7 Characteristics of Life
1.) All living things are made of cells
•A cell is the basic unit of function and structure
in all living things.
•Unicellular- living things that has only one cell
• Example – bacteria like e.coli
•Multicellular- living things that are made of
many cells
• Example – mushrooms, apples, tigers, and
bluejays
2.) Living things have different levels of organization
3.) Living things use energy
• Producers such as plants take
sunlight and converts it into
chemical energy (food)
• This is called photosynthesis
• Consumers such as animals use
the chemical energy to run their
daily functions and for growth.
• This is called cellular respiration.
4.) Living things respond to their environment
• Stimulus- a thing or event that causes a
reaction
• Response – the reaction to a stimulus
• Homeostasis - ability to maintain a
constant internal environment in
response to environmental changes
• Example – being able to keep the same
temperature even though it’s freezing outside.
5.) Living things grow and develop
•Growth - Get larger in size
•Development – involves the
transformation of the organism
6.) Living things reproduce
•Organisms reproduce their own
kind by either
• Asexual – with only one parent
• Sexual – with two parents
•Reproduction is not vital for a
single organism, but key for the
survival of the entire species.
7.) Living things adapt to their environment
• Within a species there are variations ( differences in
physical traits)
• The individuals best adapted to the environment live
to pass on their traits to their offspring to help them
survive.
•In the next few slides there will be
picture of living things
•Write down on your warm up how
each picture shows at least 3 of the 7
characteristics of living things.