8th Grade Living Environment

Mr. Ardito's Classes

Study Guide - Homeostasis Unit

1. Characteristics of Life
2. Homeostasis
3. Cells
4. Photosynthesis/Cellular Respiration
5. Diffusion

1. Characteristics of Life
This is the set of processes that a living thing must do in order to be considered alive.

M -- Metabolism -- The total of all chemical reactions within the organism

R -- Regulation -- Being able to respond to changes in the internal and external
environment.
L -- Locomotion -- Moving from place to place in search of food, water, shelter, and mates.
S -- Synthesis -- Building big things from small things.
T -- Transport -- Moving materials within the organism
R -- Respiration -- Burning food for energy
N -- Nutrition -- Obtaining energy from the environment
G -- Growth -- More cells and bigger cells
E -- Excretion -- Removing waste
R -- Reproduction - The organism makes copies of itself

2. Homeostasis
This is the process by which living things maintain the optimal internal environment for
themselves.
One example we talked about in class was thermoregulation, which is managing body
temperature. The chemical reactions within our bodies work best and at all only at certain
temperatures. So, our bodies work to keep our core body temperature within certain levels.

Feedback Mechanisms
These are the processes that living things use to maintain homeostasis.
We studied two types:
Negative Feedback Loops
Positive Feedback Loops

Negative Feedback Loops

This is a situation where one thing happening causes another thing to stop happening.

Here is an example:

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Positive Feedback Mechanisms

This is a situation where one thing happening causes another thing to happen more.

In class, we used the examples of arguing or putting a microphone to a speaker. One thing
happening causes more of that thing to happen.

3. Cells
Cells are the smallest living things.
They have to perform all of the Characteristics of Life in order to function.
The cell organelles are parts of the cell that carry out these life processes.

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Cell Organelles
Cell Wall - Surrounds the plant cell and provides structure to the cell
Cell Membrane -- Found in both plant and animal cells. Determines what goes in and out of
the cell.
Nucleus -- Considered the control center of the cell. Houses the chromosomes and the
nucleolus.
Chromosomes -- Found in the cell nucleus. Contains the genetic information for the cell (the
recipes it needs to do everything it needs to do to function).
Nucleolus -- Found in the nucleus. Makes the ribosomes.
Ribosomes -- Found in the cytoplasm. Makes proteins.
Endoplasmic Reticulum -- Found in the cytoplasm, just outside the nucleus. Finishes up the
proteins made by the ribosomes.
Cytoplasm -- A jelly like fluid that contains all the other organelles.
Mitochondria -- The powerhouse of the cell. This is where the cells burn glucose for fuel. The
home of cellular respiration.
Golgi apparatus -- The post office of the cells. It packages up materials made by the cell.
Vacuoles - Storage containers within the cell. In plant cells, they are very big and help
provide structure for the cell.
Lysosomes -- Little vessels that break down waste produced by the cells.
Chloroplasts -- Found in plant cells only. They are the place where photosynthesis takes
place.

4. Photosynthesis/Cellular Respiration
These are two of the most important chemical reactions performed by living things. If it
were not for these two reactions, there would be no life on Earth.

Photosynthesis
This is performed by plants. Photosynthesis happens in the chloroplasts.
In photosynthesis, plants convert some of the Sun's energy into a form that can be used by
all living things.
In photosynthesis, inorganic molecules (carbon dioxide and water) are converted into an

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organic molecule (glucose).
The energy that is converted from sunlight is stored in the bonds connecting the carbons in
glucose.

Formula for Photosynthesis:

Carbon Dioxide + Water ---SUNLIGHT-----> Glucose + Oxygen + Water
CO2 + H20 ---SUNLIGHT-----> C6H12O6 + O2 + H2O

Cellular Respiration
This is performed by both plants and animals. Cellular Respiration happens in the
mitochondria.
In cellular respiration, cells combine glucose and oxygen to release energy. This energy is in
the form of another molecule called ATP (which stands for adenosine triphosphate). ATP is
the form of energy that cells use to perform all of their life functions.

Formula for Cellular Respiration

Glucose + Oxygen ------------> Carbon Dioxide + Water + ATP

C6H12O6 + O2 ------------> CO2 + H20 + ATP

5. Diffusion

Diffusion is the process where stuff moves from where there is more of it to where there is
less, unless a balance (or equilibrium) is reached.
Diffusion is the process by which substances move across the cell membrane. The cell
membrane is called semi-permeable, because it lets some things through and keeps other
things out.

Three types of Diffusion

Osmosis - the diffusion of water across the cell membrane. This process uses NO ENERGY.
Diffusion (passive transport) - the diffusion of substances other than water across the cell
membrane. This process uses NO ENERGY.
Active Transport -- This is the movement of substances across the cell membrane from
where there's less to where there's more (the opposite of what normally happens in

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diffusion). This process uses ENERGY.
Active transport is how your nerve and muscle cells work.

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