CHARACTERISTICS OF LIFE
Defining what it means to be alive
7th grade science
Mr. Ardito

Metabolism
The total of all chemical reactions and life processes that allow an
organism to take care of itself.
Everything that happens in your cells is a set of chemical
reactions.

Regulation:
Responding to the
environment
Living things can monitor (perceive) and respond to changes in
their internal and external environment.
Sometimes they can adapt to these changes, sometimes they
can’t.

Locomotion
The movement of an organism towards food, water, shelter,
mates.

Synthesis
Organisms build big things from little things
They make large molecules that they need from smaller
building blocks.

Transport
Movement of stuff within the organism
Like blood through our arteries and veins

Respiration
Burning food for fuel
sugar + oxygen ---> carbon dioxide + water + energy

Nutrition
Living things obtain energy from their environment.
Photosynthesis is key:
Sunlight
carbon dioxide + water -----------> sugar + oxygen + water

Growth
More cells and bigger cells
Humans start as 1 cell and grown and develop into an organism
of about 50 trillion cells.

Excretion
Getting rid of waste
4 types of excretion
urination (peeps)
defecation (poops)
exhaling
sweating

Reproduction
Living things come from other living things.
Living things make copies of themselves.
Asexual reproduction - only 1 parent
Sexual reproduction - two parents

A Way to Remember
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A Way to Remember
Metabolism
Regulation
Locomotion
Synthesis
Transport
Respiration
Nutrition
Growth
Excretion
Reproduction

How will you remember them?
A song
A poem
A poster
Flash cards
???