Activating Strategy:

Which of the following are living things? There may be more than 1!

a) bacteria

b) virus

c) rosebush

d) elephant

e) desk

f) water

g) rock

h) blood cells

Characteristics of Living Things

Chapter 1, Section 2

What are living things like?

• Any living thing is called an ORGANISM.• Organisms can vary in size, but all

organisms have similar traits that determine what it means to be alive.

Living Things are ORGANIZED

• Organisms are made up of CELLS.• A cell is the smallest unit of an

organism that carries on the functions of life.

• Some organisms are just one cell, (unicellular) while others are composed of many cells (multicellular.

• All cells contain the chemicals of life – mainly water, carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids (a.k.a. hereditary material, which determines the function of the cell).

Living Things Use ENERGY

•Energy comes either directly or indirectly from the sun.

•Some bacteria at the bottom of the ocean use energy stored in chemical compounds and carbon dioxide.

Living Things RESPOND

• Organisms interact with their surroundings as well as things that occur inside them.

• Anything that causes a change in an organism is called a STIMULUS.

• The reaction to that stimulus is a RESPONSE.

Living Things Grow and Living Things Grow and DevelopDevelop

• Organisms take in raw materials and Organisms take in raw materials and make more cells or increase the size of make more cells or increase the size of the cell.the cell.

• Organisms change as they grow. This is Organisms change as they grow. This is called called DEVELOPMENTDEVELOPMENT..

Living Things REPRODUCE

•Organisms must make more of their own kind to replace the individuals that die.

What do Living Things Need?

1. Raw Materials• Water is extremely important for all living

things.• Food Substances (fats, proteins, sugars) that

can be recycled in nature• Autotrophs make their own food• Heterotrophs cannot make their own food; they have

to eat other organisms.

2. A Place to Live• An organism’s surroundings must provide for

all of its needs (space, temperature, etc.)

3. Stable internal conditions• An organism’s ability to keep proper conditions

inside no matter what is going on outside the organism is called HOMEOSTASIS – this is a trait of all living things.

The Martian & the Car• Marty Martian was sent to Earth by

the Martian government to find life. While on Earth, Marty captured a car and brought it back to Mars. He thought he’d found a good example of life on Earth. The Martian government does not believe that the car Marty brought back is alive. Marty must stand trial for failing to perform his Martian duties.

• At the trial, Marty spoke in his defense. “I first saw these life forms rolling along roads in great numbers. They were giving off thick clouds of poisonous waste as they moved. They seemed to exhibit herding behavior, as many of the cars moved in the same direction.

• They appeared to have a great deal of energy; some of them moved faster than 100 km per hour.

• When one of these life forms stopped or slowed down, the others behind it responded. They too slowed down and gave off a reddish light from the back, and sometimes they would make honking noises. I observed that they would stop to feed on a liquid substance.

Take the part of Marty’s defense attorney and make a good case for the car’s being alive. Then

be the prosecutor and show that the car is a nonliving thing. List as many reasons as you can.

• Defense Attorney: • Prosecutor:

Ticket Out the Door:

Although water may CONTAIN living things, it is not a living thing. Why

isn’t water a living thing?