10 characteristics of living organisms
7. Living things contain and pass on coded information
-DNA is the info that ultimately gets used to form proteins which then determine who/what you are
1. Living things are highly ordered
-a chemical organization to all living things -starts with carbon based clusters/molecules that build up into highly organized living organisms
6. Living things reproduce themselves
-all living organisms must come from other living organisms
3. Living things obtain and use energy
-all living things get their energy ultimately from the sun (except deep sea communities which depend on chemicals instead of the sun)
5. Living things develop
-growth is only a small part of development -changes that occur from one state to another Birth, Growth (adding more of the same, getting larger), maturity, decline, death
8. Living things evolve and adapt to their environment
-individuals cannot evolve but as a species -humans evolve by natural selection
2. Living things are organized into cells
-smallest unity of life -a living organism can be made of one cell to trillions or anywhere in between -cells become tissue becomes organs becomes organ systems becomes organism
4. Living things respond actively to their environment
-we all react to our environment -plants seek the sun -we shiver when cold -venus fly trap
9. Living things communicate
ex. ants and antennae, plants send signals through scent
10. Living things move by themselves
ex. plant seeds, legs, cell flagella