Volvox Green Algae (Volvox aureus)
By: Brady Ludvik
Characteristics of Life—Cells, Organization,
Reproduction, Homeostasis, Heredity,
Responsiveness, Growth & Development
3 Characteristics That
Make it a Protist
They are the simplest form of eukaryotic organism.
They use every way to get energy.
They all don’t have enough characteristics to make them in any
other group
Cellular Oranization
One cell
All living things are made of
cells. The green algae is
single-cellular organism.
Each cell only thinks for
itself, not towards a similar
goal with other cells.
Volvox has a special trait
that lets it colonize with
other cells but not interact
with them. They are still
unicellular, they just group
together.
One colony
Metabolism
The Volvox is a
photoautotroph which
means that it
photosynthesizes to create
its own energy. It just needs
the sunlight to make sugars
to use for energy. They use
chloroplasts absorb
sunlight and convert it to
energy.
Reproduction
All livings must be able to
reproduce by themselves or
with their own species. The
Volvox Green Algae
reproduces asexually which
means they are neither male
or female and they clone
themselves, making a copy of
themselves. They make a copy
of their DNA and it splits, one
with each copy of DNA and
they are the same.
Growth & Development
In the process of cell
division, the organelles
have to dissolve to make
room for the new
chromosomes to divide.
After they divide their
organelles need to develop
again and the cell grows
until it divides again.
Heredity
The algae is unicellular
which means that there is
no mixture of DNA so the
offspring is exactly alike the
parent. They pass on
everything without
interference to the
offspring. This includes
information to create
certain organelles and how
to photosynthesize.
They all look alike
Homeostasis
Homeostasis in when an
organism tries to maintain a
balance. An example for
Volvox is that it has to
regulate the amount of
water inside of the cell and
it needs to regulate the
amount of sugars it
produces too.
The cell is leaving
the colony because
it cannot fit all
of the cells in
Responsiveness
Responsiveness is reacts to
its environment to survive.
An example of this for
Volvox is that it changes the
amount of chloroplasts due
to the intensity of the light
it is in. Also, it will move
towards the sunlight to get
as much of it as possible.