W1L1 - What is life?

Question 1

What are the pillars of life? (7)

Answer 1

PICERAS

• Program
• Innovation
• Compartmentation
• Energy
• Regeneration
• Adaptability
• Seclusion

Question 2

First Pillar of Life (2)

Answer 2

Program (DNA)

• Living things must have a program to make copies of themselves from generation to generation.
• The program describes parts that:
  
  • make up the organisms; and
  • processes that occur between the various parts (i.e., metabolic reactions which allows living things to function)

Question 3

The second pillar of life (3)

Answer 3

Improvisation/Innovation (Changing the program)

• Life adapts and evolves in step with external changes in the environment.
• Directly connected to life’s program through mutation and natural selection.
• This condition allows life-forms to be optimized for gradual changes in the environment.

Question 4

The third pillar of life

Answer 4

Compartmentalise

• All living organisms are contained to a limited volume (e.g., skin, membrane)
• Chemicals found within their bodies are synthesized through metabolic processes into structures that have specific purposes
• Cells are also the basic functioning unit of life.
• In multi-cellular organisms, cells are often organized into organs to create higher levels of complexity

Question 5

The fourth pillar of life (2)

Answer 5

Energy

• Living things have the ability to take energy from their environment and change it from one form to another.
  
  • Usually, to facilitate growth and reproduction (Facilitation Metabolism)

Question 6

The fifth pillar of life (3)

Answer 6

Regeneration

• Organisms have regeneration systems that replace parts of themselves that are subject to wear and tear.
  
  • Regeneration can be partial/complete replacement of the organism
    
    • Complete because partial replacement cannot stop the unavoidable decline in the functioning state of the entire living system over time (i.e., all organisms degrade into a final non-functioning state we call death)

Question 7

The sixth pillar of life (3)

Answer 7

Adaptable

• Living creatures respond to environmental stimuli through feedback mechanisms.
• Cues from the environment can cause organisms to react through behavior, metabolism, and physiological change.
• Further, responses to stimuli generally act to increase a creature’s chance for day-to-day survival

Question 8

The seventh pillar of life

Answer 8

Seclusion

• Organisms are able to maintain numerous metabolic reactions even in a single instance in time
• Living things also keep each of these reactions separated from each other

Question 9

What is the 1st generalisation of biology?

How did it come about?

Answer 9

• Evolution through natural selection
• Darwin during his Voyage of The Beagle
  
  • In Galapagos archipelago Darwin saw different species on each island with slight variations in form and behaviours
  • Concluded that they had a common ancestor but had diversified and adapted to different niches.