What is Life?

What is

LIFE ?

ROBERT PERRY MALIBU HIGH SCHOOL

NOTIFICATION and LEGAL STUFF This slideshow has been designed for non-profit, face-to-face classroom instruction. The images used herein have been taken from the public domain of the internet for this nonprofit purpose. Images which are protected by copyright law will be removed per request of the owner. This slideshow is protected and should not be used for commercial purposes.

Robert Perry perry@smmusd.org

BIOLOGY is the study of LIFE. So… WHAT IS IT THAT MAKES A THING “ALIVE?” http://www.msnucleus.org/membership/html/k-6/lc/organ/5/lco5_6d.html

PART ONE: CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING THINGS

LIFE ACTIVITIES Things that are alive demonstrate unique activities that allow us to distinguish them from things that are non-living.

1- reproduction 2- metabolism 3- homeostasis 4- survival 5- evolution 6- development 7- growth 8- autonomy 9 - DNA and/or RNA 10- response 11- death a virus

http://biochem118.stanford.edu/#Molecular%20Biology

REPRODUCTION is the process by which organisms give rise to offspring.

1-Digestion of food and elimination of solid wastes

3- Balance of fluids in blood and body.

2-Circulation of blood with Nutrients and waste molecules http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/images/ency/fullsize/9624.jpg

http://ghs.gresham.k12.or.us

http://www.colorado.edu/eeb/web_resources/cartoons/homeo.html

HOMEOSTASIS The relatively constant conditions within organisms, or the physiological processes by which such conditions are maintained in the face of external variation.

http://www.mathworks.com/company/newsletters/digest/nov04/modeling.html

SURVIVAL Living organisms remain in existence, or alive, in spite of adversity.

LIFE is a self-sustained system that is capable of undergoing Darwinian evolution.

http://www.allposters.com/

Darwinian evolution.

“I have called this principle, by which each slight variation, …based on variations. if useful, is preserved, by the term Natural Selection”.

- Charles Darwin The Origin of Species

http://www.allposters.com/

DEVELOPMENT organisms go through changes after fertilization and before adulthood.

http://embryology.med.unsw.edu.au

GROWTH Means that organisms increase body size over time.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/

http://www.halls.md/

AUTONOMY

____________means that living things are individuals, living free in the face of external constraints. They are independent and capable of self-determination.

Illustration by Marion Bantjes

DNA

‌the hereditary material for all organisms. It contains genes whose sequence specifies how and when to build proteins.

http://iws2.ccccd.edu

RESPONSE Organisms react and change as a result of environmental stimuli.

DEATH ALL ORGANISMS EVENTUALLY CEASE TO EXIST.

http://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/death/death.html

LIFE ACTIVITIES Things that are alive demonstrate unique activities that allow us to distinguish them from things that are non-living.

1- reproduction ARE THERE 2- metabolism 3- homeostasis ANY OTHER 4- survival LIFE 5- evolution 6- development CHARACTERISTICS 7- growth NOT ON THIS 8- autonomy 9 - DNA and/or RNA LIST ?

10- response 11- death

PART TWO: CHEMISTRY of OF LIVING THINGS

LIFE CHEMICALS Things that are alive contain unique combinations of chemical elements and make organic compounds that form their body parts.

INORGANIC ELEMENTS (found in the environment): 1- carbon 2- oxygen 3- hydrogen 4- nitrogen 5- phosphorus 6- sulfur

ORGANIC COMPOUNDS (found in organisms): 1- carbohydrates 2- lipids (fats) 3- proteins 4- nucleic acids

you

now

THE END