Biology CP - Livingston Public Schools



Biology CP Name

UNIT 1A: Characteristics of Living Things

*Biology

1.3 Studying Life

Nonliving things may share some features in common with living things, but only living things show ALL of the characteristics of life.

In what basic way are living and nonliving things alike?

An organism is any one individual living thing. There is a huge diversity of organisms on Earth. Note: At the end of your book there is a comprehensive "Visual Guide to the Diversity of Life" (p. DOL-1 to DOL-64).

What characteristics do all living things have in common? There are 8 major characteristics presented in the "Visual Summary" on pages 18-19 of your textbook. Start on the left and count #1-8 counterclockwise. If you can't find answers within the chapter, look in the glossary.

Living things:

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A molecule called DNA is used within the cell(s) of all living things to store the complex information they need to live, grow and reproduce. DNA is the genetic material of the cell which contains codes for the building of proteins.

What is the difference between growth and development?

• Degree of growth and development depends upon the characteristics of the individual species

AND the amount of available energy.

• To grow:

unicellular organisms _______________________________________________________

multicellular organisms ______________________________________________________

• The amount of growth and development can be limited by how well an organism

synthesizes: ______________________________________________________________

and assimilates: __________________________________________________________

*Stimulus:

*Response:

Stimuli and/or responses may be internal (inside the body) or external (outside the body).

*Label each of these examples - put an "S" by the stimulus and an "R" by the response:

*a) When you touch something hot, you pull your hand away.

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*b) A blowfish becomes larger and extends is spikes when it is threatened by a predator.

*c) The carbon dioxide level in your blood becomes too high so your breathing rate increases.

Cells are the basic units of structure and function in living things. All cells come from other cells.

*cell:

unicellular:

Unicellular organisms must accomplish all life activities within one cell.

multicellular:

In multicellular organisms, cells must work together to accomplish the organism's life processes.

Cellular specialization takes place in complex, multicellular organisms.

Organisms pass on traits (characteristics) from one generation to the next by their DNA. Organisms can't generally choose or change their characteristics - an organisms' traits are largely predetermined by their DNA (though they may be influenced by their environment).

Examples of Types of Traits:

Physical________________________________________________________________

Physiological____________________________________________________________

Behavioral _____________________________________________________________

How do new traits arise? Remember, traits are controlled by an individual's genes.

In sexually reproducing species, variations arise from unique combinations of the mother & father's genetic material. Variations are differences in organisms.

In sexually & asexually reproducing species, variations can also arise from random mutations which change the genetic material of a cell.

*Mutation

Certain variations may enhance an organism's ability to survive and reproduce. These traits are referred to as adaptations.

*Adaptation ___________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

The environment largely dictates what is an adaptation and what is not. A trait may benefit survival in one environment and hinder survival in another. (ex, think of a snowshoe hare trying to hide in a NJ forest!)

How do populations change (evolve) over time?

*Natural Selection_____________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

• Each time an organism reproduces, there is a chance that the DNA of the offspring will lead to

new and different traits which may enhance their survival.

• If the trait benefits the organism

• The new trait may be passed on to the

• Eventually,

• The group of organisms can be said to have

As one adaptation follows another, eventually the species may undergo subtle or even drastic changes. Over time, groups of organisms can become different enough from one another that they are considered new species.

*Evolution

Evidence points to a common ancestor of all life forms which dates back over 3.5 billion years.

Materials and energy move between the living (biotic) and nonliving (abiotic) parts of ecosystems. Materials (atoms, molecules) must be recycled but energy is NOT - therefore a constant supply of energy must enter every ecosystem (usually from the sun). Organisms must be able to: a) produce or obtain nutrients; b) convert the nutrients into usable forms of chemical energy (making ATP through cellular respiration); and c) use these forms of energy to power their life processes.

A) Organisms must produce or obtain nutrients.

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All living things fit into one of the following two categories, based on how they produce or obtain nutrients: heterotrophs or autotrophs.

*heterotroph

Examples:

There are various categories of consumers such as herbivores, omnivores, decomposers.

*autotroph

Examples:

There are different types of autotrophy including photosynthesis and chemosynthesis.

Photosynthesis _________________________________________________________

Photosynthesis can be summarized by the following chemical equation:

B) Organisms must convert the nutrients into usable forms of chemical energy (making ATP through cellular respiration).

Cellular Respiration _________________________________________________________

Cellular respiration can be summarized by the following chemical equation:

___________________________________________________________________________

IMPORTANT: All organisms undergo cellular respiration!

What is the relationship between photosynthesis and cellular respiration?

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

Important!

1. Do not confuse cellular respiration with the act of breathing.

(Breathing is ______________________________________________________________)

2. All living organisms (autotrophs and heterotrophs) must undergo some type of cellular respiration to produce ATP.

C) Organisms will then use these forms of energy to power their life processes. Some examples include:

Digestion

Transport

Movement

Others

*metabolism:

When metabolism stops, _______________________________________________________.

Special types of metabolic reactions help organisms obtain and use energy from the environment to produce new compounds that

*Homeostasis

Homeostasis is about trying to stay (relatively) the same inside no matter what goes on outside.

Examples:

a) regulation of body temperature - when it's cold humans * and when it's hot we * so that we can maintain our body temperature around 98.6F.

b) regulation of blood sugar levels c) regulation of water balance in blood

The process of reproduction ensures that DNA is passed from parent(s) to offspring.

Is reproduction necessary for the survival of the individual or species?

Two types: *Asexual ___________________________________________________

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*Sexual ____________________________________________________

| |Asexual Reproduction |Sexual Reproduction |

|# of parents | | |

|Degree of | | |

|genetic | | |

|variability of| | |

|offspring | | |

|Environment | | |

|that this type| | |

|of | | |

|reproduction | | |

|is best suited| | |

|for | | |

|Examples |Typical in: __________________________ |Occurs in: |

| |and some multicellular organisms like hydra, |_________________________________________________________|

| |jellyfish, some plants, artificially cloned organisms |___ |

Either method of reproduction has the potential to be very successful - depending on the species and its environment. Some organisms can undergo both asexual and sexual reproduction.

Taxonomy is the science of classification - which involves grouping and naming organisms.

*What is a species?

How do we group and name species?

Organisms are named using a system of *binomial nomenclature:

Each organism is placed into a series of hierarchical groups based on characteristics and similarities shared with other members of that group. Classification gives us a way to sort and group organisms for easier study, as well as assign each its own scientific name.

The scientific name of an organism is often very different from the organism’s common name.

Scientific Name: composed of an organism's genus and species names. The genus is capitalized and the species is not. Put the words in italics or underlined.

Ex) Red Oak tree - Quercus rubra

*What is the scientific name of the bactrian camel? (see below)________________________________

*What is the scientific name for modern humans?________________________________________

Example:

The more classification groups that two organisms share, the more closely related they are.

Look carefully at the diagram above. Circle the pair of organisms below that have more in common:

A: Bactrian Camel and Llama B: Bactrian camel and Dromedary C: Bactrian camel and sea star

Recently, the science of classification has been undergoing a great deal of change. The original scheme proposed back in the 1800’s by Carolus Linnaeus included only 7 classification levels shown above (KPCOFGS). Currently an additional grouping, called a “domain” is becoming more widely accepted as a level above (more general than) “kingdom”. Biochemical evidence (i.e. DNA) has helped to continue to revise and/or reinforce the classification groupings being used today.

Let's discuss just one more feature that all living things have in common... all living things must die.

Life Span:

|ORGANISM |APPROX LIFESPAN |ORGANISM |APPROX LIFESPAN |

| |(years) | |(years |

|Bristlecone Pine |3,000-4,700 years |Toad |36 |

|Redwood |1,000-3,500 |Deer |35 |

|Douglas Fir |750 |Cobra |28 |

|Galapagos Tortoise |193 |Tiger, Cat |25 |

|Giant Tortoise |152 |Bat |24 |

|Box Turtle |123 |Cow |22 |

|Turkey Buzzard |118 |Queen Ant, Chicken, Sheep |15 |

|Swan |102 |Tiger Salamander |11 |

|Parrot |80 |Green Frog |10 |

|Eleplant |69 |Hummingbird |8 |

|Horned Owl |68 |Queen Bee, Gerbil |5 |

|Catfish |60 |House Mouse, Hamster, Rat |4 |

|Eagle |55 |Most Insects |< 1year |

|Horse |50 |Adult Honeybee Workers |6 weeks |

Why can’t organisms just live forever?

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Organisms cannot always maintain homeostasis in all environmental conditions. If an organism cannot continue its metabolism and maintain homeostasis, its life will cease.

Earth has a limited supply of resources. When organisms die, the materials in their cells are recycled back into the environment for use by new generations of living things. Decomposers are essential to the recycling of materials between the living & nonliving portions of every ecosystem.

There is some debate over whether viruses are living or nonliving. Most agree that they are nonliving. Why?

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*1._____________________________________________________________________________

*2._____________________________________________________________________________

*3._____________________________________________________________________________

*4._____________________________________________________________________________

amoeba

blowfish

*5._____________________________________________________________________________

[pic]

*6._____________________________________________________________________________

*7._____________________________________________________________________________

*8._____________________________________________________________________________

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