7 Characteristics of Life:
Living Things are Composed of Cells:
Single-cell organisms have everything they need to be self-sufficient.
In multicellular organisms, specialization increases until some cells do
only certain things.
Things Have Different Levels
Both molecular and cellular organization.
Living things must be able to organize simple substances into complex ones.
Living things organize cells at several levels:
- a group of cells that perform a common function.
- a group of tissues that perform a common function.
- a group of organs that perform a common function.
- any complete living thing.
Things Use Energy:
Living things take in energy and use it for maintenance and growth.
Things Respond To Their Environment:
Living things will make changes in response to a stimulus in their
A behavior is a complex set of responses.
Living Things Grow:
Cell division - the orderly formation of new cells.
Cell enlargement - the increase in size of a cell. Cells grow to a certain
size and then divide.
An organism gets larger as the number of its cells increases.
Reproduction is not essential for the survival of individual organisms, but
must occur for a species to survive.
All living things reproduce in one of the following ways:
Asexual repoduction - Producing
offspring without the use of gametes.
Sexual reproduction - Producing
offspring by the joining of sex cells.
Things Adapt To Their Environment:
Adaptations are traits giving an organism an advantage in a certain
Variation of individuals is important for a healthy species.
Do all living
things have all of the characteristics of life? If your answer is no, give an
non-living thing that uses energy.
non-living thing that grows.