Download I. LIFE FUNCTIONS (Processes)

I. LIFE PROCESSES
(Functions)
• processes that maintain life
• adaptations - structures/behaviors that help an
organism to survive efficiently in their environment
Ex: skin color of humans, migration in geese
What adaptations can you think of?
A. NUTRITION
• how an organism obtains nutrients and processes them for use
1. Autotrophic
-make own food
includes
Plants, some bacteria, some protists
Can carry out
Photosynthesis
sun + CO2 + H2O --->
C6H12O6 + O2
or
Chemosynthesis
chemicals from
environment
A. NUTRITION
2. Heterotrophic
-consume
other organisms or
their products
includes
Animals, most fungi, some bacteria, some protists
3 basic processes
Ingestion
taking in nutrients
Digestion
large molecules 
smaller molecules
Egestion
removal of material
not digested: feces
B. TRANSPORT
• movement and distribution of materials (nutrients, wastes, gases, etc)
• circulatory system = from 1 location to another in a multicellular
organism
• cells/unicellular organisms = cyclosis or cytoplasmic
streaming, osmosis & diffusion, or active transport
C. RESPIRATION
• Chemical process (NOT breathing- physical)
- process of converting energy found in chemical bonds of
food (glucose) into the bonds of a useable molecule (ATP)
1. Aerobic Respiration
-uses O2 to break apart bonds and release energy
-Happens in mitochondria of cells
O2 + C6H12O6 + H2O -----------> CO2 + H2O + energy (ATP)
2. Anaerobic Respiration
- doesn’t require O2
Not as efficient as aerobic - doesn’t yield as much ATP
D. SYNTHESIS
• small molecules combine to form large molecules
Examples:
•Sugar +sugar + sugar + etc = starch
•Amino acid +Amino acid +Amino acid +etc = protein
• become part of an organism’s structure needed for
- repairing cells and tissues or replacement of cells,tissues
- growth
- increase in size or cell #
- followed by specialization = cells develop a
definite function
E. EXCRETION
• removal of waste products (ex: CO2, sweat, urine)
produced from metabolism
Metabolism- all the chemical reactions occurring in the cell (body)
•CO2 is carbon dioxide- we exhale it when our blood returns
with the CO2 from our cells as a waste product to our lungs.
•Sweat or perspiration gets rid of excess water and salts
•Urine gets rid of ammonia and urea, excess salts and water
• Excretion is important b/c it prevents poisoning or
death of cell (organism)
F. COORDINATION
(REGULATION)
• allows organism to respond or adjust to change
• nervous (electrical) and endocrine (chemical) systems in
animals
• hormones in plants
• simple responses to change from unicellular organisms
•Like moving away from something
G. REPRODUCTION
• production of new organisms of their own kind
• continuation of species - not individual
•The only life process that does not have to happen
in every living thing
1. Asexual
1 parent
(cell)
Genetically
identical
(no variation)
or
2. Sexual
2 parents(cells)
sperm & egg)
Genetically
different
(variation)
II. HOMEOSTASIS
• maintaining a constant stable, balanced internal environment
(dynamic equilibrium)
• occurs despite external environmental changes
Ex: blood pressure, heart rate, temp, breathing rate all
change due to changes in the organism
Our bodies try to maintain the optimal conditions to
survive.
A. FEEDBACK
• one change causes another change, which then, affects the
original change
Ex: breathing rate
[CO2]
[CO2]
Detected by
medulla
oblongata
Detected by
medullla
oblongata
increases
Heart rate
decreases
Depth of
breath
Heart rate
Depth of
breath
Lab : Comparing Living &
Nonliving Things
I. Objectives:
A. Classify things as living or nonliving based on the
characteristics of life
II. Materials
* various materials provided at each of the lab stations
III. Procedure
1. Study the specimens at ea. of the lab stations carefully.
2. Determine & record if each specimen possesses the
characteristics listed in the data table 1.(y = yes, n= no, CD =
can’t determine)
3. Base your answers on immediate observations, prior
knowledge, or information from other sources.
4. Repeat steps 1-4 for each lab station.
IV. Data
Table 1
Specimen 1 or More Reproduces Genetic
Cells
Code
Grows Uses
Responds to Maintains Changes
Materials Environment Internal Over Time
&Energy
Balance
V. Conclusions
Copy the chart headings below:
Specimen
Living or
Explanation
Nonliving
1. For each specimen you observed, determine if it was living or
nonliving and provide an explanation as to why you think this is
so.
2. What specimens did you have difficulty placing in a category of
living or nonliving? Why?
3. What characteristics of life were the most difficult to evaluate?
Why?
Final Paragraph from Writing a Lab Report