Is It Alive???
All living things have certain characteristics in common. These characteristics may
not be present at all stages of a lifecycle, but at some time, these characteristics
are all true of all organisms. If you are missing any one of these characteristics,
you are not alive. So the question becomes, how do you know if something is alive?
Answer the following questions about the organism you are assigned…
1. Is it made up of cells? How can you tell?
2. Does it reproduce? Suggest a way you could test your answer.
3. Is your organism based on a universal genetic code (i.e. DNA)? How could
you tell?
4. Does your organism grow and develop? Do you have any evidence to support
your answer?
5. Does your organism obtain and use materials and energy? What observations
can you make to support your answer?
6. Does your organism respond to its environment? How could you test your
answer?
7. Can your organism maintain a stable internal environment (homeostasis)?
Explain a way to test this.
8. Has your organism evolved? How could you tell?
Keystone: BIO.A.1.1.1
Science Stds: 3.1.10.A1,
Unifying Themes: Patterns
Science as Inquiry: Observations