1. Characteristics of Life

2. CHARACTERISTICS of Life
Cellular Organization
All living things are made up of cells
Basic units of all living things
Cells are the smallest unit capable of all life functions
Life does not exist smaller than a cell 2

3. CHARACTERISTICS of Life
Homeostasis
Regulates its internal environment and tends to maintain a stable, constant condition in spite of the external environment
Ability to remain constant 3

4. CHARACTERISTICS of Life
Metabolism
Set of all chemical reactions that occur in living organisms in order to maintain life
What is metabolism? 4

5. CHARACTERISTICS of Life
Responsiveness
System of reacting to stimuli in the environment
Ability to respond 5

6. CHARACTERISTICS of Life
Reproduction
Biological process by which new individual organisms are produced
Ability to reproduce
Sexual or asexual
Live births, eggs, budding, spores 6

7. CHARACTERISTICS of Life
Heredity
Process by which an offspring (cell or organism) acquires or becomes predisposed to the characteristics of its parent cell or organism
Why we look like our parents
Directional change in the genetic material of a population of organisms over time
Evolution: inherited characteristics that change over generations
Evolution… 7

8. CHARACTERISTICS of Life
Growth
Increase in some quantity over time
Increase in: height, weight, mass, circumference, number of branches or leaves or blossoms 8