Characteristics of Living Beings
What characteristic of life refers to removing waste products from the body?
Excretion.
Who coined the term “cell” when observing cork?
Robert Hooke.
Which organelle is the “powerhouse” of the cell?
Mitochondria.
During conjugation, bacteria exchange genetic material using what structure?
Pili.
In which phase does the cell divide into two daughter cells?
Cytokinesis.
What characteristic of life refers to an organism’s ability to make more of its own kind?
Reproduction.
What scientist first observed living microorganisms (“animalcules”)?
Anton van Leeuwenhoek.
Which organelle is found in plant cells but NOT in animal cells and allows them to perform photosynthesis?
Chloroplast.
Are bacteria prokaryotic or eukaryotic?
Prokaryotic.
What is the purpose of mitosis?
To produce genetically identical daughter cells for growth and repair.
Living things respond to stimuli. Give one example of a stimulus and the organism’s response.
Example: Light → a plant grows toward it.
State one of the three principles of the cell theory.
Examples:
– All living things are made of cells.
– The cell is the basic unit of life.
– All cells come from pre-existing cells.
State two structural differences between plant and animal cells.
Possible: plant cells have cell walls, chloroplasts, and large vacuoles; animal cells lack these.
Name one structural difference between bacteria and viruses.
Viruses are not cells and lack organelles; bacteria are cellular and have cytoplasm and ribosomes.
Name the three main stages of interphase.
G1, S, and G2.
Explain the difference between movement and displacement in living organisms.
Movement: any body part motion.
Displacement: movement that changes the organism’s overall position in space.
What contribution did Rudolf Virchow make to cell theory?
He stated that all cells come from pre-existing cells.
What is the function of the vacuole in plant cells?
Stores water, nutrients, and maintains turgor pressure.
Why are viruses considered non-living by many scientists?
They cannot reproduce on their own and need a host cell.
What happens if sister chromatids do not separate properly during mitosis?
It can lead to daughter cells with the wrong number of chromosomes (nondisjunction).
List four characteristics of living organisms.
Possible answers: respiration, reproduction, nutrition, excretion, growth, movement, sensation.
Who did important research in plant cells?
Mathias Schleiden
Describe the role of the nucleus in both animal and plant cells.
It stores genetic material (DNA) and controls cell activities.
Explain how antibiotic resistance can develop in bacterial populations.
Plasmids with genetic information are transferred through the pili during bacterial conjugation.
During which stage of mitosis do sister chromatids separate and move toward opposite poles of the cell?
Anaphase.