NATURE OF LIFE NOTES

What is Biology?

• the study of living things.– BIO-: life

– -OLOGY: study of

Characteristics of Life

How do you know something is living?

Which of the following is Living?

• Spider Web• River• Rock• Rain• Onion• Potatoes• Horse• Grass• Tree & Leaves• Cacti

• Yogurt• Tornado• Fire• Seed• Mushrooms• Frog• Icicles• Eggs• Rocking Horse• Teddy Bear

• Bicycle• Bananas• Baby• Hibernating Bear• Robot• Peas• Corn• Jellyfish• Sun• Cloud

All living thing…

•Made of cells– Basic unit of life

– Unicellular: made up of one cell

– Multicellular: made up of many cells

All living thing…

•Reproduce– Asexual reproduction: has only 1 parent– Sexual reproduction: needs 2 parents

All living thing…

•Grow and Develop– Growth: increase in size or shape

– Development: mature over time

All living thing…

• Have a genetic code (DNA/RNA)– DNA: deoxyribonucleic acid– RNA: ribonucleic acid

All living thing…

• Use and Need Energy– Energy comes from “food”

• Producers: get their energy from the sun• Consumers: get their energy by eating other organisms

All living thing…

•Respond to environment– Reacts to stimuli

• Stimuli: signal to which an organism responds

All living thing…

• Maintain homeostasis– Homeostasis: a process in which organisms maintain

a stable internal environment– Examples: sweating, shivering, panting

All living thing…

•Evolve– Changes of a long

period of time involving the entire group