Characteristics of Living Things

1. Characteristics of Living Things

2. Objectives • What are some characteristics of living things?

3. Characteristics of Life • Energy Transformation • Organization • Reproduction • Growth • Development • Reaction to Surroundings • Stimulus and Response • Acclimation • Adaptation

4. Organization • Living things are highly organized: they are all composed of tiny living units called cells. • Some organisms consist of only a single cell (unicellular), others have trillions (multicellular). Image from: http://www.time.com/time/daily/special/genetics/ethics.html

5. Reproduction • Individual organisms die, but the species continues because of reproduction. • Reproduction without genetic contribution from two parents is called asexual. • Sexual reproduction produces offspring with genetic material from both parents. Imae from http://www.karlloren.com/biopsy/p66.htm Image from http://www.cccturtle.org/contents.htm

6. Growth • Living things grow over their lifetimes. Single- celled organisms increase their volume and multicellular organisms add to the number of cells in their body. Image from http://www.sosun.com/company.html

7. Development • As an organism matures, it does not just grow. • Tissues, organs and organ systems turn on or change their operations, leading to changes in the whole organism. • Puberty is a period of rapid development in humans. Image from http://www.naturalfacts.com.au/images/acne.gif

8. Energy Transformation • Living things take in energy and change it into different forms. • The transformed energy is used to power all of life’s processes (growth, etc.) • Metabolism is the term for all of an organism’s bio-chemical reactions and energy transformations. Image from http://photographytips.com/page.cfm/3575

9. Reaction to Surroundings • Living things react to and interact with their surroundings: the living and non-living factors of the environment. • These reactions can take place almost instantly or over a period of hours, days, months, years, or even generations. • The three types of reactions are: respond to stimulus, acclimation, and adaptation.

10. Respond to Stimulus • When presented with the proper stimulus, a living organism will respond. • Not all organisms will respond to the same stimulus in the same way, though. Image from http://agrolink.moa.my/dof/ppat/aquarium/betta/betta.html

11. Acclimation • Over a relatively short period of time, organisms can get used to local conditions. This is called acclimation. • Their body chemistry may change temporarily. • Humans living at high altitudes for a few months develop more red blood cells than people at sea level. Image from http://www.creativeworlds.com/rainier/rainier.html

12. Adaptation • Over (generally) long periods of time (several to thousands generations, depending on the critter), environmental pressures may lead to permanent genetic changes in organisms. • This process is called adaptation, or evolution. • These changes, or adaptations, help the organism survive and reproduce in its environment. Image from www.globalallianceafrica.org/ educational_trips.html