Characteristics of Life
This characteristic of life allows organisms to maintain a stable internal environment despite external changes.
What is homeostasis?
Cells without a nucleus are called this.
What are prokaryotic cells?
This organelle is known as the “powerhouse of the cell” because it produces energy.
What is the mitochondrion? (mitochondria- plural)
The simplest level of organization in living things.
What is the cell?
This system transports oxygen, nutrients, and wastes throughout the body.
What is the circulatory system?
All living things can do this to pass on genetic information to the next generation.
What is reproduction?
These cells have a nucleus and membrane-bound organelles.
What are eukaryotic cells?
These organelles contain enzymes that break down waste and damaged materials.
What are lysosomes?
Groups of similar cells that perform a specific function form this.
What is a tissue?
The skeletal system and cardiovascular system work together to perform this function.
What is bones make red blood cells, and the heart and blood carry them to the whole body, delivering oxygen to the body's cells.
This characteristic describes how living organisms respond to stimuli such as light, temperature, or touch.
What is responsiveness (or response to stimuli)?
Name one structural difference between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells besides the nucleus.
Which organelle packages and transports proteins to their proper destinations?
What is the Golgi apparatus?
Organs are made of multiple tissues. Name one organ and a function it performs. (Multiple correct answers possible here)
What is the heart, which pumps blood throughout the body?
What are the lungs – exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide with the blood?
What is the stomach – breaks down food and begins digestion?
What is the brain – processes information and controls body activities?
What are the kidneys – filter waste from the blood and help maintain water balance?
Give an example of how the nervous system and muscular system work together to maintain homeostasis.
What is that the nervous system signals muscles to contract to maintain posture or move in response to stimuli?
Explain why energy use is considered a defining characteristic of life. Include an example of how an organism uses energy to survive.
What is that all living things require energy to carry out life processes, such as metabolism, growth, and repair? For example, plants use sunlight to produce energy through photosynthesis.
Predict how a mutation that destroys the nuclear membrane would affect a eukaryotic cell. Explain your reasoning.
What is that the cell could not properly protect its DNA or control gene expression, disrupting protein production and cell function?
A mutation prevents a cell from producing enough proteins. Which organelle is most likely affected, and why?
What are ribosomes, because they are responsible for protein synthesis?
Explain how damage to cells in an organ can affect the tissue and organ function.
What is that damaged cells cannot perform their specific functions, which can disrupt the tissue’s function and lead to organ-level problems?
Explain how failure in one organ system can affect another, using the respiratory and circulatory systems as examples.
What is that if the respiratory system fails to deliver oxygen to the blood, the circulatory system cannot transport oxygen to cells, disrupting homeostasis and organ function?
Explain how homeostasis demonstrates the interdependence of multiple life processes in a multicellular organism. Include a specific example in your answer.
What is that homeostasis requires different systems and processes to work together — for example, during exercise, the respiratory system increases oxygen intake, the circulatory system delivers it to cells, and the nervous system regulates heart rate to maintain internal balance?
Antibiotics can destroy bacterial (prokaryotic) cells without harming most human (eukaryotic) cells. Explain why this is possible using differences in cell structure.
What is that bacterial cells have unique features such as cell walls, while eukaryotic cells lack these, allowing antibiotics to target bacteria specifically without damaging human cells?
A cell has functional ribosomes but a damaged Golgi apparatus. Predict how this would affect the production and use of proteins in the cell. Explain your reasoning.
What is that proteins would be made by ribosomes but could not be properly modified, packaged, or transported to where they’re needed, causing cell processes to fail or proteins to build up in the cytoplasm?
Explain how a problem in one kind of cell can lead to problems for the whole body. Give an example.
What is that if heart muscle cells are damaged, the heart can’t pump blood well, so other organs don’t get enough oxygen and can’t work properly?
A person has kidney failure, which prevents the removal of waste from the blood. Explain how this affects at least two other body systems and disrupts homeostasis.
What is that the buildup of waste in the blood affects:
1. the circulatory system by changing blood chemistry and pressure
2. the nervous system because toxins in the blood can affect brain function, causing confusion, headaches, or difficulty controlling body processes, leading to more organ failures.