Do Now
Take out a blank piece of lined paper and
answer the following:
• List 5 safety rules that you feel are important
in the lab.
• What are some characteristics of living things?
Describe what you feel it means to be alive.
Schedule
• Safety Contracts due Thursday, Friday.
• Quiz on Lab safety and Experiment Write-ups
this Friday
• Science Notebooks turned in on Friday.
– The notebooks should include all your notes,
assignments, and a experiment proposal for the
Twin Astronauts.
– For the Twin Astronauts, use your notes to do all
the steps from Title to Procedures (not Results,
Analysis, Conclusion)
The Characteristics of Life
1. Living things are composed of cells.
2. Living things can repair their cells.
3. Living things have different levels of
organization.
4. Living things use energy.
5. Living things respond to their environment.
6. Living things grow.
7. Living things reproduce.
8. Living things evolve.
Living things are composed of cells.
• Single- Cell organism have everything they
need to be self sufficient.
• In multicellular organisms, cells can specialize.
Examples
• Single- Bacteria
• Multi- Humans with cells for different organs
Living things can repair their cells.
• Living things can heal when damaged.
Example:
Think of a time when you scarred your skin and
a scab formed.
Living things have different levels of
organization.
• Living things must be able to organize simple
substances into complex ones.
• Cells < Tissue < Organ < Organ System < Organism
• Ex. Pacemaker cells < heart tissue < heart <
cardiovascular system < organ system
Living things use energy.
• Living things take in energy to grow and
reproduce.
• Examples: Humans take in food, plants take in
water and sunlight.
Living things respond to their
environment.
• When living things are stimulated, they
respond to their environment.
Example: Plants that lean toward the sunlight,
or reflexes in humans.
Living things grow.
• Living things can grow in several ways:
– Cell Division- The making of new cells.
– Cell Enlargement- The increase in size of a cell.
• The more cells an organism has, the larger it
becomes.
Examples: Trees that grow dozens of feet tall.
Living things reproduce.
• Living things must reproduce in order for their
species to survive.
• There are two ways that living things can
reproduce.
– Asexual Reproduction - Single parent
• Examples: Fungi, Hammerhead shark
– Sexual Reproduction – Two parents
• Mammals
Living things evolve.
• Living things have traits that can give it an
advantage over other organisms or members
of their species.
• Having a variety of traits is important for the
health of a species.
– Examples:
• Humans with throwing capabilities.
• Lactose Intolerance
Mneumonic
•REEL CARGO
Living or Non-Living
Go through the 8 steps and determine if they
are alive or not.
• Hair
• Mule
• Slime Mold
Review
Exit Ticket
• List as many of the characteristics of human
life as you can remember.
• List three examples of non-living things.
• List three examples of living things.