Living & Non-living things Flashcards
What are living things made of?
One or more cells.
Name the seven processes that define an organism as living.
Movement, Respiration, Sensitivity, Growth, Reproduction, Excretion, Nutrition
Define ‘movement’ as a life process.
Changing position or shape over time.
Define ‘respiration’ as a life process.
Breaking down food to release energy (to extract energy from nutrients).
Define ‘sensitivity’ as a life process.
Detecting and responding to external stimuli.
Define ‘growth’ as a life process.
Increasing the number of cells making up an organism or its organs (through mitosis), which increases mass and size.
Define ‘reproduction’ as a life process.
The process of producing new organisms either sexually or asexually.
Define ‘excretion’ as a life process.
Eliminating waste from cells.
Define ‘nutrition’ as a life process.
Obtaining food and changing it into absorbable forms necessary for life processes.
What is an example of movement?
A koala climbing a tree. A sunflower moving to face sunlight. A human walking.
What is an example of respiration?
Plants taking in carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen. Fish taking in oxygen from water particles to distribute to muscle cells, then releasing excess water through their gills.
What are some examples of excretion?
Human kidneys producing urine. Animals/plants releasing carbon dioxide via respiration.
What does growth look like in multi-cellular organisms?
Increased cell size, increased number of cells within the organism.
What does growth look like in uni-cellular organisms?
They do not grow in size, but instead grow the size of their population through asexual reproduction (mitosis).
Why may movement be necessary for living organisms?
Acquire nutrients (eg. hunt prey), avoid predation, find shelter and reproduce. Plants: move roots to adapt to conditions (eg. to access water and nutrients from the soil, adapt to temperature changes).
What does energy gained from respiration do?
Supports life processes, eg. movement, metabolism, growth, reproduction and excretion.
What may organisms be sensitive to and respond to?
Light, temperature, water, gravity, chemical substances
What does excretion do?
Maintain a constant internal environment for cells that supports other life processes.
What is the difference between excretion in multi and uni-cellular organisms?
Uni-cellular organisms release waste straight into the environment. Multi-cellular organisms require organ systems to excrete.
What is the difference between sexual and asexual reproduction?
Asexual reproduction = single parent organism. Sexual reproduction = two parent organisms.
What is metabolism?
Chemical reactions which occur within a cell which change nutrients into energy.
What is homeostasis?
Living organisms regulating their internal environment to maintain balance to support cell function and body processes.
What is the role of mitosis in multi and uni-cellular organisms?
In multi-cellular organisms, mitosis produces cells for growth and repair. In uni-cellular organisms, mitosis reproduces by making identical copies of a single cell.
Why are viruses and prions (protein-infected particles) not considered living organisms?
They cannot live independently, but instead rely on host cells. They alter the cell components of existing cells to create the nucleic acids and proteins required to replicate the virus or create more prions. Prions do not have DNA.
