The Characteristics of Life
From ZuluNotes - Free Leaving Cert Notes
| This is a Biology Article | |
| |
| The Characteristics of Life | |
|---|---|
| Subject | Biology |
| Section | The Organism |
| Note | |
Introduction
This section of the course deals with the definition and identification of the "characteristics of life" through the fundamental principles and interactions of organisation, nutrition, excretion, response, and reproduction.
Key Definitions/Learnings
Definition of life
All living things have 2 features in common:
- Metabolism: They carry out chemical reactions to live
- Reproduction: All organisms can produce offspring for continuity
There are 6 characteristics common to all living organisms:
- Respiration: The chemical release of energy from food which occurs at a cellular level
- Nutrition: The means by which an organism obtains its energy to live and the matter it needs to build its structures
- Excretion: The removal of wastes produced in metabolism from the body
- Movement: Animal movements are obvious while plant movements are slow, college term papers
involving only parts of the plant
- Growth: An increase in size due to an increase in solid matter in the body. There is usually an associated increase in complexity of the organism as it grows
- Reproduction: The ability to produce new individuals of the same species
