What are the 4 characteristics of life?

Summary All living things detect changes in their environment and respond to them. All living things grow and develop. All living things are capable of reproduction, the process by which living things give rise to offspring. All living things are able to maintain a constant internal environment through homeostasis. More items... •

bio.libretexts.org - 1.4: Characteristics of Life - Biology LibreTexts

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What do a bacterium and a whale have in common?

Do they share characteristics with us? All living organisms, from the smallest bacterium to the largest whale, share certain characteristics of life. Without these characteristics, there is no life.

Characteristics of Life

Look at the duck decoy in Figure below. It looks very similar to a real duck. Of course, real ducks are living things. What about the decoy duck? It looks like a duck, but it is actually made of wood. The decoy duck doesn’t have all the characteristics of a living thing. What characteristics set the real ducks apart from the decoy duck? What are the characteristics of living things?

This duck decoy looks like it’s alive. It even fools real ducks. Why isn’t it a living thing?

To be classified as a living thing, an object must have all six of the following characteristics: It responds to the environment. It grows and develops. It produces offspring. It maintains homeostasis. It has complex chemistry. It consists of cells. Response to the Environment All living things detect changes in their environment and respond to them. What happens if you step on a rock? Nothing; the rock doesn’t respond because it isn’t alive. But what if you think you are stepping on a rock and actually step on a turtle shell? The turtle is likely to respond by moving—it may even snap at you! Growth and Development All living things grow and develop. For example, a plant seed may look like a lifeless pebble, but under the right conditions it will grow and develop into a plant. Animals also grow and develop. Look at the animals in Figure below. How will the tadpoles change as they grow and develop into adult frogs? Tadpoles go through many changes to become adult frogs. Reproduction All living things are capable of reproduction. Reproduction is the process by which living things give rise to offspring. Reproducing may be as simple as a single cell dividing to form two daughter cells. Generally, however, it is much more complicated. Nonetheless, whether a living thing is a huge whale or a microscopic bacterium, it is capable of reproduction. Keeping Things Constant All living things are able to maintain a more-or-less constant internal environment. They keep things relatively stable on the inside regardless of the conditions around them. The process of maintaining a stable internal environment is called homeostasis. Human beings, for example, maintain a stable internal body temperature. If you go outside when the air temperature is below freezing, your body doesn’t freeze. Instead, by shivering and other means, it maintains a stable internal temperature. Complex Chemistry All living things—even the simplest life forms—have a complex chemistry. Living things consist of large, complex molecules, and they also undergo many complicated chemical changes to stay alive. Thousands (or more) of these chemical reactions occur in each cell at any given moment. Metabolism is the accumulated total of all the biochemical reactions occurring in a cell or organism. Complex chemistry is needed to carry out all the functions of life.

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What is the smallest unit for life?

The cell The cell is the smallest structural and functional unit of living organisms, which can exist on its own. Therefore, it is sometimes called the building block of life.

link.springer.com - Smallest Unit of Life: Cell Biology | SpringerLink

The cell is the smallest structural and functional unit of living organisms, which can exist on its own. Therefore, it is sometimes called the building block of life. Some organisms, such as bacteria or yeast, are unicellular—consisting only of a single cell—while others, for instance, mammalians, are multicellular. The human body is built from an estimated 100 trillion or 1014 cells. Such complex living systems have developed several levels of organization depending on each other, for example, organs, tissues, cells, and subcellular structures (Fig. 2.1). For the understanding of these biological systems, small units must be investigated at a time. The logical starting point for the examinations is the cell, since at the cellular level, all life is remarkably similar. The different levels of organization in multicellular organisms. The cell is highlighted in color and represents the smallest living biological structure

Keywords

Eukaryotic Cell

Nuclear Pore Complex

Subcellular Structure

Fluid Mosaic Model

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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