6 Characteristics of Living Things

1. Living Things Have 1 or More Cells. Every organism is made up of one or more

cellsone-celled organisms are called _____________

Examples are: _______________________organisms with more than 1 cell are called

_______________.

Examples are: _______________________________.

unicellular

bacteria, yeast, amoeba

multicellularhumans, plants, mushrooms

What's a Cell? A membrane-covered structure that

separates an organism from its environment.

Cells have everything necessary for_____.

Cells are generally too _______ to be seen by the naked eye.

life

small

2. Living Things Respond to Stimuli A stimulus is a change in an organism’s

environment that affects the activity of the organism. All organisms sense stimuli in their environment

and respond. Examples:

___________________________________________

What do you do when it’s cold outside? Feeling cold is a _________ and shivering is the

__________.

light, odors, sounds, weather

stimulusresponse

Homeostasis

Organisms respond to stimuli to maintain a stable internal environment called homeostasis because many chemical reactions require balanced environments.

Example: Your body maintains a temperature of about 37°C (98.6°F). When you’re hot you sweat; when you’re cold you shiver; this is your body trying to return things to normal.

3. Living Things Reproduce

Asexual Reproduction – one parent; offspring are identical to the parent

Sexual Reproduction – two parents; offspring have characteristics of both parents

4. Living Things Have DNA

DNA stands for Deoxyribonucleic acid

DNA encodes _______ which are the blueprint for life.

genes

5. Living Things Use Energy

Energy is required to carry out all day-to-day activities. Examples of activities that require energy:

_____________________________________walking, thinking, digesting food

6. Living Things Grow and Develop All organisms grow

during periods of their

lives.

They develop or

change in form as

they grow.

Necessities ofLife

1. Food

All living things need food because it gives them _______to carry out day-to-day activities.

___________ – make their own food.

___________ – eat other organisms to get food.

___________ – break down nutrients in dead organisms or animal waste.

energy

producers

consumers

decomposers

2. Water Probably the single most

important compound on Earth. ~_____ of the content of

cells is water Used in all chemical

reactions in the cell

70 %

3. Air

_________ – needed by most animals and plants; used in the chemical process called cellular respiration that releases energy from food.

_______________– needed by plants, algae and some bacteria; used to convert the energy of sunlight into food in a process called __________________.

oxygen

carbon dioxide

photosynthesis

4. A Place to Live

All living things must have somewhere to live that contains:

____________________ Space is limited

Organisms often compete with each other for food, water and other necessities. Even plants compete with each other for living space and access to water and sunlight.

Food, water and air