Characteristics of Living

Things

Characteristics of Living Things

1. Living things respond to Stimuli such as light, sound, temperature and pressure.

2. All living things perform different life processes such as:

a. METABOLISM

the used or released of energy in order to perform different life processes.Metabolism includes the: a)breaking down food

Metabolism includes the:

b) building body parts

c) removing waste

Metabolism includes the: b) building body parts c) removing waste d) releasing energy e) movement

b. ADAPTATION

The ability of living to adapt to any changes in their environment.

c. GROWTH

All living things take in food or produce their own food.

Animals take food by simple putting food into their mouth.

Plants make their own food using water and carbon dioxide along with energy from the sun

Living things use the energy they get from the food to grow.

Growth does not only involved increase in size.Growth for most living things involves development.

d. REPRODUCTION

Living things produce their own kind.

Cells as Unit of StructureOur body is made up of trillions of building blocks of life called CELLS.Cells were discovered by an English scientist, Robert Hooke, over 300 years ago.He was looking at a thin slice of cork under a microscope.He saw that the cork showed regular patterns of tiny, open spaces.

The pattern reminded him of tiny rooms that he called “cells”

All the activities of life take place in each cell. Every cell in our body

is a living building block.Each cell takes in food and gets rid of wastes

Our body is made up of many kinds of cells that do different jobs.

The cells in our body form tissue.

Tissue is a group of the same kind of cells.

Each kind of tissue does a certain job.

Nerve cells form nerve tissues that carry messages between our brain and other parts of the body.

Nerve cell Nerve tissue

Different tissues that work together form an ORGAN.

Different organs that work together make up an ORGAN SYSTEM.

Digestive organ

Cell Structure and Function

Cell Membrane

In an animal cell, the cell membrane forms the outer covering of the cell.

Is a thin, flexible membrane

surrounding the cell.

In a plant cell, the cell membrane is inside the cell wall.

Cell Wall

The cell wall of plant cells contains cellulose, a nonliving materials.

Cellulose is a long chain of sugar molecules that is made by the cell.

Food, water, and oxygen pass into the cell through the cell membrane.Wastes pass out of the cell through the cell membrane too.

In plants, although the cell wall is thick, it does allow water and gases to pass through.

The plant cell wall helps give protection and support so the plant can grow tall.

The nucleus is the control center of the cell.

It controls all cellular activities.

The thin membrane that separates the nucleus from the rest of the cell is called Nuclear Membrane.

Nuclear Membrane is similar to cell membrane.Nuclear membrane allows materials to pass into and out of the nucleus.

Outside the nucleus is a clear, thick jellylike materials called Cytoplasm, which is constantly moving.

Cytoplasm is the term for all the protoplasm, or living materials of the cell, outside the nucleus.

Cytoplasm is where the food, water, and oxygen taken in by the cell are used.

The cytoplasm contains other structure like the:a) ribosomesb) endoplasmic reticulumc) Mitochondriad) lysosomes

It is the site of protein synthesis

Endoplasmic Reticulum is

involved in the transport of

proteins.

Mitochondria supply most of the energy of the cell and are often referred to as the ‘powerhouse”

Lysosomes are small, round

structures involved in the digestive

activities of the cell.

Vacuoles act like storage tanks.

Food and other materials

needed by the cell are stored

inside the vacuolesPlant cells have large vacuoles

while animal cells have few, small vacuoles.

Centrioles

Very important during the cell division

The Golgi body is a very important cell organelle in our system and without it, no living cell can function appropriately.

The primary Golgi body functions are to modify the new proteins synthesized from the ER present in the cytoplasm, then process them and sort them for transportation.

14

15

1.nucleolus, 2.nucleus, 3.ribosome, 4.vesicle, 5. rough endoplasmic

reticulum, 6. Golgi apparatus, 7.cytoskeleton, 8.smooth

endoplasmic reticulum,

9. mitochondrion, 10. vacuole, 11. cytoplasm, 12. lysosome, 13. centriole.14. cell membrane15. Chromatin

A typical animal cell. The numbers indicate the various organells: 1. nucleolus, 2. nucleus, 3. ribosome, 4. vesicle, 5. rough endoplasmic reticulum, 6. Golgi aparatus, 7. cytoskeleton, 8. smooth endoplasmic reticulum, 9. mitochondrion, 10. vacuole, 11. cytosol, 12. lysosome, 13. centriole.