NAME: _________________________ DATE: ________ Period: ______
Study Guide: Characteristics of Life
PART 1:
1. Organisms that can make their own food. Autotroph
2. An idea that life can come from nonliving material. Spontaneous Generation
3. Organisms that cannot make their own food. Heterotroph
4. The process by which food is broken down into simple substances. Digestion
5. Something that was never living. Abiotic
6. The sum of all chemical process or changes that occur in an organism. Metabolism
7. A form of reproduction that involves the joining of a male and female sex cell. Sexual
8. Something in the environment that causes a response or behavior. Stimulus
9. A living organism that is in a suspended state, like a seed. Dormant
10. The basic unit of life in an organism – the smallest structure that can carry on life processes. Cell
11. The process by which cells release energy from food molecules for cell activities. Respiration
12. A form of reproduction in cells and some simple organisms requiring only one parent. Asexual
13. A complete living thing – something that is made of cell(s) and carries on all life processes. Organism
14. The ability of a cell or organism to maintain an internal balanced state. Homeostasis
15. The process of eliminating waste from a cell, an organ or an organism. Excretion
16. An organism that is carrying on all life processes. Biotic
17. A life process that is mostly due to an increase in the number of cells. Growth
Part 2 : Identify
Directions: Write the letter A next to each object listed below that is Abiotic and B next to the object that is
Biotic.
___B__ Mushroom
__A___Waterfall
_B_ Pine tree
__A___Sun
PART 3 : Directions: Identify which characteristic of living things is being described in each of the
statements below.
A. All living things contain cells.
E. All living things develop.
B. All living things evolve as a population.
F. All living things grow.
C. All living things obtain and use energy.
G. All living things respond to stimuli.
D. All living things reproduce.
__A___ Identical twins have 99.999% of the same genes.
__E___A caterpillar hibernates in a cocoon, and emerges as a butterfly.
_B____ It is thought that humans and chimpanzees once shared a common ancestor.
_F____A beaver increases in length by 5 inches.
_D____ A sea worm drops its tail and the tail becomes a new worm.
_G_____As a sea worm is placed in fresh water, the pulse slows down in order for the
worm to conserve energy.
Part: fill in/short answer
Give one example of a stimulus and a possible response scenario.
Stimulus: _________________________
Response: __________________
Obtain and use energy:
Place the words on the correct side of the balance below.
Anabolism - Catabolism - Photosynthesis - Cellular Respiration - Plants - Cells
Anabolism
Photosynthesis plants
Catabolim
cell resp. cells