Lesson 1: THE LIVING

Characteristics of living things:

- Also Called “Organisms”
- Animal, Plant, Bacteria, Fungi, and Protoctist
- 7 key features
- Acronym: Mrs gren
M - Movement
R - Respiration
S - Sensitivity
G - Growth
R - Reproduction
E - Excretion
N - Nutrition

Important: Only living things/organisms have all 7 features. If an organism has only one or less
of the mentioned features, it is considered non living.

Movement:
- Ability of organisms to move
- A whole organism or a specific part of the organism’s body can move.
Respiration:
- A set of chemical reactions
- Takes place in our cells
- Breaks down nutrient molecules
- Releases energy for metabolism
- Metabolism => All the chemical processes that occur within a living organism to keep it
alive
- In short, respiration makes energy needed for the reactions we get
Sensitivity:
- Ability to detect and respond to changes in the internal and external environment
- Detects stuff like changes in temperature by sweating/shivering
- Other organisms can defect things too, such as plants detecting water, light intensity,
temp, and more. They can respond to them too
- Note sometimes you may have this point as sensitivity AND control
- RESPOND TO CHANGES => Organism’s ability to control their internal environment
Growth:
- Organisms can grow and get larger
- A permanent increase in size and dry mass
- Dry mass meaning the mass of an organism once you remove all the water
- Example: A kitten having growth is just from kitten => adult, for bacteria, it’s just growing
into a larger cell
Reproduction:
 - The process that makes more of the same kind of organisms
- There are two types of reproduction: Sexual and asexual
Sexual:
- Requires two mates
- The offspring(s) will look unique but a bit similar to the organisms that mated
- Ex: cats, dogs, humans, etc
- Slow process
Asexual:
- Does not require two mates
- The offspring/organism(s) will look exactly like the organism that had reproduced
asexually/divided
- Ex: bacteria
- Fast process
Excretion:
- The removal of the waste products of the metabolism, and also substances in excess of
requirements (or getting rid of things we do need but only when we have too much of it
that we must get rid of what we don’t need)
- Examples for the first part : Urea, Co2
- Examples for the second part: Water, mineral ions
Nutrition:
- Taking in of materials for energy, growth, and development
- EX: Drinking and Eating
- For fungi or bacteria, it would mean absorbing nutrients from the surroundings by
diffusion or active transport

Lesson 2: BIOLOGICAL ORGANIZATION

- Living things are highly organized and structured, following a hierarchy that can be
examined on a scale from small to large.
- The atom is the smallest and most fundamental unit of matter. It consists of a nucleus
surrounded by electrons. Atoms form molecules which are chemical structures
consisting of at least two atoms held together by one or more chemical bonds.
- Many molecules that are biologically important are macromolecules, large molecules
that are typically formed by polymerization (a polymer is a large molecule that is made
by combining smaller units called monomers, which are simpler than macromolecules).
- An example of a macromolecule is deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), which contains the
instructions for the structure and functioning of all living organisms.

Organelles:
- The nucleus, dyed sky blue in these onion cells, an example of an organelle
Cells:
- Human blood cells

Tissues:
- Human Skin tissue

Organs and Organ Systems:

- Organs, such as the stomach and intestines, make up the human digestive system
Organisms, Populations, and Communities:
- In a forest, each pine tree is an organism. Together, all the trees make up a population.
All the plants and animal species in the forest comprise a community

Ecosystems:
- This coastal ecosystem in the southeastern United States includes living organisms and
the environment which they live in.

The Biosphere:
- Encompasses all the ecosystems on Earth
Lesson 3: LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION

The human body is built similarly to how a building is built.

- Humans start with cells
- Many cells join together to make a tissue
- Tissues working together makes an organ
- Many organs makes an organ system

Cells:
- Smallest living part of an organism
- EX: Brain cells, Lung cells, Bone cells
- When cells of a similar structure and function join together, they form a tissue
- Brain cells = Brain tissue, Lung cells = Lung tissue, Bone cells = Bone tissue
Tissue:
- When a group of tissues with a similar function join together, they form an organ
Organs:
- Brain tissue => Brain, Lung tissue => Lungs, Bone tissue = Bones
Organ System:
- A collection of organs working together to perform a specific job
- Brain => Part of the nervous system, the brain spinal cord and nerves work together to
collect and process information
- Lungs => Part of the respiratory system along with the diaphragm and other organs, they
help you breathe
- Bones => Part of the skeletal system, bones, cartilage, ligaments, and tendons gives
your body structure and support

Summary: Cells, the smallest living organism turns into the largest. From cells, to tissues, to
organs, to organ systems. These are the levels of organization

Lesson 4: ECOSYSTEMS

Ecosystem:
- A community of organisms interacting with their environment
 - A community of animals, plants, and other organisms
Biotic and Abiotic:
- Factors that work together for an ecosystem to survive and flourish
Abiotic:
- Non-living
- Helps an ecosystem and the biotic factors
- EX: Rain, Sun, Minerals from soil, Temperature
- W/o Abiotic factors, plants and animals wouldn’t survive or grow
Biotic:
- Living
- Plants - Producers = Makes food and oxygen
- Animals - Consumers = Eats the food and releases carbon dioxide to help the plants
- Bacteria - Decomposers = Breaks down dead animals and plants and turns them into
minerals

Lesson 5: ROLES IN AN ECOSYSTEM

Producers:
- Living things that use energy to make food. Producers make food for themselves and
other living things
- Two types of producers
Photosynthesis:
- Commonly by far. Most producers use the energy in sunlight to make food. This is called
“photosynthesis”.
- Producers that photosynthesize include plants and algae. These organisms must live
where there is plenty of sunlight.
Chemosynthesis:
- Other producers use the energy in chemicals to make food. This is called
“chemosynthesis". Only a very few producers are of this type, and all of them are
microbes.
- These producers live deep under the ocean where there is no sunlight.
Consumers:
- Can’t make their own food. Consumers must eat producers or other consumers. Listed
below are the three main types of consumers
- Herbivore - eats plants
- Carnivore - eats animal/meat
- Omnivore - eats both plants and animals/meat
Grazers:
- Feeds on living organisms without killing them.
- EX: A rabbit nibbles on leaves, and a mosquito sucks a drop of blood.
Predators:
- Eats and Kills other animals
- EX: Lions, capture and kill animals for food.
- The animals they eat are called “prey”
 - Even some plants are consumers.
- EX: Pitcher plants trap insects in their sticky fluid in their “pitchers.” The insects are their
prey.
Scavengers:
- Eat animals that are already dead.
- EX: hyena eating the remains of a lion’s prey.
Decomposers:
- Break down dead organisms and the wastes of living things
- EX: A dung beetle is rolling a ball of dung (animal waste) back to its nest. The beetle will
use the dung to feed its young. Mushrooms are growing on a dead log. They will slowly
break it down. This releases its nutrients to the soil.

Summary:
- Herbivores eat plants, carnivores eat meat, and omnivores eat both.
- Predators are animals that eat a prey animal. Scavengers eat organisms that are
already dead. Decomposers break down dead plants and animals into component parts,
including nutrients.
- Producers create food energy. They are the base of all life on Earth. Most producers use
photosynthesis but a very small number use chemosynthesis.

Extra because I forgot: RELATIONSHIP GOALS/ECOLOGICAL RELATIONSHIPS

Populations:
- All the different types of organisms living together in an area results in an ecological
community.
- Different species interacting with others between two or more is called a interspecific
interactions

Ecological Relationships:
- Relationships between two or more organisms
Different Types of ecological relationships:

Predation:
- In a relationship of two species, one is the predator, meanwhile the other is the prey
- The predator eats the prey from part or full body of the prey
- Beneficial to the predator, but harmful to the prey
- An animal eating a plant is a predation variant called herbivory
- EX: Cheetah/Deer, Snake/Mouse, Lion/Buffalo, Owl/Rat

Competition:
- Two species competing for the same things (Territory, mate, limited resources)
- Negatively affects both participants as either would have higher survival rates and
reproduction if the other is absent
Symbiosis:
- Interspecific interactions in which two species live together in a long-term, intimate
association.

Mutualism:
- In mutualism, two different species have a long-term relationship that’s beneficial to both
of them.
- Mutualism is a symbiotic relationship that develops among the two organisms in the
ecosystem

Commensalism:
- Two species having a long-term relationship just like mutualism
- Except it’s useless to the other species and beneficial to the other one in the relationship

Parasitism:
- Two species having a close, lasting interaction
- Beneficial to one, the parasite, harmful to the other one, the host
- Demonology in animals