Characteristics of Life
What characteristic of life is this statement describing?
All living things are made of these basic units.
all living things are built of structures called cells.
A puppy gets larger and develops into an adult dog. Which characteristic of life does this demonstrate?
Growth and Change
This theory states that all living things are made of one or more cells.
Cell Theory
Two organisms have a close and long-term relationship. What is this type of relationship called?
Symbiosis
A lion hunts and eats a zebra. What typeof interaction is this?
Predation
A plant grows toward sunlight. Which characteristic of life does this demonstrate?
Responding to the environment
The human body is constantly breaking down food into substances such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and nucleic acids, in a process called metabolism. Which characteristic of life does this describe?
Having complex chemistry
Maintaining a stable internal environment is known as this.
Homeostasis
A bee gets nectar from a flower while helping the flower reproduce by transferring pollen. What type of relationship is this?
mutualism
Two siblings have different hair colors even though they have the same parents. Which principle helps explain why siblings can have different traits?
Gene theory — offspring receive different combinations of genes from their parents.
Making offspring is an important characteristic that allows a species to continue. What is this characteristic called?
Reproduction
A bacterium senses a chemical nearby and moves toward it. Identify the characteristic of life being demonstrated.
Responding to the environment
This principle explains how traits can be passed from parents to offspring through genes.
Gene Theory
A tick feeds on a dog. The tick benefits while the dog is harmed.
Parasitism
A population of insects is exposed to a pesticide. After many generations, most of the population is resistant to it. Which principle of biology explains this change, and what caused it?
Evolution and Natural Selection
Your body sweats when you become too hot. Which characteristic of life is this an example of?
homeostasis
A grade 1 student brings a toy doll to school and tells her friends that it is alive. Is she correct? Why or why not?
The doll does not have the characteristics of life (not made of cells, cannot reproduce, does not have complex chemistry, etc).
The change in populations over generations that can result in adaptations is called this.
Evolution
Two lions fight over the same limited food source. What is this called?
Competition
In a forest, removing wolves causes the deer population to increase dramatically. The deer then eat more plants, causing plant populations to decrease. What does this demonstrate about living things?
Living things are interdependent — changes to one population can affect other populations and the entire ecosystem.
A student says, "Fire is alive because it grows, uses oxygen, and spreads." Give one reason why fire is NOT considered living based on the characteristics of life.
Fire is not made of cells and does not reproduce by passing genetic information to offspring.
A seed is sitting in dry soil. When rain finally comes, it begins to germinate and grow. Which two characteristics of life are demonstrated?
Responding to the environment AND growing/changing.
What are the three rules of the cell theory?
The cell is the basic unit of life.
All living things are made of one or more cells.
All cells come from pre-existing cells.
Put these in order from smallest to largest: biosphere, organism, ecosystem, community.
Organism → Community → Ecosystem → Biosphere
A community of organisms interacting with each other AND with the nonliving parts of their environment is called this.
Ecosystem