Characteristics of Living Things

1.Organization

-presence of one or more cells- a cell is the smallest unit that can perform all life’s processes- unicellular = one cell

- multicellular = more than one cell

Yeast

Characteristics of Living Things

2. Homeostasis

- process by which organisms maintain stable internal conditions despite what is happening in their external environmentexample: Humans body temperature is

kept at 98.6 degrees

Characteristics of Living Things

3. Reproduction

- sexual = offspring not identical- asexual = new organism, same as old

- process by which organisms make more of their own kind

- nonessential for survival of individual, essential for continuation of a species

Characteristics of Living Things

4. Heredity - organisms contain DNA (deoxyribonecleic acid) that is made of genes (basic units of heredity)

- passing of traits from parents to offspring

Characteristics of Living Things

5. Evolution - change over time- change in the inherited characteristics of a species (a group of similar organisms that can produce fertile offspring) over generations, which is important for survival in a changing world

Characteristics of Living Things

6. Interdependence

- response to stimuli (change)

- physical change

- chemical change

- organisms live an interact with other organisms, relying on one another and their environment for survival

Characteristics of Living Things

7. Metabolism -sum of all chemical reactions that take place in an organism (to get and use energy to keep the process of life going)

Life’s Hierarchy of Organization

DNA

CELLS

TISSUES

ORGANS

ORGANISM

POPULATION

COMMUNITY

BIOSPHERE