---------------------------------------------------------------Warm up:
1. How are you like this tree?
 ------------------
Properties of Life
Biology – What’s in a name??
 What does BIOLOGY mean?
 “Bio-” means “life”
 “-ology” means “the study of”
All living things share characteristics but are also
influenced by there surroundings.
Factors that affect living things…
BIOTIC factor– references aspects that affect life that
are considered “living”

includes something that is DEAD – because it was once
living
ABIOTIC factor– references aspects that are NONliving (but can be just as important)
 “A-” is a prefix for “opposite of” or “against”
What things are considered living?
 Animals
Fungi
 Protists

Plants
Bacteria
Stone?
There are 7 themes that
biological entities share.
They are known are the
7 Properties Of Life.
These are the things all living
things share in common.
They unite all life.
What does it mean to be alive?
 Move?
 Reproduce?
 Breath?
 Eat?
 Heart Beat?
 Drink Water?
 Cells?
There are 7 Properties All Living
Things Have in Common
1. Cellular Organization
2. Metabolism
3. Homeostasis
4. Growth & Development
5. Reproduction/Heredity
6. Responsiveness/Interaction
7. Evolution
1. Cellular
Organization
Single Cell Organisms
Organelle
 All living things are
made of one or
more cell.

Highly organized
structure
 And there is a
hierarchy of cell
organization in
living things.
(right)
Cell: Where life begins
Tissue
Organ
Organ System
Organism
Multicellular
Organisms
2. Metabolism = Use energy
 = Sum of all chemical reactions in the body.
 Anabolic = build
 Catabolic = break down
 All living things obtain and use energy
 (Eating, Breathing, Drinking Water)
 All energy originates with the sun.
 Plants transfer sunlight into chemical energy.
 Your cells need energy to grow, develop,
repair damage, reproduce. And we get that
energy from eating.
3. Homeostasis
 = Maintaining stable internal
condition when the outside can
change.
 Humans operate most efficiently at
98.6°. Changes just a few degree
can be life threatening.
 Stability is incredibly important to
our chemistry!
4. Growth & Development
 = All organisms have a life
cycle, grow, and change
 Some life is way more
dramatic than others.


Bacteria = 20minutes.
Oldest tree is over 5000
years old!
5. Reproduction/ Heredity
 All organisms reproduce in order to
continue the species’ existence.
 Heredity = Traits are passed on
from parents to offspring through
genes.
 Asexual: If there is one parent then
the offspring look just like the parent
(clones)
 Sexual: If there are two parents then
the offspring are a mosaic of traits
from contributing DNA.
6. Response! Respond and
Adjust to Environment
 All organisms respond to
changes in their
environments.
 Example




Light
Gravity
Heat
Fight or flight
 Phototropism
 Auxin, a growth regulator in
plants, controls directional
cell elongation that takes
place in phototropism
7. Evolution
 Populations of organisms
change over time leading to
the great diversity in life we
see.
 Evolution is bound to the
more favorable traits.
4 Tenets of Evolution
1. Variation
2. Traits are passed on
3. Overproduction
4. Many offspring don’t
survive because of
competition.
Double Check
 Let’s reconsider the question about the
tree.
 Which properties did you include?
 Which properties do you need to
change?
 Which properties do we need to
remove?
Honors
Concept Check
Is it Living?... Why?
Shoulder Partner…

What are the biotic & abiotic factors
in this scene?
 Talk it over and come up with any 3 biotic factors and 3 abiotic factors.
 1 minute… GO!
Quick share…
Practice Identifying the
Properties in Samples…
 In your groups, analyze the picture and decide if
it’s living or not.
 Give three reasons for each.
 These will become a handout that you will make
a part of your notes.
 The “Analysis Questions” & “are CW/HW and are
due tomorrow.
Biotic/Abiotic: Only question #1 (don’t’ do #2). List at
least 3 for each. “Analysis Questions are for the living v
non-living practice.
 Living v Non-living: Determine if it’s living or not and
give 3 reasons as justification.

Continuing…
- How did you do?
1. Polar Bear = Living
2. Rock = Not Living
3. Sunflower = Living
4. School of Fish = Living
5. Dirt = Not Living
6. Euglena = Living
7. Seeds = ? LIVING! Just barely…
Complete the “Analysis” for credit.
BIO
Today…
 You will choose an organism.
 If you have been reading the warm-
ups you should have brought in a
picture from home.
 You will use this picture as the focus
for examining the properties of life
further.
Try these…

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
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




___ tree
___ rock
___ fire
___ boy
___ wind
___ rabbit
___ cloud
___ feather
___ grass
___ seed
___ egg
___ bacteria

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___ cell
___ molecule
___ Sun
___ mushroom
___ potato
___ leaf
___ butterfly
___ pupae
___ fossil
___ hibernating bear
___ mitochondria
___ river
Properties of Life
Graphic Organizer
Is it living?
• “Living” is an important term that has very specific
definitions.
• Unfortunately, it can sometimes be difficult identify
all of them in living things.
• You know most of these properties already.
• Recall yesterday’s question about the tree.
• What were you ideas?
• How about the apple?
• It’s important to know that something is living by
scientific definition if it exhibits all 7 properties.
1.
Cellular Organization
All living things are made of one or more cells.
2.
Metabolism
Living things break things down then build things back up.
This is evident in obtaining energy to live (eating other
organisms)
3.
Homeostasis
Maintaining stable internal conditions when things outside
change. For example, we shiver when it’s cold and we sweat
when it’s hot but our internal temperature stays pretty
stable.
4.
Growth & Development
Living things grow in size or number in cells and have a life
cycle, they live and then eventually die.
5.
Reproduction/Heredity
Living things make babies (officially called offspring). Those
babies have traits given from their parents. Meaning they
have genes (eye color for example) that were given to them
by their parents.
6.
Responsiveness/Interaction
Living things respond to outside influences. Flowers open in
sunlight and gazelle run when chased.
7.
7 Properties
of Life
Evolution
As generations increase, random mutation and genetic
combinations contribute to variability.
These 7 terms
define what is
living.
All life is united
by these 7
properties.
Properties of Life Classwork
• Choose your organism, any organism.
– This should be the organism you brought in.
– You can draw one or make it up if you didn’t.
• Draw or paste a picture of this organism in the middle of
the page.
– See next slide.
• In bubbles around the outside, label, define, and describe
the 7 properties of life and how this organism displays
using them.
• Once graded, these could be put up on the side wall.
Property of Life:
Explanation
Ex: Metabolism: the sum of
chemical reactions in the body
that help build up & break down
the organism.
The alien eats carbon asteroids
that fall from its moon for energy.
Property of Life:
Explanation
Property of Life:
Explanation
Due: _______ Use color & Be
neat & creative.
Do this on a piece of
copy/construction paper
provided.
Your
organism
goes here
Property of Life:
Explanation
Property of Life:
Explanation
Property of Life:
Explanation
Scoring: 25pts Total
1pt. ea.: Each property is labeled.
1pt. ea.: Each property is defined properly.
1pt. ea.: Each property is related to your
organism in a descriptive manner.
4pts total: Presentation is neat and colorful!