Download Chapter 2: Living Things Notes

Chapter 2: Living Things Notes
Objective 1.0: Describe characteristics common to living things, including growth &
development, reproduction, cellular organization, use of energy, exchange of gases, and
response to the environment. Identify homeostasis as the process by which an organism
responds to its internal or external environment. Recognize the basic chemicals of life,
both inorganic (without carbon) and organic (with carbon).
How do you know something living from something nonliving?
Living things share 6 characteristics/traits:
1. all living things have cellular organization--this means they are made of cells
They may be unicellular (single-celled/made of 1 cell) or multicellular (many-celled/made of
more than 1 cell)
--some have organelles (specialized structures with special jobs) and some don’t
2. all living things contain similar chemicals--this means they are composed/made of the
same chemicals: water, carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, nucleic acids (DNA & RNA)
3. all living things use energy to undergo life processes
--this energy cannot be reused or recycled
--in nature the materials needed by all organisms in an ecosystem are reused or
recycled, and include nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon
these 3 elements along with other nutrients move through the ecosystem in
predictable patterns we call cycles
these nutrient cycles in nature are called biogeochemical cycles
--autotrophs, like plants, make their own food using the sun’s energy
--heterotrophs, like rabbits, cannot make their own food
4. all living things respond to their surroundings
--a stimulus is the change in an organism’s surroundings that cause a response: it can be
anything an organism can see, hear, smell, taste, or touch
--a response is the change in behavior or action taken by the organism due to the stimulus
5. all living things grow and develop--this means they get larger, more complex, & can repair
themselves
--growth is the process of becoming larger
--development is the process of change that produces a more complex organism
6. all living things reproduce--this can happen through asexual or sexual reproduction
--asexual reproduction happens with one parent copying it; thinking cloning
--sexual reproduction happens with the combination of genetic material from 2 parents
7. all living things exchange gases--you think of it as breathing, but plants & other organisms
don’t use lungs for gas exchange; they use other means of getting the oxygen, carbon dioxide, or
methane they need to survive
The experiments of Franceso Redi (rotten meat) and Louis Pasteur (boiled/unboiled broth):
--both disproved spontaneous generation--the MISTAKEN idea that living things arise
from nonliving sources
--the modern process of pasteurization (heating foods without cooking necessarily) to kill
bacteria came from Pasteur & his experiment
Living things have 4 basic needs:
water, food, living space, and homeostasis--which is a
fancy word for stable internal (inside the body) conditions; homeostasis must be
maintained regardless of the conditions outside the organism
Water (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), ammonia (NH3), and oxygen (O2) are the basic inorganic
chemicals of life
The organic compounds of life include carbohydrates (sugars), lipids (fats), proteins
(meats), and nucleotides (genetic material). These are organic because they all contain
carbon.
Nitrogen cycle diagram:
Oxygen cycle diagram:
Carbon cycle diagram:
Test 1 Study Guide for Qtr 1
1. List the 6 steps of the scientific method in order.
2. What is a controlled experiment?
3. What is scientific inquiry?
4. A hypothesis must be ______________. (use textbook)
5. What instrument is used to determine the mass of an object (not a digital scale)?
6. What instrument is used to measure liquid volume?
7. What is the difference between quantitative and qualitative?
8. What instrument is used to view things that not visible with the naked eye?
9. List the 7 characteristics of living things.
10. Tell how many cells are in unicellular organisms and give an example.
11. A multicellular organism has cells that are ______________, meaning they have a specific
job in the cell.
12. What is a stimulus?
13. What is a response?
14. What is the difference between growth and development?
15. What is spontaneous generation?
16. What was the main objective of the experiments conducted by Redi and Pasteur?
17. List the 4 needs for survival of all living things.
18. What is the main source of energy for autotrophs?
19. What is the main source of energy for heterotrophs?
20. What is homeostasis?
21. What are inorganic chemicals/compounds? Give example.
22. What are organic chemicals/compounds? Give example.
23. List 3 things you can do to protect yourself during lab time.
24. What is a theory?
25. What is a law?
26. How are theory and law different?