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Chapter 2: What is Life?
Teacher Lecture Notes

Biology is the science devoted to the study of life.
Comparing living and nonliving things
15sec look around the room-
list living things: ______________________________________
list nonliving things-______________________________________


2-1 Alive or not?

Identifying Life
What sets living organisms apart from nonliving things is the life processes that they carry out. Living things are defined on the basis of several processes which we will discuss.

Terms to know:
Trait a specific feature of something
Organism is a living thing that has all the traits of life

Some Traits of Life
* organisms respond
* organisms move
* organisms show organization
*organisms reproduce
* organisms grow & develop

There is a plant called a lithops that looks just like a stone. A flowering stone- in fact sometimes its called that. But they are very much alive. How do we know they are alive? -grow& reproduce

Candle demo-
Observe the flame of the candle. Is it alive?
the flame moves, produces more flames, it can grow
-they are not alive because they don’t possess all the characteristics of life

Organisms Respond
1st trait: respond to things in their environment.
An environment includes everything in the organism surrounding:
other organisms, water, weather, temperature, soil, sound, light


Shows organization
All organisms have cells. The cell is the smallest unit of life in a living thing. Cells take in materials & release energy & waste products, Living things also organize the cells into certain parts with specific jobs.

Cells are like tiny factories. Some cells have walls. They run on energy. They manufacture essential substances.

Organisms Reproduce
All living things reproduce. They make more of their own kind.

Organisms Grow & Develop
Development is an important characteristic of living things. All living things show some form of growth & development.

Fun Facts
Maximum life span: tortoise 120-150 yr, deep sea clam: 100yr,
Asian Elephant 78yr, mouse 6yr, housefly 17days,

gestation- human 9 mo, mouse 20-30 days, dolphin 10-20 mo, monkey 5-6 mo.

Heart Rates- Beats 1 minute :Human 70, Elephant 25, Mouse 600-700, Large Dog 120


2. Basic needs of living Organisms
1. Living things need energy
2. Living things need water, oxygen & minerals

A person can live several weeks with out food but only a week or less with out water.

Homework fun assignment-
Cut out 5 pictures of living things. Cut out 5 pictures of nonliving things. Write why each photo is in it’s category.

Mini Quiz:
1. Eye color & hair color are examples of
traits.
2. All of the changes that take place during the life of an organism are known as its
development



2-2 Classifying Life
Classification of living things:
Classification & the grouping of objects on information based on common traits.

How are organisms classified?
- based on similarities of body parts
-scientist call each different kind of organisms: a species
- a species is a group of organisms that can mate with one another
-the word species comes from the Latin, where it means “appearance” or kind. Species is a group of organisms that can interbreed freely in natural conditions and will not interbreed with organisms that are not part of the group.

An example of Classification
Mini-Lab: 5 major groups animals with bones
Assignment bring in 3 pictures of 1 group of animals listed here.
1. Fish
2. Amphibians
3. Reptiles
4. Birds
5. Mammals
Study& compare animals in the group. Make observations about similar traits.

Kingdoms of Life
All organisms are separated into 1 of 6 large groups called kingdoms. A kingdom is a large group of organisms that share certain features,

6 Kingdoms:
Archaebacteria Eubacteria Protists Fungi Plants Animal


Placed based on 4 features:
1. How many cells they are made up of
2. What their cells look like
3. Whether or not they can move from place to place
4. How they obtain energy


Bacteria Kingdom
(Eubacteria kingdom and Archaebacteria kingdom)
*single celled
* some move around
* bacteria get energy from eating food; some make their own food
* Archaebacteria release energy from chemicals in their surroundings
* Archaebacteria live in extreme environments

Protist Kingdom
* single-celled and many- celled species
*some move around
*some obtain energy from eating food; some make their own food

Fungi Kingdom
*single-celled and many- celled species
* do not move around
*obtain energy by feeding on dead or decaying tissue

Plant Kingdom
* many celled
* do not move around
*make their own food

Animal Kingdom
*many celled
* all species move around
* get energy by eating food

K-P-C-O-F-G-S
Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species
“King Philip Couldn’t Order Five Good Sandwiches”
Mini Quiz
1. An organism that doesn't move around but obtains its energy by eating food is called a(n) fungus.

2. A many-celled organism that makes its own food is called a(n) plant.

3. The microscopic kingdom or organisms that includes animal-like and plantlike forms is known as the protist kingdom.