Diversity Unit Review Sheet
Characteristics of life
1. What are the 8 characteristics of life?
All living things…
a. Maintain homeostasis
b. Are made of cells
c. Have DNA
d. Adapt to their environment
e. Grow
f. Reproduce
g. Use energy
h. Have levels of organization
2. What does homeostasis mean? Living things keep the inside of their body stable (the same) at all times.
Examples: temperature, blood sugar level.
3. Is fire living? Use ALL 8 characteristics of life to prove your answer.
No, because it does not maintain homeostasis, it is not made of cells, does not have DNA, does
not adapt to its environment, and does not have levels of organization. It does use energy, grow,
and reproduce, but living things must have ALL 8 characteristics.
4. Is a lizard alive? Use ALL 8 characteristics of life to prove your answer.
Yes, because it maintains homeostasis, is made of cells, has DNA, adapts to its environment, has
levels of organization, uses energy, grows, and reproduces. Since it has all 8, that means a lizard is
alive!
5. What characteristic of life do the following represent?
A. Outdoor temperature grows cold and the bear hibernates. Adapting to the environment.
B. Tulips bloom and spread pollen in the air to fertilize another flower and make seeds. Reproducing.
C. A bacteria cell splits in half to make two cells. Reproducing.
D. A caterpillar changes to a pupa then a butterfly. Growth.
E. A sea star opens a clam and digests the flesh. Uses energy.
Cell Structure
6. Describe the differences and similarities between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells in words and
pictures. Prokaryotic cells have NO nucleus (draw a cell with no nucleus). Eukaryotic cells have a nucleus
(draw a cell with a nucleus).
Kingdom Characteristics
7. A type of bacteria that survives in extreme heat lives in what kingdom? Archaebacteria
8. Give an example of an organism in each of the 6 kingdoms. Explain why each organism is classified
into its kingdom.
You can use any example you would like, but it has to have ALL the characteristics of its kingdom. For example…
A whale is in Kingdom Animalia because it is macro in size, multicellular, reproduces sexually, has eukaryotic
cells, and is a heterotroph (gets food from other sources and can NOT make its own food).
9. Complete the following table.
Kingdom # of cells
Type of cells
How obtains energy/nutrients Reproduction
Eubacteria
Unicellular
Prokaryotic
Heterotrophic/autotrophic
Asexual
Archaebacteria
Unicellular
Prokaryotic
Heterotrophic/autotrophic
Asexual
Plantae
Usually
multicellular
Multicellular
Unicellular and
multicellular
Eukaryotic
Autotrophic
Eukaryotic
Eukaryotic
Heterotrophic
Heterotrophic
Asexual and
sexual
Sexual
Sexual and
asexual
Animalia
Fungi
Protista
Unicellular and
multicellular
Eukaryotic
Heterotrophic and autotrophic
Sexual and
asexual
Organization
10. Use a Dichotomous key to identify organisms.
a. Practice with the salamanders
11. Determine which are more alike: organisms that are the same species or organisms that are in the
same kingdom. Explain how you know
Ex: Are tigers and fish more alike (same kingdom) or are a yellow rose and a red rose more alike (same
kingdom)?
Organisms that are the same species are more similar than organisms that are in the same kingdom.
According to the Linnaeus Classification System, species is more specific than kingdom. The list from
Least similar to Most similar: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species. (Remember like
this: King Phillip Came Over For Great Spaghetti). Example: Brown lab dogs and black lab dogs(same
species) are more similar to each other than a red fox and a blue macaw parrot (different species)
12. Write this scientific name correctly: HOMO SAPIENS
Homo sapiens
Explain the rules for writing a scientific name. Rules: capitalize genus (Homo), lowercase species
(sapiens), italics, and underlined.
13. Which 2 of the following animals are most closely related? Explain your thinking. The seal and bear are
most closely related because they have the same kingdom, phylum, and class names (Animalia,
Chordata, Mammalia). They become different at the family level. The lobster is different farther up at the
phylum level and the lionfish is different at the class level.
Red lionfish
Seal
Lobster
Bear
K: Animalia
K: Animalia
K: Animalia
K: Animalia
P: Chordata
P: Chordata
P: Arthropoda
:P: Chordata
C: Actinopterygii
C: Mammalia
C: Malacostraca
C: Mammalia
O: Scorpaeniformes
O: Carnivora
O: Decapoda
O: Carnivora
F: Phocidae
F: Ursid
14. Be able to describe and draw the following key vocabulary below.
 Asexual reproduction Creating a new organism only requires ONE parent (examples: bacteria, coral in
fish tank)
 Sexual reproduction Creating a new organism requires TWO parents (examples: dogs, fish)
 Heterotroph a type of organism that must eat other organisms to get food energy
 Autotroph a type of organism that can create its own food energy (usually from the sun)
 Prokaryote a cell with NO nucleus
 Eukaryote a cell WITH a nucleus
 Multicellular organism is made of many cells
 Unicellular organism is made of one cell
 Organism a living thing that has all 8 characteristics of life we talked about in class.
 Species a group of organisms that are all similar and considered to be one kind.
15. Make an observation about the classroom. This can be anything, as long as it is a FACT.
16. Make an inference about the classroom. This can be anything, as long as it is a guess based on what you
observed.
17. What is the difference between an observation and an inference? An observation is a fact and
something you can see, smell, taste, touch, or hear. An inference is a guess based on the facts you notice.
We usually make inferences when we try to answer the question “Why is my observation true?” or “What
does this observation mean?”