1 / 15

The Characteristics of Life

The Characteristics of Life. I. History. The Characteristics of Life. A. Spontaneous Generation or Abiogenesis 1. 1 st proposed by Aristotle 2. Believed that complex, living organisms are generated by decaying organic substances,

morrison
Download Presentation

The Characteristics of Life

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The Characteristics of Life

  2. I. History The Characteristics of Life • A. Spontaneous Generation or Abiogenesis • 1. 1st proposed by Aristotle • 2. Believed that complex, living organisms are generated by decaying organic substances, • Ex. 1. that mice would spontaneously appear in stored grain • or • 2. maggots spontaneously appear in meat.

  3. I. History The Characteristics of Life • Spontaneous Generation or Abiogenesis • 3. Was widely believed until the 19th century. • 4. Several scientists performed experiments that disproved spontaneous generation • Francisco Redi • Lazzaro Spallanzani • Louis Pasteur

  4. Pasteur’s Experiment Louis Pasteur 1859

  5. B. Biogenesis • 1. The process of life forms producing life forms of the same kind • Ex. a spider lays eggs, which hatch into spiders • 2. The term is also used for the assertion that life can only be passed on by living things I. The Characteristics of Life

  6. How can you tell if something is alive? I. The Characteristics of Life

  7. Interesting Fact: Biologists have devised a list of 5characteristics that define life. Interesting Fact: Something can be considered aliveONLYif it displays ALL 5 of the characteristics The Characteristics of Life

  8. Anything that possesses all 5 of the characteristics of life is called an organism. The Characteristics of Life

  9. II. The 5 Characteristics of Life A. Cellular Organization celltissueorgansystemorganism B. Growth & Development C. Reproduction D. Adaptation to Environment E. Maintenance of Homeostasis

  10. A. Cellular Organization - “All living forms of life are made up of cells and become more organized from this basic unit of life” Ex. -Cells form tissues -Tissues form organs -Organs form organ systems I. The 5 Characteristics of Life

  11. B. Growth & Development I. The 5 characteristics of life • Does it grow? • Growth – an increase in the # of cells • making up an organism increases it’s size • Does it develop? • Development – as cell #’s increase, they begin to diversify causing changes to take place throughout the the life span of the organism

  12. C. Reproduction I. The 5 Characteristics of Life • All living organisms are able to reproduce themselves • Even one cell organisms replicate themselves

  13. D. Adaptation to Environment I. The 5 Characteristics of Life • All living organisms are able to adapt to their surroundings. • “to adapt” -- to be able to react or respond • - to something in the environment • - to a “stimulus”

  14. E. Maintain Homeostasis I. The 5 Characteristics of Life • All living organisms are able to maintain a relatively constant internal environment that is suitable for it’s life • Homeostasis - ? • “homo” + “static”

  15. The Characteristics of Life • An Amazing Fact: THE HUMAN BODY • A collection of a trillion,diverse and highly organized cells • Whatever it takes to keep this collection of a trillion cells “alive” = what it takes for you and I to stay alive! WELCOME TO 21ST CENTURY H.S. BIOLOGY! A year of study to answer this question: What DOES IT TAKE to keep cells alive?

More Related