Notes for Chemistry of Life - Completed
Dead –
Living organisms that were once alive but are no longer
Non-living –
Not able to do all of the 8 functions nor were ever alive
Living –
Plant, animal or other life that performs ALL 8 FUNCTIONS
(Nutrition, Respiration, Reproduction, Excretion, Growth, Response to Environment, Movement,
Secretion)
As it rains, we tend to see a lot more earthworms come out onto the sidewalks and pavements. Where did
people long ago believe earthworms came from?
Spontaneous Generation – The thought that living things came from non-living things.
Francesco Redi – Italian doctor who challenged the theory of spontaneous generation.
Draw a picture of Redi’s experiment and label each drawing
Open – maggots
appeared
Netting – maggots formed
on top of netting
Closed – no maggots appeared
What did Redi disprove?
Spontaneous Generation
What else did he discover by doing this experiment?
Life cycle of fly
Where do flies actually come from?
maggots
Louis Pasteur:
A French chemist and microbiologist who also disproved the idea that microbes grew from organic matter,
including things like juice.
Here is the experiment:
3 S-shaped jars were used to figure out why broth was spoiling. Put broth in each jar, boiled, and after a
few days, found no microbes living in broth (broth did not spoil). Noticed dust in S-shape neck – when
broken, the broth became spoiled. Helped to discover Pasteurization.
The 8 functions of Life
1. Nutrition:
Take in food and water for energy and growth
Example: eating and drinking
2. Respiration:
Exchange and use of gases especially oxygen and carbon dioxide. This is what helps
release energy from food.
Example: Breathing
3. Reproduction:
Producing more of it’s own kind. Survival of the species depends on it.
4. Excretion:
Removal of wastes
Example: urinating, crying, sweating, exhaling
5. Growth:
Development and aging of organisms over time
Example: trees grow taller, a wound heals
6. Response to environment:
React to changes in its surroundings
Example: Seedling bending towards the sun, geese migrating south, pupils dilating to dim
light
7. Movement:
Organism may move and materials inside also move
Example: tree branches blowing and water flowing through the tree, we walk and run and
our blood flows through our body
8. Secretion:
Useful chemicals are made and given off
Examples: saliva helps digest and swallow food, poison ivy secretes an oil that protects it
from animals, hormones
Basic Needs of Life:
“MAWS”
Minerals
Air
Water
Sun
**All living things need to interact with non-living things to survive!