Characteristics of Living Things

Defining a living thing is a difficult proposition, as is defining lifethat property possessed by living
things. However, a living thing possesses certain properties that help define what life is.
Complex organization
Living things have a level of complexity and organization not found in lifeless objects. At its most
fundamental level, a living thing is composed of one or more cells. These units, generally too small to be
seen with the unaided eye, are organized into tissues. A tissue is a series of cells that accomplish a
shared function. Tissues, in turn, form organs, such as the stomach and kidney. A number of organs
working together compose an organ system. An organism is a complex series of various organ systems.
Metabolism
Living things exhibit a rapid turnover of chemical materials, which is referred to as metabolism.
Metabolism involves exchanges of chemical matter with the external environment and extensive
transformations of organic matter within the cells of a living organism. Metabolism generally involves
the release or use of chemical energy. Nonliving things do not display metabolism.
Responsiveness
All living things are able to respond to stimuli in the external environment. For example, living things
respond to changes in light, heat, sound, and chemical and mechanical contact. To detect stimuli,
organisms have means for receiving information, such as eyes, ears, and taste buds.
To respond effectively to changes in the environment, an organism must coordinate its responses. A
system of nerves and a number of chemical regulators calledhormones coordinate activities within an
organism. The organism responds to the stimuli by means of a number of effectors, such as muscles and
glands. Energy is generally used in the process.
Organisms change their behavior in response to changes in the surrounding environment. For example,
an organism may move in response to its environment. Responses such as this occur in definite patterns
and make up the behavior of an organism. The behavior is active, not passive; an animal responding to a
stimulus is different from a stone rolling down a hill. Living things display responsiveness; nonliving
things do not.
Growth
Growth requires an organism to take in material from the environment and organize the material into
its own structures. To accomplish growth, an organism expends some of the energy it acquires during
metabolism. An organism has a pattern for accomplishing the building of growth structures.
During growth, a living organism transforms material that is unlike itself into materials that are like it. A
person, for example, digests a meal of meat and vegetables and transforms the chemical material into
more of himself or herself. A nonliving organism does not display this characteristic.

Reproduction
A living thing has the ability to produce copies of itself by the process known as reproduction. These
copies are made while the organism is still living. Among plants and simple animals, reproduction is
often an extension of the growth process. For example, bacteria grow and quickly reach maturity, after
which they split into two organisms by the process of asexual reproduction. Asexual reproduction
involves only one parent, and the resulting cells are generally identical to the parent cell.
More complex organisms engage in a type of reproduction called sexual reproduction, in which two
parents contribute to the formation of a new individual. During this process, a new combination of traits
can be produced. The process is generally more complex than asexual reproduction, requiring that
parents find one another, then (usually) care for their offspring before it can live independently.
Nonliving things have no such ability or requirements.
Evolution
Populations of living organisms have the ability to adapt to their environment through the process of
evolution. During evolution, changes occur in populations, and the organisms in the population become
better able to metabolize, respond, and reproduce. They develop abilities to cope with their
environment that their ancestors did not have.
Evolution also results in a greater variety of organisms than existed in previous eras. This proliferation of
populations of organisms is unique to living things.
http://www.cliffsnotes.com/sciences/biology/biology/the-science-of-biology/characteristics-of-livingthings

Lithosphere Layers

The lithosphere is the rigid outermost shell of a rocky planet defined on the basis of the mechanical
properties. On Earth, it comprises the crust and the portion of the upper mantle that behaves elastically

on time scales of thousands of years or greater. The outermost shell of a rocky planet defined on the
basis of the chemistry and mineralogy is a crust.
In the Earth, the lithosphere includes the crust and the uppermost mantle, which constitute the hard
and rigid outer layer of the Earth. The lithosphere is underlain by the asthenosphere, the weaker, hotter,
and deeper part of the upper mantle. The boundary between the lithosphere and the underlying
asthenosphere is defined by a difference in response to stress: the lithosphere remains rigid for very
long periods of geologic time in which it deforms elastically and through brittle failure, while the
asthenosphere deforms viscously and accommodates strain through plastic deformation. The
lithosphere is broken into tectonic plates. The uppermost part of the lithosphere that chemically reacts
to the atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere through the soil forming process is called the
pedosphere.
The concept of the lithosphere as Earths strong outer layer was developed by Joseph Barrell, who wrote
a series of papers introducing the concept. The concept was based on the presence of significant gravity
anomalies over continental crust, from which he inferred that there must exist a strong upper layer
(which he called the lithosphere) above a weaker layer which could flow (which he called the
asthenosphere). These ideas were expanded by Harvard geologist Reginald Aldworth Daly in 1940 with
his seminal work "Strength and Structure of the Earth" and have been broadly accepted by geologists
and geophysicists. Although these ideas about lithosphere and asthenosphere were developed long
before plate tectonic theory was articulated in the 1960s, the concepts that a strong lithosphere exists
and that this rests on a weak asthenosphere are essential to that theory.
There are two types of lithosphere:

Oceanic lithosphere, which is associated with oceanic crust and exists in the ocean basins (mean
density of about 2.9 grams per cubic centimeter)
Continental lithosphere, which is associated with continental crust (mean density of about 2.7
grams per cubic centimeter)

The thickness of the lithosphere is considered to be the depth to the isotherm associated with the
transition between brittle and viscous behavior. The temperature at which olivine begins to deform
viscously (~1000 C) is often used to set this isotherm because olivine is generally the weakest mineral in
the upper mantle. Oceanic lithosphere is typically about 50140 km thick (but beneath the mid-ocean
ridges is no thicker than the crust), while continental lithosphere has a range in thickness from about 40
km to perhaps 280 km; the upper ~30 to ~50 km of typical continental lithosphere is crust. The mantle
part of the lithosphere consists largely of peridotite. The crust is distinguished from the upper mantle by
the change in chemical composition that takes place at the Moho discontinuity.

Atmosphere Layers
The atmosphere has five different layers that are determined by the changes in temperature that
happen with increasing altitude.

Troposphere
Living at the surface of the Earth, we are usually only aware of the events happening in the lowest layer,
the troposphere, where all weather occurs. The base of this layer is warmer than its top because the air
is heated by the surface of the Earth, which absorbs the Suns energy.
Stratosphere
Above the troposphere lies the stratosphere where jet airplanes fly. Temperatures increase with altitude
because of increasing amounts of ozone. The ozone layer within the stratosphere absorbs harmful
ultraviolet rays of sunlight.
Mesosphere
As the mesosphere extends upward above the stratosphere, temperatures decrease. The coldest parts
of our atmosphere are located in this layer and can reach 90C.
Thermosphere
In the fourth layer from Earths surface, the thermosphere, the air is thin, meaning that there are far
fewer air molecules. The thermosphere is very sensitive to solar activity and can heat up to 1,500C or

higher when the Sun is active making an aurora that lights up the night sky. Astronauts orbiting Earth in
the space station or space shuttle spend their time in this layer.
Exosphere
The upper layer of our atmosphere, where atoms and molecules escape into space, is called the
exosphere.
http://eo.ucar.edu/basics/wx_1_b.html
Mutation
Mutation is a natural process that changes a DNA sequence. And it is more common than you may think.
As a cell copies its DNA before dividing, a "typo" occurs every 100,000 or so nucleotides. That's about
120,000 typos each time one of our cells divides.
Most commonly, a single base is substituted for another. Sometimes a base is deleted or an extra base is
added. Fortunately, the cell is able to repair most of these changes. When a DNA change remains
unrepaired in a cell that will become an egg or a sperm, it is passed down to offspring. Thanks to
mutation, we all have some new variations that were not present in our parents.
People commonly use the terms "mutant" and mutation" to describe something undesirable or broken.
But mutation is not always bad. Most DNA changes fall in the large areas of the genome that sit
between genes, and usually they have no effect. When variations occur within genes, there is more
often a consequence, but even then mutation only rarely causes death or disease. Mutation also
generates new variations that can give an individual a survival advantage. And most often, mutation
gives rise to variations that are neither good nor bad, just different.
The whole human family is one species with the same genes. Mutation creates slightly different versions
of the same genes, called alleles. These small differences in DNA sequence make every individual
unique. They account for the variation we see in human hair color, skin color, height, shape, behavior,
and susceptibility to disease. Individuals in other species vary too, in both physical appearance and
behavior.
Genetic variation is useful because it helps populations change over time. Variations that help an
organism survive and reproduce are passed on to the next generation. Variations that hinder survival
and reproduction are eliminated from the population. This process of natural selection can lead to
significant changes in the appearance, behavior, or physiology of individuals in a population, in just a
few generations.
Once new alleles arise, meiosis and sexual reproduction combine different alleles in new ways to
increase genetic variation.
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/variation/mutation/

Biogeochemical Cycle
In Earth science, a biogeochemical cycle or substance turnover or cycling of substances is a pathway by
which a chemical substance moves through both biotic (biosphere) and abiotic (lithosphere,
atmosphere, and hydrosphere) compartments of Earth. A cycle is a series of change which comes back
to the starting point and which can be repeated.
The term "biogeochemical" tells us that biological, geological and chemical factors are all involved. The
circulation of chemical nutrients like carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, and water etc.
through the biological and physical world are known as biogeochemical cycles. In effect, the element is
recycled, although in some cycles there may be places (called reservoirs) where the element is
accumulated or held for a long period of time (such as an ocean or lake for water).
Water, for example, is always recycled through the water cycle, as shown in the diagram. The water
undergoes evaporation, condensation, and precipitation, falling back to Earth. Elements, chemical
compounds, and other forms of matter are passed from one organism to another and from one part of
the biosphere to another through biogeochemical cycles.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biogeochemical_cycle

Carbon Cycle

The carbon cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere,
pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth. Along with the nitrogen cycle and
the water cycle, the carbon cycle comprises a sequence of events that are key to making the Earth

capable of sustaining life; it describes the movement of carbon as it is recycled and reused throughout
the biosphere.
The global carbon budget is the balance of the exchanges (incomes and losses) of carbon between the
carbon reservoirs or between one specific loop (e.g., atmosphere biosphere) of the carbon cycle. An
examination of the carbon budget of a pool or reservoir can provide information about whether the
pool or reservoir is functioning as a source or sink for carbon dioxide.
The carbon cycle was initially discovered by Joseph Priestley and Antoine Lavoisier, and popularized by
Humphry Davy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_cycle
Nitrogen Cycle

The nitrogen cycle is the process by which nitrogen is converted between its various chemical forms.
This transformation can be carried out through both biological and physical processes. Important
processes in the nitrogen cycle include fixation, ammonification, nitrification, and denitrification. The
majority of Earth's atmosphere (78%) is nitrogen, making it the largest pool of nitrogen. However,
atmospheric nitrogen has limited availability for biological use, leading to a scarcity of usable nitrogen in
many types of ecosystems. The nitrogen cycle is of particular interest to ecologists because nitrogen
availability can affect the rate of key ecosystem processes, including primary production and

decomposition. Human activities such as fossil fuel combustion, use of artificial nitrogen fertilizers, and
release of nitrogen in wastewater have dramatically altered the global nitrogen cycle.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen_cycle
Oxygen Cycle

The oxygen cycle is the biogeochemical cycle that describes the movement of oxygen within its three
main reservoirs: the atmosphere (air), the total content of biological matter within the biosphere (the
global sum of all ecosystems), and the lithosphere (Earth's crust). Failures in the oxygen cycle within the
hydrosphere (the combined mass of water found on, under, and over the surface of planet Earth) can
result in the development of hypoxic zones. The main driving factor of the oxygen cycle is
photosynthesis, which is responsible for the modern Earth's atmosphere and life on earth (see the Great
Oxygenation Event).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen_cycle
Phosphorus Cycle
The phosphorus cycle is the biogeochemical cycle that describes the movement of phosphorus through
the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere. Unlike many other biogeochemical cycles, the atmosphere
does not play a significant role in the movement of phosphorus, because phosphorus and phosphorusbased compounds are usually solids at the typical ranges of temperature and pressure found on Earth.
The production of phosphine gas occurs only in specialized, local conditions.
On the land, phosphorus (chemical symbol, P) gradually becomes less available to plants over thousands
of years, because it is slowly lost in runoff. Low concentration of P in soils reduces plant growth, and
slows soil microbial growth - as shown in studies of soil microbial biomass. Soil microorganisms act as
both sinks and sources of available P in the biogeochemical cycle. Locally, transformations of P are
chemical, biological and microbiological: the major long-term transfers in the global cycle, however, are
driven by tectonic movements in geologic time.
Humans have caused major changes to the global P cycle through shipping of P minerals, and use of P
fertilizer, and also the shipping of food from farms to cities, where it is lost as effluent.
Sulfur Cycle
The sulfur cycle is the collection of processes by which sulfur moves to and from minerals (including the
waterways) and living systems. Such biogeochemical cycles are important in geology because they affect
many minerals. Biogeochemical cycles are also important for life because sulfur is an essential element,
being a constituent of many proteins and cofactors.

Steps of the sulfur cycle are:

Mineralization of organic sulfur into inorganic forms, such as hydrogen sulfide (H2S), elemental
sulfur, as well as sulfide minerals.
Oxidation of hydrogen sulfide, sulfide, and elemental sulfur (S) to sulfate (SO42).
Reduction of sulfate to sulfide.
Incorporation of sulfide into organic compounds (including metal-containing derivatives).

Water Cycle

The water cycle, also known as the hydrologic cycle or the H2O cycle, describes the continuous
movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth. The mass of water on Earth remains
fairly constant over time but the partitioning of the water into the major reservoirs of ice, fresh water,
saline water and atmospheric water is variable depending on a wide range of climatic variables. The
water moves from one reservoir to another, such as from river to ocean, or from the ocean to the
atmosphere, by the physical processes of evaporation, condensation, precipitation, infiltration, runoff,
and subsurface flow. In so doing, the water goes through different phases: liquid, solid (ice), and gas
(vapor).
The water cycle involves the exchange of energy, which leads to temperature changes. For instance,
when water evaporates, it takes up energy from its surroundings and cools the environment. When it
condenses, it releases energy and warms the environment. These heat exchanges influence climate. The
evaporative phase of the cycle purifies water which then replenishes the land with freshwater. The flow
of liquid water and ice transports minerals across the globe. It is also involved in reshaping the
geological features of the Earth, through processes including erosion and sedimentation. The water
cycle is also essential for the maintenance of most life and ecosystems on the planet.

Rock Cycle

The rock cycle is a basic concept in geology that describes the dynamic transitions through geologic time
among the three main rock types: sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous. As the diagram to the right
illustrates, each of the types of rocks is altered or destroyed when it is forced out of its equilibrium
conditions. An igneous rock such as basalt may break down and dissolve when exposed to the
atmosphere, or melt as it is subducted under a continent. Due to the driving forces of the rock cycle,
plate tectonics and the water cycle, rocks do not remain in equilibrium and are forced to change as they
encounter new environments. The rock cycle is an illustration that explains how the three rock types are
related to each other, and how processes change from one type to another over time.
Stimuli
A stimulus (plural stimuli) is a detectable change in the internal or external environment. The ability of
an organism or organ to respond to external stimuli is called sensitivity. When a stimulus is applied to a
sensory receptor, it normally elicits or influences a reflex via stimulus transduction. These sensory
receptors can receive information from outside the body, as in touch receptors found in the skin or light
receptors in the eye, as well as from inside the body, as in chemoreceptors and mechanorceptors. An
internal stimulus is often the first component of a homeostatic control system. External stimuli are
capable of producing systemic responses throughout the body, as in the fight-or-flight response. In
order for a stimulus to be detected with high probability, its level must exceed the absolute threshold; if
a signal does reach threshold, the information is transmitted to the central nervous system (CNS), where
it is integrated and a decision on how to react is made. Although stimuli commonly cause the body to
respond, it is the CNS that finally determines whether a signal causes a reaction or not.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stimulus_(physiology)

Magnetic Field
A magnetic field is the magnetic influence of electric currents and magnetic materials. The magnetic
field at any given point is specified by both a direction and a magnitude (or strength); as such it is a
vector field. The term is used for two distinct but closely related fields denoted by the symbols B and H,
which are measured in units of tesla and amp per meter respectively in the SI. B is most commonly
defined in terms of the Lorentz force it exerts on moving electric charges.
Magnetic fields are produced by moving electric charges and the intrinsic magnetic moments of
elementary particles associated with a fundamental quantum property, their spin. In special relativity,
electric and magnetic fields are two interrelated aspects of a single object, called the electromagnetic
tensor; the split of this tensor into electric and magnetic fields depends on the relative velocity of the
observer and charge. In quantum physics, the electromagnetic field is quantized and electromagnetic
interactions result from the exchange of photons.
In everyday life, magnetic fields are most often encountered as an invisible force created by permanent
magnets which pull on ferromagnetic materials such as iron, cobalt or nickel and attract or repel other
magnets. Magnetic fields are very widely used throughout modern technology, particularly in electrical
engineering and electromechanics. The Earth produces its own magnetic field, which is important in
navigation. Rotating magnetic fields are used in both electric motors and generators. Magnetic forces
give information about the charge carriers in a material through the Hall effect. The interaction of
magnetic fields in electric devices such as transformers is studied in the discipline of magnetic circuits.
Jiles, David C. (1998). Introduction to Magnetism and Magnetic Materials (2 ed.). CRC. p. 3. ISBN
0412798603.
Four Seasons
A season is a division of the year, marked by changes in weather, ecology, and hours of daylight. Seasons
result from the yearly orbit of the Earth around the Sun and the tilt of the Earth's rotational axis relative
to the plane of the orbit. In temperate and polar regions, the seasons are marked by changes in the
intensity of sunlight that reaches the Earth's surface, variations of which may cause animals to go into
hibernation or to migrate, and plants to be dormant.
During May, June, and July, the northern hemisphere is exposed to more direct sunlight because the
hemisphere faces the sun. The same is true of the southern hemisphere in November, December, and
January. It is the tilt of the Earth that causes the Sun to be higher in the sky during the summer months
which increases the solar flux. However, due to seasonal lag, June, July, and August are the hottest

months in the northern hemisphere and December, January, and February are the hottest months in the
southern hemisphere.
In temperate and subpolar regions, four calendar-based seasons (with their adjectives) are generally
recognized: spring (vernal), summer (estival), autumn (autumnal) and winter (hibernal). Ecologists often
use a six-season model for temperate climate regions that includes pre-spring (prevernal) and late
summer (serotinal) as distinct seasons along with the traditional four.
Hot regions have two or three seasons; the rainy (or wet, or monsoon) season and the dry season, and,
in some tropical areas, a cool or mild season.
In some parts of the world, special "seasons" are loosely defined based on important events such as a
hurricane season, tornado season, or a wildfire season.
Khavrus, V.; Shelevytsky, I. (2010). "Introduction to solar motion geometry on the basis of a simple
model"
Winter
Winter is the coldest season of the year in temperate climates, between autumn and spring. It is caused
by the axis of the Earth in the respective hemisphere being oriented away from the Sun. Different
cultures define different dates as the start of winter, and some use a definition based on weather, but
when it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere it is summer in the Southern Hemisphere, and vice versa.
In many regions, winter is associated with snow and freezing temperatures. At the winter solstice, the
days are shortest and the nights are longest, with days lengthening as the season progresses after the
solstice.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter

Summer
Summer is the warmest of the four temperate seasons, falling between spring and autumn. At the
summer solstice, the days are longest and the nights are shortest, with day-length decreasing as the
season progresses after the solstice. The date of the beginning of summer varies according to climate,
tradition and culture, but when it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere it is winter in the Southern
Hemisphere, and vice versa.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer
Autumn

Autumn, interchangeably known as fall in the US and Canada, is one of the four temperate seasons.
Autumn marks the transition from summer into winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March
(Southern Hemisphere) when the arrival of night becomes noticeably earlier and the temperature cools
considerably. One of its main features is the shedding of leaves from deciduous trees as they pave way
for further growth.
The equinoxes might be expected to be in the middle of their respective seasons, but temperature lag
(caused by the thermal latency of the ground and sea) means that seasons appear later than dates
calculated from a purely astronomical perspective. The actual lag varies with region. Some cultures
regard the autumnal equinox as "mid-autumn", others with a longer lag treat it as the start of autumn.
Meteorologists (and most of the temperate countries in the southern hemisphere) use a definition
based on months, with autumn being September, October and November in the northern hemisphere,
and March, April and May in the southern hemisphere.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autumn
Spring
Spring is one of the four conventional temperate seasons, following winter and preceding summer.
There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of the term varies according to local
climate, cultures and customs. When it is spring in the Northern Hemisphere, it will be autumn in the
Southern Hemisphere. At the spring equinox, days are approximately 12 hours long with day length
increasing as the season progresses. Spring and "springtime" refer to the season, and also to ideas of
rebirth, rejuvenation, renewal, resurrection and regrowth. Subtropical and tropical areas have climates
better described in terms of other seasons, e.g. dry or wet, monsoonal or cyclonic. Often the cultures
have locally defined names for seasons which have little equivalence to the terms originating in Europe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_(season)

Tides
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted
by the Moon and the Sun and the rotation of the Earth.
Some shorelines experience two almost equal high tides and two low tides each day, called a semidiurnal tide. Some locations experience only one high and one low tide each day, called a diurnal tide.
Some locations experience two uneven tides a day, or sometimes one high and one low each day; this is
called a mixed tide. The times and amplitude of the tides at a locale are influenced by the alignment of
the Sun and Moon, by the pattern of tides in the deep ocean, by the amphidromic systems of the
oceans, and by the shape of the coastline and near-shore bathymetry .

Tides vary on timescales ranging from hours to years due to numerous influences. To make accurate
records, tide gauges at fixed stations measure the water level over time. Gauges ignore variations
caused by waves with periods shorter than minutes. These data are compared to the reference (or
datum) level usually called mean sea level.
While tides are usually the largest source of short-term sea-level fluctuations, sea levels are also subject
to forces such as wind and barometric pressure changes, resulting in storm surges, especially in shallow
seas and near coasts.
Tidal phenomena are not limited to the oceans, but can occur in other systems whenever a gravitational
field that varies in time and space is present. For example, the solid part of the Earth is affected by tides,
though this is not as easily seen as the water tidal movements.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tide#cite_note-Reddy-1