CHARACTERISTICS OF LIFE: 4. Have Metabolism (complex chemistry).
 Not all scientists agree exactly about
what makes up life … (the life of a
human being inside the womb of the
mother…)
 However there are characteristics that
can make a being classified as living
from non-living being.
QUESTION: An individual living creature is
called organism or living organism.
A cat moves but so does a car.
A tree goes bigger but so does a cloud.
A cell has a structure but so does a crystal.
ARE ALL OF THEM HAVE LIFE?
LIFE: ALL LIVING ORGANISMS …
1. Responds to changes in its environment
 Living things know what is going on
around them.
 Responds to changes in the
environment.
 Able to adapt to its environment
(Adaptation) which may include
structural, physiological, or
behavioural traits that improve for its
survival, and thus reproduction takes
place.
2. Grow and develop across life span.
 A seed may look like a pebble, but
under the right conditions it will
sprout and form seedling that will
grow into a larger tree.
3. Reproduce and have offspring
 Reproduction is the process of making
the next generation and maybe asexual
or sexual process.
 Sexual reproduction – involves 2
parents and the fusion of gametes
(haploid sex cells from each parent).
There is genetic variations.
 Asexual reproduction – involves only
1 parent. It occurs without fusion of
gametes and produce offspring that
are genetically identical to the parent.
 They undergo biochemical reactions
and changes that are needed for the
living organism to stay alive
 Flowers and crystals have complicated
and beautiful structures. But flower is
a. transporting water through its
petals,
b. producing pigment and
molecules,
c. breaking down sugar for
energy and undergoing
biochemical reactions.
Note: the sum of all chemical reactions in a
cell is METABOLISM
4. Maintain HOMEOSTASIS (keeps its
internal environment the same regardless of
outside changes).
 A human body has a temperature of
37 degrees Celsius,
 Eating food to give you energy
 Drinking water when you are thirsty.
 You urinate, move…
 Living organisms keep their internal
environment within a certain range,
maintaining a stable internal condition
according to their natural qualities.
 This process is HOMEOSTASIS.
5. Are built of structures called CELLS
There are three unifying principles of CELL
THEORY:
1. All living organisms are made up of
structures called CELLS.
2. A cell is the basic unit of structure and
function of all living organisms.
3. All living organisms are made up of
one or more cells
Note: A simple bacterium will consist of just
one cell, whereas you are made of trillions of
cells.
Tissues – are made up of cells
Organs – are made up of tissues
Systems – are made up of organs
Organism – are made up of systems
that work together
6. Pass their traits onto their offspring.
 Traits are due to it genetic make-up.