Unit 1: Characteristics of Life Powerpoint

Characteristics of Life

All living organisms share

_______ characteristics of

life. Many things in the

world show one or more

of these characteristics,

but only living things

share all eight!

8

1. ________• Organisms are made of cells.

They might be _________________ (one cell) or ____________________ and very complex. The cell is the _________ _________ of life.

Cells

unicellularmulticellular

basic unit

2. _____________

• All organisms need to produce new

organisms. They may reproduce

________________ or ______________.

Reproduction

sexually asexually

3. ___________

• All of life is based on the same

_______________ code—a

molecule called DNA. All inherited

______________are passed down

through generations in the DNA.

DNA

genetic

traits

4. __________ and Development

• Organisms all grow and develop in

some way. Even single-celled

organisms get bigger before they

__________ into two.

Growth

divide

5. Use of ____________

• All living things must store

and use energy, and expel

waste. This process is called

__________________________. It

might involve eating,

photosynthesizing like plants do, or

engulfing nutrients as a single cell.

energy

metabolism

6. ___________ to Stimuli• A __________________ can be light, a temperature

or pH change, a touch, an electric charge, or

anything in the environment that causes a response

from a living organism.

Responsestimulus

7. ___________________ Homeostasis is the ability of an organism to

maintain its internal _____________ of factors

like temperature, pH, and salt content.

Homeostasis

balance

• Just like a thermostat constantly monitors the

temperature of the house and turns on and off

when necessary, the body has many

mechanisms in place to keep internal

conditions within a narrow _______________.range

8. Adaptation and _____________• Over long periods of __________________ time,

all living things change in order to better fit their

environment. It is important to remember that

populations as a whole evolve; _______________

do not.

Evolutiongeologic

individuals

Disproving Spontaneous Generation: Where does life come from?• Before the 1600s, many people believe that life

could pop out of thin air—this theory is called _________________________________. spontaneous generation

Several scientists conducted

experiments from the mid-1600s

to the mid-1800s to disprove

spontaneous generation and show

that life can only come from other

living organisms.

RediFrancisco _________ conducted an experiment in 1658 in

which he put meat into jars. In a jar that was open to the air, ______________ would form after a time. In a jar that was covered with gauze, no maggots would form. This showed that the maggots were not forming from thin air.

Redimaggots

Pasteur

• Louis ______________ was famous for many scientific discoveries. One of them involved the disproval of spontaneous generation.

Pasteur

• He sterilized broth in a __________________ flask. Because of the shape of the neck, the _____________________ that could grow in the broth would settle in the bend and not reach the flask. So, even though it was open to the air, no life would grow in the flask. When the neck was broken, microorganisms would start growing again.

swan-necked

microorganisms