According to biology, which is the science that deals with the study of living organisms, it is life that

distinguishes active organisms from matter that is inorganic in nature. If something has life then it will
be self-sustaining in nature compared to something that does not posses life, either because it is dead
or it is inanimate. All living organisms are made up of cells, use energy, maintain homeostasis, respond
to stimuli, reproduce, adapt to changes in the environment and pass on characteristics to their off-
springs.

7 Characteristics of Life

If you study biology, characteristics of life is one of the foremost things that you will learn. All living
organisms exhibit these features. They share these basic properties of life, which categorizes them as
living or non-living. While there are some characteristics that are species specific, these seven
characteristics of life are common to all living beings. Here we take a look at what are the characteristics
of life.

Cells
Cells are the basic units of life of every living organism, all of which are composed of one or more cells.
There are unicellular organisms that are made up of just one cell and multicellular organisms that are
made up of many cells with each cell having specific functions. A cell consists of organelles like
mitochondria, nucleus, Golgi apparatus, etc. which are the equivalents of organs in our body. These
organelles are comprised of carbohydrates, proteins, lipids and nucleic acids and perform functions like
producing energy in the form of ATP, transferring molecules, synthesis of proteins, etc. Cells that are of
the same type combine and form tissues which in turn from organs.

Homeostasis
All living organisms maintain homeostasis. What is homeostasis? It is the process by which the internal
environment of the body is regulated in order to maintain a stable state. This process was defined first
by Claude Bernard and then by Walter Cannon. All organisms need to maintain a stable environment in
order to sustain cell metabolism that is essential to life. If the internal environment of an organism is
disturbed, then it is possible that the normal processes are disrupted. One of the best examples to
explain this phenomenon of maintaining homeostasis is how the body balances change in body
temperature by performing actions that balance out. If you are feeling cold, then inadvertently you tend
to shiver which, causes the muscles to produce heat or if you are feeling hot, then the body produces
sweat that helps is evaporation of heat from the body.

Heredity
All living organisms receive some hereditary traits from their parent organisms. All organisms pass their
genes to their off-springs. Genes which are composed of DNA have all the information that are
hereditary in nature. These genes are what make an organism predisposed to exhibit certain
characteristics or to behave in a certain manner. The study of heredity is called genetics and it is
heredity that causes a species to evolve by accumulation of different characteristics from parent
organisms over a period of time. This is one of the most important characteristics of life.
Use of Energy
All living organisms need energy to perform various functions like development, growth, damage repair,
reproduction, etc. Most living organisms need this energy in the form of ATP and their requirement
stems from the need for energy for the functions of movement and metabolism. Metabolic activities
involve a set of processes that allow living organisms to maintain life. Anabolism uses energy to convert
chemicals into cellular components like molecules and catabolism produces energy by breaking down
molecules from organic matter. Plants convert the energy derived from sunlight to produce nutrients by
the process of photosynthesis. Animals on the other hand consume other organisms to supplement
their need for energy.

Reproduction
All living organisms reproduce, which is the process by which new organisms of the same type are
produced. Reproduction can be asexual, where a single parent produces an organism or sexual, which
combines male and female sex cells and two parent organisms of each gender contribute hereditary
information to the organism. When a unicellular organism divides to form a daughter cell, it is called
asexual reproduction and the process by which animals reproduce is called sexual reproduction.

Response to Environment
All living organisms respond to stimuli in their environment, like light, temperature, sound, heat, etc.
The response can be in any form, for example when unicellular organisms are exposed to chemicals,
they contract. In human beings, an accidental touch with any object exhibiting extreme temperatures
can cause a sudden jerk. Response is generally expressed by an organism by some kind of motion.

Evolution and Adaptation

All organisms undergo the process of adaptation to suit themselves to their environment. For example,
most plants that are found in the desert have succulent leaves that allow them to store and conserve
water. They evolve over a period of time according to their environment. This is fundamental to the
process of evolution. You may also want to read more on characteristics of living things.

If you need to explain this biological concept to students, then the best way to do the same would be to
use different living organisms and make a characteristics of life worksheet, that will allow the students
to study these functions in a more practical manner. Hopefully, this article on characteristics of life has
helped you understand the primary difference between a living organism and an inanimate object.

Organization

Complex organization patterns are found in all living organisms. They arrange themselves on
very small levels, grouping like things together. On larger levels, they become visible. This also
has to do with differentiation, as the cells are organized in a manner that makes sense for the
organism after they change to what they'll be in the final organism.
 What's the scientific method?

The scientific method is one way that people can try to find the answer to problems that
are bothering them. It's called "scientific", because people like to think of themselves as
being very clever, or "scientific" for solving problems. In reality, there's not really
anything special about this method, except that it happens to be pretty handy for solving
any problem, not just scientific ones.

How do I use the scientific method?

The scientific method is just a list of steps that you need to follow when you're solving a
problem. Depending on who you talk to, there are anywhere from five to eight steps in
the scientific method. However, all versions of the scientific method involve the person
trying to solve the problem experimenting to find an answer.

The version of the scientific method that I use in my class has six steps, as follows:
 

 Purpose: You've got a problem that you want to have solved. The purpose step
in the scientific method is just a restatement of what you want accomplished.
What do you want to find out? What is your goal? You should write just one
sentence for your purpose. You'll see what I mean in the upcoming example.

 Hypothesis: How do you think you can solve the problem? The hypothesis step
is always written in the form "If ___________, then ___________. The blank after
the "if" is called the independent variable. The independent variable is just
whatever you are going to do to solve the problem. The blank after "then" is the
dependent variable. The dependent variable is what you think will happen when
you do whatever the independent variable is. For example, if your hypothesis is
that "If I take an aspirin, my headache will go away," your independent variable is
"taking an aspirin" (this is what you do) and your dependent variable is "the
headache will go away" (what happens as a result of your having done
something).

 Materials: What do you need to have in order to see if your hypothesis is true?
This part of the scientific method is a list of everything you need to do the
experiment. Leave nothing out!

 Procedure: What are you going to do during this experiment. You should list
everything that you are going to do in this section. Even if it seems obvious,
write it down. A good rule of thumb: If a six-year-old child can understand what
you've written, then you've written it well. If they can't, then you need to go into
more detail!

 Results: When you did the experiment, what happened? What did you see,
hear, smell, etc? You should give a complete accounting of all data that you take
 (sometimes this is referred to as the "Data" section). There's an old saying
among chemists: "If you didn't write it down, then it didn't happen." Make sure
you write everything down!

 Conclusion: What do the results mean? Was your hypothesis correct? This
section should be only one sentence long. For example, if you proved the
hypothesis that "If I take an aspirin, my headache will go away," then the
conclusion should be "I took an aspirin, and my headache went away." Don't
make this any longer than it has to be!

An example of the scientific method:

Let's say I have a problem: My car won't start. How would I use the scientific method to
solve this problem?
 

 Purpose: I want my car to start

 Hypothesis: If I put gas in my car, it will start.
 Materials: 5 gallon gas can, 5 gallons gasoline, money to buy gasoline, a ride to
the gas station
 Procedure: First, I will call my friend Bill and ask for a ride to the gas station. I
will take the five gallon gas can and fill it with five gallons of gasoline at the
pump. After paying the gas station owner for the gasoline, I will get a ride back to
my car and put the gasoline in the tank. Once the gasoline is in the tank, I will
attempt to restart the car.
 Results: The car started on the first try.
 Conclusion: When I put gas in my car, it started.
 he SCIENTIFIC METHOD is the logical way in which a scientist goes about trying to
solve a problem.  A student needs to understand the scientific method, and the words that
are used to describe the process.  The actual descriptions of the steps of the scientific
method will vary from text to text, but the underlying process remains the same.  The
steps of the scientific method are shown below:
                                         1.    State the problem.
                                        2.    Collect observations.
                                        3.    Form a hypothesis.
                                        4.    Test the hypothesis. 
                                        5.    Form a theory. 
                                        6.    Modify a theory.
     Now, let us review a real life example of how you might use the scientific method. 
Suppose you notice an area in your front lawn where the grass is not growing correctly. 
The rest of your lawn has thick, green grass, but this one area has very sparse grass.  This,
then, is your problem.
 1.   State the problem.   "Grass won't grow in that area of my lawn!"
      You would then go outside and look at that area.  What makes that area different from
the areas where the lawn is growing nicely?  Does one area get more or less sun?  What is
the soil like?    Compare as many likely factors that you can think of.
 2.   Collect observations.  "The sparse area is surrounded by several evergreen
trees, which drop needles and block much of the sunlight.  The soil appears just
as rich as the soil in other areas, but the pH is lower.  All areas seem to be
getting similar amounts of water.  The temperature in the shaded area is lower
than the areas that are not shaded."
     Based on the information that you gathered, and your knowledge of Biology, you are
ready to form a hypothesis.  Remember, a hypothesis is an educated guess.  It is only
your background knowledge in this subject that separates a true hypothesis from what
would merely be a guess.  Now, considering the observations you made, you might
decide that pH of the soil in the sparse area is the problem.  You form a hypothesis and
put it in what is called "if . . . then" format.
 3.   Form a hypothesis.   "If the pH of the soil was higher, then my grass
would grow properly." 
      Now you want to design an experiment that can be used to test your hypothesis.  It is
important that your experiment be controlled, that you keep all conditions between
groups the same, except for that condition which you are testing.  It is also important that
you conduct your experiment on several different samples, so that your results may prove
conclusive.
 4.   Test the hypothesis.  "I took 200 small pots and used them to grow 200
samples of grass.  I split the 200 pots into 5 groups of 40, and I adjusted the pH
of the soil with calcium oxide (lime) until the five groups had pH readings of;
3,5,7,9, and 11 respectively. In all of the samples I used the same amount and
type of soil and the same type and number of grass seeds.  Each sample was
kept in the same room with identical conditions as far as light, temperature and
water."
      If you conduct your experiment carefully, you will probably find differences between
the groups of grass that you grew.    If don't see anything that leads you to believe that the
higher pH would cause growth problems in your lawn, then you may reject your original
hypothesis and form a new one, maybe one that is based on the difference in sunlight.  If
your experiment supports your hypothesis, then you may be on to something, but more
testing would be required before you could say for sure.
      In real life, by the time you were done with the above experiment, it may be winter
and you would no longer be worried about your lawn.  It is not a realistic way of solving
this problem, when it would be much easier to ask a gardener about the problem, or read
more about lawn care.  Although the experiment may not carry over realistically, the
scientific method does.  You would still want to change only one thing at a time, when
trying to improve the grass in that area.   The lesson is that all problems should be
approached in a logical manner.
In its most basic form, the thought process in the scientific method can consists of the following
tasks:

 Identifying a Problem
 Forming a hypothesis
 Designing and Performing Experiments
 Collecting and Analyzing Data
 Formulating Conclusions about the Hypothesis

 The scientific method is a guideline for investigating scientific and technical problems. 
Scientists and engineers are formally trained in a scientific method but every person will
modify the guidelines for their own work. When developing your science fair project
keep an open mind.
 If you are doing an experimental research project there is most likely a project process
that you must follow.  A key objective is for you to correctly apply the scientific method
within your project process.
 The outline presented here is a common project process that incorporates the scientific
method.  If you are using this outline for a school project, first show it to your teacher to
get approval.
 The Scientific Method Sample
  
 1. Choose your Topic
 2. Identify a Problem
 3. Research the Problem
 4. Form a Hypothesis
 5. Design the Experiments
 6. Test the Hypothesis
 7. Analyze the Results
 8. Formulate and Report Conclusions
  
 1. Chose a Topic and Category
 Ask yourself "What am I interested in?" or "What subject do I want to learn about?".
 Examples:
 Example topics are plants, solar electricity, and Mars.
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 2. Identify a Problem or Question
 What questions do you have about your topic?  What do you want to know?  State the
problem as a question.
 In some cases you may want to research your topic before you identify an exact problem.
 Examples:
 How does amount of water effect plant growth?
 Can solar panels supply electricity to anything?
 How fast does Mars orbit the Sun?
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 3. Research the Problem and your Topic
 What do you need to learn about so that you can solve your problem or answer your
question?  Where can you search for information?
 Learn as much as you can about your topic and problem.  Research can be from many
different sources including people, books, magazines, the internet, or your own
experience.
 After you do your research you may want to restate your question in a better way.
 Examples:
 Does the amount of food given to a certain plant effect the growth of that plant?
 Can one size solar panel do the work of any batteries?
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 4. Develop a Hypothesis
 Now that you have done your research, develop a hypothesis. 
 A hypothesis is a prediction.  What is your prediction of the answer to your question? 
What do you think will happen? 
 Guess at what the answer to your question will be.  This is not a mystery.  You have
educated yourself on the topic and by now you should be able to make a guess at the
answer based on your learning.  This is also called an "Educated Guess".
 Examples of hypothesis statements:
 I predict that a plant that does not get enough water will die.
 I predict that the same one solar panel can be used to replace AA and C cell batteries but
not D cell batteries.
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 5. Design the Experiments
 How will you test your hypothesis?  What tests will answer your question?  You must test
enough samples to prove your point.
 Define the variables that will change from one experiment to the next.  Amount of
water?  Amount of plant food?
 Plan the tests you want to perform so that you have a good idea how much time you will
need to complete them in the time allotted for your project.  How long will you have to
grow your plants to get good data?
 Example experiments:
 9 plants total
3 tested with low amount of water
3 tested with the recommended amount of water (control group)
3 tested with too much water
 9 battery operated items total tested with a solar panel
3 that use 2 AA cell batteries (standard size battery) used in portable electronic devices
3 that use 2 C cell batteries (medium drain) toys and musical instruments
3 that use 2 D cell batteries (large drain applications) large flashlights, radio receivers,
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 6. Test your hypothesis
 Test your hypothesis by executing your experiments.  Be sure to keep good records of
your experiments so that you can analyze your results and present your data to others. 
Ask your teacher about the format for a journal or data collection.
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 7. Analyze the data and results
 What do your results tell you?  Look at your experimental data.  Organize it.  Do you see
any trends or information that proves or disproves your hypothesis?
 Graphs are a big help.  Graphs not only help you understand your data but they will also
help others to quickly  understand what you did.
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 8. Formulate and Report your Conclusions and make recommendations.
 Was your hypothesis right or wrong?  It is OK to be wrong.  The objective of the
scientific method is to investigate a problem and work toward a solution.  Sometimes you
will end an experiment and have new questions.  If so, those new questions are part of
your conclusions.  Sometimes a conclusion proposes a new hypothesis and new
experiments with recommendations for further study.
 Even if you have disproved your hypothesis you have still done a good job if you
correctly applied the scientific method.
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