1. KEY CONCEPT Biology is the study of all forms of life.

2. What is Life?
Not all scientists agree exactly about what makes up life. Many characteristics describe most living things.
There is not just one distinguishing feature that separates a living thing from a non-living thing. A cat moves but so does a car. A tree grows bigger, but so does a cloud. A cell has structure, but so does a crystal.
Biologists define life by listing characteristics
that all living things share.

3. What is Life? Something that has all of the characteristics of life
is considered to be alive.
The duck decoy in the Figure below may look like a duck, act like a duck in that it floats about, but it is not alive. The decoy cannot reproduce, respond to its environment, or breathe.

4. All organisms share certain characteristics.
An individual living creature is called an organism.

5. An organism is any individual living thing.
Unicellular to multicellular organisms
Rhinoceros
Single cell protozoa

6. 1. All Organisms are Made of One or More Cells.
All organisms share certain characteristics.
1. All Organisms are Made of One or More Cells.
DETAILS
A cell is the basic unit of life.
Single-celled (unicellular) organisms are the most common forms of life on earth and carry out the out all of the functions of life, just like you do.
Organisms with many cells (multicellular) have many different types of cells that have specialized functions.
Example: Muscles cells contract and relax; stomach cells secrete digestive juices; an you brain cells interpret sensory information.

7. 2. All Organisms Need Energy for Metabolism.
All organisms share certain characteristics.
2. All Organisms Need Energy for Metabolism.
DETAILS
All organisms need a source of energy
for their life processes.
All living things use chemical energy. Some organisms use chemicals from their environment to make their own source of chemical energy. Others, such as plants, algae and some bacteria absorb energy from sunlight and store some of it in chemicals that can be used later as a source of energy.
Animals eat other organisms to get their source of energy.

8. 3. All Organisms Respond to Their Environment.
All organisms share certain characteristics.
3. All Organisms Respond to Their Environment.
DETAILS
All organisms react to physical factors, called stimuli, such as light, temperature and touch to survive.
Examples: The human eye responds to light
by contracting the pupils.
Plants grow towards light and some fungi need light to form structures called mushrooms.

9. 4. All Organisms Reproduce and Pass Their DNA on to Their Offspring.
All organisms share certain characteristics.
4. All Organisms Reproduce and Pass
Their DNA on to Their Offspring.
When organisms reproduce they pass on their genetic material, called deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), which provide the instructions for growth and development.

10. 5. All Organisms Grow and Develop.
All organisms share certain characteristics.
5. All Organisms Grow and Develop.
All living organisms have the ability to grow and change. A seed may look like a pebble, but under the right conditions it will sprout and form a seedling that will grow into a larger plant.
The life cycle of frogs involve many changes as they grow from eggs to tadpoles to frogs.

11. 6. All Organisms Maintain Homeostasis.
All organisms share certain characteristics.
6. All Organisms Maintain Homeostasis.
Living organisms keep their internal environments within a certain range (they maintain a stable internal condition), despite changes in their external environment.
This process is called homeostasis, and is an important characteristic of all living organisms.

12. 7. All Organisms Evolve and Become Adapted to Their Environment.
All organisms share certain characteristics.
7. All Organisms Evolve and
Become Adapted to Their Environment.
Adaptation and evolution happen through unintentional genetic changes (mutations) that are advantageous to an entire species. 

13. Earth is home to an incredible diversity of life.
The biosphere includes all living things and all the places they are found on earth.
biosphere = everywhere life exists

14. Earth is home to an incredible diversity of life.
Every part of the biosphere is connected with every other part.
The biosphere includes many different environments.
land environments

15. The biosphere includes many different environments.
- Land environments such as grasslands

16. The biosphere includes many different environments.
- Land environments such as deserts.

17. Temperate Deciduous Forest
The biosphere includes many different environments.
- Land environments such as different types of forests.
Temperate Rain Forest
Tropical Rain Forest
Temperate Deciduous Forest

18. The biosphere includes many environments.
Marine environments such as saltwater and freshwater environments
Estuaries
Tide Pools

19. The biosphere includes many environments.
Portions of the atmosphere

20. Biodiversity generally increases from the poles to the equator.
Biodiversity is the variety of different forms of life found on earth..
Biodiversity generally increases from the poles to the equator.
Biodiversity is greater in areas with consistently warm temperatures.
North Pole
Biodiversity is greater closer to the equator.
South Pole

21. Biodiversity is the variety of different forms of life found on earth..

22. A species is one particular type of living thing.
Members of a species can interbreed to reproduce.
There are about 2 million different living species have been identified.