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