The Characteristics

of Living Things
 The Characteristics of
Living Things
• Great Complexity & Organization
• Composed of Cells
• Reproduction & Development
• Mechanism for Inheritance
• Metabolism & Homeostasis
• Interaction with the Environment
• Evolution (Adaptation)
Great Complexity and Organization
–Living things are made of the same
materials as everything else in the
universe
• are assembled into
molecules
• Living things are more organized ,
more complex
–Living things require energy to carry
out life processes
• Atoms
• Molecules
• Organelles
• Cells
• Tissues
• Organs
• Organ Systems
• Organisms
• Populations
• Communities
• Ecosystems
• Biosphere
 Atoms

proton
neutron
electron
hydrogen helium
atom carbon
atom atom
1p, 0n, 1e- 2p, 2n, 2e- 6p, 6n, 6e-
Some Elements
Simple Inorganic Molecules

• Water (H2O)
• Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
• Molecular Oxygen (O2)
• Ammonium (NH3)
• Sodium Chloride (NaCl)
 Biological Compounds
Categories:

Carbohydrates Lipids

Proteins Nucleic Acids

Organic Building Block
Molecules
Simple Sugars
(e.g., glucose: C6H12O6)
Amino Acids
(e.g., glycine: C2H5O2N)
Nucleotide Bases
(e.g., adenine: C5H5N4)
 Cell Organelles
nucleus
smooth ER

mitochondria
rough ER

golgi
 Cells

Nerve cell Osteocyte

Blood cell Muscle cell

Levels of Body Organization
Organisms
Populations
Communities
Ecosystems
The Biosphere
carbon DNA organelle cell
atom molecule tissue

biosphere

ecosystem

organ

organ
system

community organism
population
Prokaryotic Cell
Eukaryotic
Animal Cell
Eukaryotic
Plant Cell
 Classification: Six kingdom system
:
Eubacteria Archaebacteria

E. coli Cyanobacteria

Protista
Paramecium Diatom Slime mold

Plantae

Fungi

Animalia
 Asexual Reproduction

Coral polyp budding

Sexual Reproduction
Both Sexual & Asexual
Development
 DNA
Contains
information for
almost all cell
activities
 Metabolism
The sum total of the chemical processes
that occur in living organisms, resulting
in growth, production of energy,
elimination of waste material, etc.

• Anabolism- build up of complex

molecules
• Catabolism- break down of complex
molecules
 Cellular Respiration
C6H12O6 + 6O2  6H2O + 6CO2 + energy
 Photosynthesis
6H2O + 6CO2 + light  C6H12O6 + 6O2
Autotrophs
• Organisms that make their own food (like
plants, some protists, and some bacteria)
• Plants capture energy from the sun, use
water and carbon dioxide to make sugars and
starches

Photosynthesis Chemosynthesis
Heterotrophs
• Organisms that take
in food to meet their
energy needs
• Animals must
consume autotrophs
(plants), and other
heterotrophs to meet
their energy needs
Is a Coral a Heterotroph or
Autotroph?
 Homeostasis
1. Maintenance of constant
internal conditions in varying
environments
2. Adaptation of organisms to
specific environments
 Homeostasis
Three big problems
1. Obtaining energy and nutrients
2. Maintaining temperature
3. Obtaining and holding onto
water
Body Temperature Regulation
 Temperature Control
Ectotherms (Poikilotherms)
• Generate body heat metabolically, but
cannot maintain constant internal body
temperature
• Body temperature mimics the
surrounding environment
 Ectotherms
Most ectotherms regulate their body
temperature by
• basking
• moving between shade/sun
• being active at certain times of day
 Temperature Control
Endotherms (homeothermic)
• Generate body heat metabolically and
body temperature does not match the
temperature of the surrounding
environment
• These organisms retain metabolic heat
and can control metabolism to maintain
a constant internal temperature
Interaction with the environment
–Living things interact with each
other and with the environment
–Ecology – the study of these
interactions
• Hawaiian Monk seals eat fish
• Humans eat fish
• What if something happened to the
fish?
Interaction with the Environment
 Evolution
Change in the genetic
composition of a population
through time
 Evolution
• Inherited change in the
characteristics of organisms over
time
• Living things are slowly changing
• Process of natural selection results
in change over time
• Organisms with favorable genes are
more likely to survive, reproduce,
and pass on those favorable genes
Mechanisms Contributing to
Evolutionary Change

• Production of heritable
variations
• Natural Selection
• Chance
 Heredity
• Transmission of
characteristics from parent to
offspring
• Instructions from parent to
offspring are passed on in
the form of genes
 Heritable variations

Banding pattern Dwarfism

Eye color

Beak Depth
Blood type
 Adaptations
The structural, functional, and
behavioral features that contribute
to the success of a species.
 Natural Selection
Peppered Moths: study in England 1800’s
More light than dark moths
• Industrial pollution turned trees dark
• Population shifted to mostly dark moths

Peppered Moth Exercise

http://www.techapps.net/interactives/pepperMoths.swf
Natural Selection
 Inquiry
1. Define:
Homeostasis, photoautotroph, chemoautotroph, heterotroph

2. What is a group of different organisms living in the same

geographic are called?

3. What 3 features do plant cells have that animal cells

don’t?

4. Which 4 elements make up living things?

5. What is the equation for photosynthesis?