Name _______________________________________________________________________ Hour _________
It’s Alive!! Or, Is It?
Key
(yellow = answers green = helpful and extra information)
Directions: As you read Chapter 2, which begins on page 34 of your textbook, answer the following questions as
completely as you can. PRIMER ACTIVITY
Imagine…
1. The creatures in the Movile Cave are different from most other life-forms on Earth because
a. their energy supply comes from hydrogen sulfide (The ULTIMATE SOURCE of ENERGY is USUALLY the SUN) Pg 34
b. their energy supply comes from sunlight.
c. they use energy to fuel their life processes.
d. some of them eat their own young for energy.
2. According to the text, what will you study in this chapter? What do living things have in common? Pg 34.
Section 1: Characteristics of Living Things
3. What might you have in common with a slime mold? All organisms share the 6 characteristics in common. Pg 36
4. All organisms, including fish, trees, and mushrooms, share ___________6__________ characteristics.
Living Things Have Cells
In the space provided, write AT if the statement is always true, ST if the statement is sometimes true, and NT if the
statement is never true.
5. AT
A cell has a membrane that acts as a barrier between its contents and its environment.
(Explain how all cells have a membrane.)
6. NT
Adult complex organisms such as monkeys and humans are made up of a few hundred cells.
(The human has about 50 -100 trillion SPECIALIZED cells)
7. ST
Living things have more than one cell. (Some living things are 1-celled, some are multi-celled).
8. ST
A cell is too small to be seen without a microscope.(Most cells are too small to see without a scope)
9. AT
Cells perform specialized functions, such as transporting signals and movement.
(Cells are the basic unit of life and function for living things).
Living Things Sense and Respond to Change
10. Organisms respond to changes in their environments called stimuli. What are three examples of stimuli given
in the text?
1. Chemicals 2. Gravity
3.Darkness
4.Light
5. Sounds
6.Tastes
Stimuli = plural Stimulus = singular
Sample Activity = Pupil Change
11. The chemical reactions that happen inside your body can also take place in any other type of environment.
True or False? (Circle one.) Chemical reactions of an organism occur only in delicately balanced environments.
12. When it is hot, your body sweats to maintain a temperature of about 37oC. True or False? (Circle one.)
37 degrees C is the same as 96.7 degrees F. (See page 37 for examples of homeostasis)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rulon_Gardner
Living Things Reproduce
13. Suppose the abalone reproduces by “broadcast spawning.” The female shoots eggs into the water, and the
male shoots sperm into the water. Is this sexual or asexual reproduction? Explain. Sexual Repro. = X. There are
two parents involved in this situation therefore this is an example of a X (cross). (Show examples of both types of
reproduction from figures 4 and 5 on page 38).
Living Things Have DNA
14. Deoxyribonucleic acid provides instructions for making molecules called Proteins
15. When they reproduce, organisms pass on copies of their DNA
.
to their offspring.
16. Offspring resemble their parents because of heredity. True or False? (Circle one.)
AS parent pass a copy of100% of DNA to offspring. S parents pass copies of 50% of each parental DNA to
offspring.
Living Things Use Energy
17. Which of the following statements are true about metabolism? (Circle all that apply.)
a. It requires energy
b. It is the sum of an organism’s chemical activities.
c. It occurs only in multicellular organisms.
d. It involves the breakdown of food.
(Metabolism is the sum of all chemical activities of an organism like making food, digestion, cell activities etc.)
Living Things Grow and Develop
18. Growth in humans takes place as their cells divide and produce more cells. How do single-celled organisms
grow? Growth in single celled organisms happen as the one cell gets bigger.
Growth in multi-celled organisms happen by increasing the number of cells.
19. Living things, such as the oak tree in Figure 7, may ___develop___ and ____change_____ as they grow.
Review
20. What characteristics of living things does a river have? Is a river alive? Skip
21. What is homeostasis? Give an example of how your body maintains homeostasis. Skip
Section 2: The Simple Bare Necessities of Life
22. You have the same basic needs as a tree. True or False? (Circle one.)
(Almost every organism has the same needs).
23. What are the basic needs of living things? (Fill in 1-4 Below)
1. Food (Not all organisms get food in the same way. There are producers, consumers and decomposers).
2. Water (The cells of almost all living things is about 70% water. Metabolism needs water).
3. Air (Air is a mixture of different gasses. Some organisms like animals, plants and most living things need
02 to release energy from food. Other organisms such as algae, green plants and some bacteria need
CO2 in addition to O2). They use CO2 and Water to do Photosynthesis.
4. A Place to Live (Because the amount of space on earth is limited, organisms often compete with each
other for food). Bacteria could spend their whole life in a single pore at the tip of your nose. Grizzly
Bears need a Huge Territory. See figure 10 on page 41. The warbler protects its territory.
24. Define …
Producer:
Consumer:
25. You get water from the foods you eat and the fluids you drink. How many days could you survive without
water? Skip
26. The chemical process that releases energy from food requires _______________. (carbon dioxide or oxygen)
Skip
27. Plants do not need oxygen to stay alive. True or false? (Circle one.)
Skip
28. What do organisms need in the space where they live? Food, Water, Air and a Place to Live.
Skip