Download What is Life? - bms8thgradescience

Riddle
 What is every color, is on you, in
you, and all around you, is both very
large, and very small, can be eaten,
and can eat you?
 Answer: Life…Living Things
What is Life?
Biology
Bio- means “Life” or “living things”
-ology means “the study of”
a- means “without”
-tic means “pertaining to” or “factors”
What does “Biology” mean?
 Biology is the study of Life or Living
things
Classify each as living or
nonliving
Dog
2.
Tree
3.
Rock
4.
Sponge (images)
5.
Air
6.
Mushroom
7.
Flu virus
8.
Sun
9.
Water
10. Bacteria
1.
What characteristics must something
have to be considered alive?
1. Cellular organization
2. Common chemical makeup
3. Use Energy
4. Grow and Develop (Repair, Maintain,
Age and Die)
5. Move/Respond to Surroundings
6. Reproduce
Cellular Organization

What is a cell?

The basic unit of structure and function in
an organism
 The smallest living thing
 Some organisms are unicellular and
some are multicellular.



Unicellular – one celled organism
Multicellular – many celled organism
KidsBiology.com
Common chemicals in all
living things:
 Water (most abundant)
 Carbohydrates (energy source—
glucose/food)
 Proteins and Lipids (building blocks—for
muscles and tissues)
 Nucleic acids (carry genetic material—
RNA & DNA)
Energy Use
 Try not to use any energy
 You are always using energy if you are living
–pumping blood, repairing damaged cells,
breathing, digesting, seeing, hearing,
thinking, etc.
 How do living things get energy?


Autotrophs-produce their own food (glucose) by
capturing energy from the sun. All plants are
autotrophs.
Heterotrophs-have to eat (or absorb/osmosis)
food/glucose to get energy. All animals are
heterotrophs.
Growth and Development
(and Die)
 What is the difference between growth
and development?
 Growth is the process of becoming
larger.
 Development is the process of
becoming more complex in ability
and/or structure.
 When do people grow? Develop?
Respond to surroundings
 Stimulus – a change in an organisms
surroundings that make it react
 Response – an action or change in behavior
that occurs as a result of a stimulus
 How do living things react to their surroundings?






People?
Animals?
Plants?
Amoeba?
Bacteria?
Sunflower Phototropism
Reproduction
 The process of producing an offspring that is
similar or identical to the parent.
 Asexual reproduction-one parent/body
cell=identical offspring; examples: Yeast
(budding), bacteria (binary fission), planaria
or star fish (regeneration)
 Sexual reproduction-two parent (sex)
cells=offspring with traits from both parents;
examples: dogs, cats, humans, frogs, fish,
birds, plants, trees, flowers, and more
All living things need 4 (or 5)
basic things – What are they?
 Energy source
 Water
 Living Space
 Stable Internal Conditions
(homeostasis)
 Air?
 Biology for Kids
Biotic
 Pertaining to living things.
 The living part of an organism’s habitat.
Includes plants (trees/grasses), other
animals (predators/prey), worms, fungi,
and bacteria.
Abiotic
 Not biotic; without life; not associated
with or derived from living organisms
 The nonliving parts of an organism’s
habitat. Includes water, sunlight,
oxygen, temperature, and soil.
Factors in a habitat needed by an
organism: Biotic or Abiotic?
 Soil
 Water
 Trees
 Air
 Plants
 Weather/climate
 Animals
 Bacteria
 Sunlight
 Space
 Worms
 Cactus
 Oxygen
 Rocks/pebbles
Factors in a habitat needed by an
organism: Biotic or Abiotic?
1. Soil-abiotic
8. Water-abiotic
2. Trees-biotic
9. Air-abiotic
3. Plants-biotic
10. Weather/climate-
4. Animals-biotic
5. Sunlight-abiotic
11.
6. Worms-biotic
12.
7. Oxygen-abiotic
13.
14.
abiotic
Bacteria-biotic
Space-abiotic
Cactus-biotic
Rocks/pebblesabiotic
Is each of the following alive
(or has been alive) or not?
 Dog
 Tree
 Rock
 Sponge
 Mildew in your shower
 Mushroom
 Flu Virus
 Strep Bacteria
 List 2 more things that are living and 2 more
things that are nonliving
Is each of the following alive
(or has been alive) or not?
 Dog –living
 Tree - living
 Rock – non living
 Sponge - living
 Mildew in your shower - living
 Mushroom - living
 Flu Virus – nonliving (KidsBiology.com)
 Strep Bacteria - living
 List 2 more things that are living and 2 more
things that are nonliving
Is each of the following alive (or
has been alive) or not?
1. Dog-alive
8. Sun-not alive
2. Tree-alive
9. Water-not alive
3. Rock-not alive
10. Bacteria-alive
4. Sponge-alive
5. Air-not alive
6. Mushroom-alive
7. Flu virus-not alive
Organic
 Of or relating to a living thing.
 Involving organisms or the products of their
life processes.
 Of, relating to, or derived from living
organisms.
 Relating to chemical compounds containing
carbon, especially hydrocarbons.
 Next
Organic
 Another word for a living thing.
 Includes mammals, fish, insects, worms,
bacteria, fungi, sponges, starfish, algae,
trees, grasses, etc.
 The word organic can also be used to refer to
parts of a living thing or once living thing (like
hair, fur, fingernails, or feathers,
manure/poop, etc.).
 Back
Inorganic




Not living…not part of a living thing or once living
thing.
Examples: rocks, minerals, soil, air, water, etc.
Not involving organisms or the products of their life
processes.
Relating to chemical compounds that occur mainly
outside of living or once living organisms, such as
those in rocks, minerals, and ceramics. Most
inorganic compounds lack carbon, such as salt
(NaCl) and ammonia (NH 3 ); a few, such as
carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), do contain it, but never
attached to hydrogen atoms as in hydrocarbons.
Inorganic molecules tend to have a relatively small
number of atoms as compared with organic
molecules.
Next
Inorganic
 Not living…not part of a living thing or
once living thing.
 Examples: rocks, minerals, soil, air,
water, etc.
Budding – a genetically identical offspring
grows out of the body of the parent
Yeast cells
Back
Hydra
Binary Fission – process where a
cell splits into two identical cells
Video
Back
Regeneration –
Planarian Video
Back
Sea Star Video
Bacteria vs. Virus

Bacteria
 Living organism (has all 6
characteristics)
 Can be autotrophic or
heterotrophic
 Can reproduce: asexually,
sometimes sexually
(conjugation)
 Sometimes beneficial;
sometimes harmful
 Infection can be treated with
antibiotics because they kill
bacteria
 Some vaccines (ex. Polio &
Tetanus)

Virus
 Nonliving (don’t use energy
to grow and respond)
 Get energy & DNA from
host cell to multiply
 Multiplies inside of host cell
& kills host cell like a
parasite
 Much smaller than bacteria
 Antibiotic treatment is not
effective against viral
infection
 Vaccines can prevent virus
infection because it causes
the body to produce
chemicals that recognize &
be destroy the virus
Both: microscopic, can
harmful to people, contain
genetic information