What is Life?
Characteristics of Living Things
Warm Up
I can… explain the 6
characteristics of life.
 Write down your hw!
Warm up: Looking back
over yesterday’s stations,
what do you think makes
something living?
Which of these are living?
BIO= life (components of life)
Currently living, once living or
made from something living
would all be BIOTIC
If it doesn’t have components
of life, its ABIOTIC
Living things=
6 Characteristics of Organisms

Cellular organization

Composed of chemicals

Use Energy

Grow & Develop

Respond to surroundings

Reproduce
1. Cellular Organization
Made of cells
Unicellular
Multicellular
-basic unit of structure and
function
-microscopic
(very small so that you need a
microscope to see them)
-some are bigger
ex. Eggs
-made of ONE cell
ex. Bacteria
-made of MANY cells (most
organisms)
ex. YOU
-have specialized cells
ex. Nerve cells, muscle cells
Plant cells
Animal cells
2. Composed of Chemicals
Water
Carbohydrates
Proteins & Lipids
Nucleic Acids
-most abundant chemical in
organisms
-energy source
-building materials
-genetic material (chemical
instructions that direct cell
activities
Water
Carbohydrates
Proteins & Lipids
Nucleic Acids
3. Energy Use
-Cells use energy to keep living things
alive
-cells are always hard at work!
-ex. repairing injured tissues
growing
digesting
blood delivers oxygen
4. Growth & Development
Growth
Development
- The process of becoming larger
- Process of change that occurs
during an organism’s life to produce
a more complex organism
ex. Cells become specialized into
nerve cells, muscle cells, etc.
**need to use energy to change and
grow– not like a pick-up rusting
5. Response to Surroundings
-organisms react to changes in their
environment
ex. Plants face the sun, dogs
shed fur, etc.
Stimulus (stimuli)
Response
-a change in an organism’s
surroundings that causes an organism
to react
-an action or change in behavior
**activity
6. Reproduction
Reproduce
-the ability to produce offspring
Journal:
Scientists discover a new substance
on a far off planet. The substance
appears to move, duplicate, and grow.
Further studies determine that the
substance is composed of various
chemicals. There are no other
characteristics. Is this substance an
organism? Why or why not. (BE
SPECIFIC AND DETAILED)
Life comes
from Life
Spontaneous Generation
theory
-many years ago, people believed that
living things arose from non-living
sources
Ex. Swarms of flies were born from the
rotting meat
Fracesco Redi
Controlled experiment
Manipulated variable
-Italian doctor
-proved in mid 1600’s that
spontaneous generation does not
occur
-Two tests which are identical in all
ways except for one
-the changed factor in a controlled
experiment
Redi’s experiment
Pasteur’s experiment
The Needs of
Organisms
4 Basic needs must be
satisfied
1. Energy
-All organisms need energy
-use food as their source
-obtain energy in different ways
autotrophs
heterotophs
-Auto ”self” troph “feeder”
(self-feeder)
-use the food they make as their
energy source
Ex. Plants
-hetero “other” troph “feeder
(other feeder)
-cannot make their own food
-eat autotrophs, autotroph’s food, other
heterotrophs
Ex. Animals, mushrooms, slime molds
2. Water
-All organisms need water to: break
down food, growth, obtain chemicals,
move substances within their bodies, &
reproduce
-dissolves more chemicals than any
other substances
-liquid blood is 92% water
-makes it good for transporting waste
out, nutrients in, etc.
3. Living Space
-All organisms need living space to: get
food, water and shelter
-limited resources can cause
competition between organisms for
living space
(some even share)
4. Stable Internal Conditions
-changing external conditions requires
organisms to maintain stable
conditions inside their bodies
homeostasis
-maintenance of stable internal
conditions despite outer changes
Ex. Your body temperature should
always remain 98.6 degrees F whether
its -5 or 87 degrees outside