molecular DNA.
 _____________________- an inherited trait or gene that helps some individuals
of a species survive and reproduce more successfully than others. The ones that
don’t adapt will die off.
o Sometimes different populations of the same species live in different
environments. Therefore, they have different needs and adapt differently,
evolving into different species.
6. Reproduction:
 Goal=
___________________________________________________________________
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___________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
 Two types- sexual and asexual
o ___________________- two parents required, exchange of gametes (sex
cells), and the _______________________________________________.
o _____________________- requires only one parent and the
___________________________________________to the parent (ex- sea
star).
 Budding
 Fragmentation
 Binary Fission
 Examples:
o Jawfish male holds unhatched eggs in his mouth. The male churns the eggs
by spitting them out and sucking them back in. This allows the male to
remove debris, aerate the eggs, and rotate eggs for proper development.
o The male seahorse carries the offspring
o Elephant gestation is 22 months
o Killer whale gestation is 16 months
o Human gestation is 9 months
7. Homeostasis:
o _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
o Controlled by ________________ and the ___________________________
o Body temp. is ______ or ___________
o Important because cells function best within a certain range of conditions.
Temperature, glucose, water, pH, gases, nutrients, salt, etc. must be
maintained / balanced or it can be fatal.
o Negative and Positive feedback loops.
Background Vocabulary
 _________________________- a system of parts that operate or interact like those of a
machine.
 ________________________- an instrument used to operate, regulate, or guide a machine.
 _________________________- a device that receives and responds to a signal.
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 _________________________- the point at which a circuit is either activated or deactivated.
 _____________________________- something aimed or fired at.
 ____________________________- return of a portion of the output of a system to the input,
used to maintain performance or control.
 _______________________________- a closed circuit.
Simplified, real life example
 Thermostat- senses the temperature of a system.
 A sensor in the thermostat constantly measures the temperature of the room.
 A control mechanism then compares the actual room temperature to the set temperature.
 Let’s say the set temperature is 21C (70F). When the temperature falls below 21C, the
thermostat kicks on by sending an electronic message to the furnace.
 When the sensor on the thermostat indicates that the air temperature is back to 21C,
another message is sent that turns off the furnace.
 Result- the room is always within a few degrees of the desired temperature.
 Of course in Florida this would resemble our air conditioners!
How is your body like a thermostat?
Your body is set up to regulate temperature just like a thermostat. It’s an internal control system that
includes sensors, a control center, various communication systems, and targets.
Sensors
 They are called ___________________________ in our body.
 _________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
 Ex- when it’s hot or cold, there are receptors in your skin and nose that gather information about
the air temperatures.
Control Center
 ____________________- receives information from the sensors.
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 The brain will then compare information to the ideal / set points, at which the body functions best
at.
 If there is an issue, such as the body being above or below that set point, the
______________________ will send a _______________________ via a
_____________________________________________ (nervous or endocrine system/ hormones).
Communication System
 _________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
 Nervous system= __________________________________________
 Endocrine system= _____________________________________
 The nerve impulses and hormones tell the targets in the body how to respond to the stimuli.
Target
 _________________________________________________________________________________
 Example- if it’s cold outside, a message may be sent to the muscles to start shivering. Shivering
generates body heat, therefore increasing temperature.
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Negative Feedback Loop
 __________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
 Continuous cycle
 Example- Blood glucose concentrations
rise after a meal (the stimulus), and
insulin causes glucose to be removed
from the bloodstream (the response),
which decreases blood glucose.
 Exercise creates metabolic heat, which
raises body temperature (the stimulus)
and vasodilation and sweating (the
response) cools the body.
Positive Feedback Loop
 ___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
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 Ex- cut your finger; positive feedback
mechanisms increase the rate of change in
clotting factors in the blood until the
wound is sealed.
 Ex- hormones during puberty. The body
needs specific levels to accomplish the
changes that need to take place.
 Ex-when a baby first suckles its mother's
nipple, a small amount of breast milk is
released (the stimulus) and a hormone is
released which increases milk production
(the response).
8. Grow and Develop
 ____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
 Changes in size, shape, and differentiation in structures.
 Unicellular = simple and muliticellular = complex.
 Metamorphosis- many organisms have similar early stages of development and are hard to tell apart.
9. Chemical Uniqueness
 ___________________________________________________________________________________
 _______________ backbone.
 _______________________________________- Proteins, Lipids, Carbohydrates, and Nucleic Acids
 Ex-DNA