- List of characteristics of living beings
- They are made up of cells
- They grow and develop
- Are reproduced
- They obtain and use energy
- Relationship
- They adapt to their environment: evolution
- They have a metabolism
- They have different levels of organization
- Excretion: they expel waste
- They nourish themselves
- Homeostasis
- They contain genetic information
- They breathe
- Die
- Movement
- Irritability
- Complexity in irritability according to the living being
- References
The characteristics of living beings are the biological traits that define them and that they must have to be considered alive. These peculiarities differentiate them from inert materials.
These fundamental attributes are common in all living beings and to be considered as such they must have them. In fact, a living being is defined as an organism that shows the characteristics of life, including reproduction, excretion, and use of energy, among others.
Most experts classify living things in one of the 5 kingdoms of nature:
-Kingdom monera, single-cell microorganisms that do not have a nuclear membrane.
-Protist kingdom, autotrophic or heterotrophic single-cell organisms that are larger than bacteria.
-Fungi kingdom, multicellular organisms that decompose organic matter to feed.
-Kingdom plantae, multicellular and autotrophic organisms that use photosynthesis to create food.
-Animals, heterotrophic multicellular beings that depend on other organisms for food.
List of characteristics of living beings
They are made up of cells
Cell types
The cell is the basic unit of life. A cell is considered a living organism, as it carries out vital processes such as respiration, reproduction, and death. When several cells unite, we have a multicellular organism and when millions unite, they give rise to the most complex tissues and living beings, such as plants or animals.
Cells contain the hereditary information of an organism, called DNA, and can make copies of themselves in a process called mitosis.
Cells are made of a nucleus and cytoplasm, covered with a thin wall called a membrane, which acts as a barrier to the environment around it. Plant cells also have a nucleus, cytoplasm, and a cell membrane.
The main difference between an animal cell and a plant cell is that plant cells have a vacuole, chloroplast, and a cell wall.
Some microorganisms are made up of a single cell, while larger organisms are made up of millions of different cells.
Organisms that are made up of a single cell are called single-celled organisms. They include bacteria, yeast, and amoebae.
On the other hand, multicellular organisms are composed of more than one cell; Each type of cell performs a different and specialized function.
They grow and develop
Every living organism begins life as a single cell. Unicellular organisms can stay as a single cell but they also grow.
Multicellular organisms add more and more cells to form tissues and organs as they grow.
Growth refers to an increase in size and mass of that organism. For its part, development involves the transformation of the organism as it goes through the growth process.
In some organisms, growing involves a drastic transformation. For example, a butterfly starts out as a single cell (egg), then develops into a caterpillar, then into a chrysalis, and then becomes a butterfly.
Are reproduced
Reproduction is the process in which new organisms or offspring are generated. A living being does not need reproduction to survive, but as a species it needs to do so for continuity and to ensure that it does not become extinct.
There are two types of reproduction: sexual reproduction, which involves two individuals of the same species to fertilize a cell; and asexual reproduction, common in unicellular organisms since it does not need another individual to perform.
They obtain and use energy
Cells cannot survive on their own, they need power to stay alive. They need energy to perform functions such as growth, balance, repair, reproduce, move, and defend themselves.
Energy is the power to do things. This power can come in many forms and forms, but they can all be related to the sun. This is the source of all energy.
Relationship
Rhinos
The relationship function consists of reacting to changes in the environment or internal stimuli. For example, if it rains, a wolf can react by hiding in a cave, but a stone - an inert material - could not.
The response to a stimulus is an important characteristic of life. Anything that causes a living being to react is called a stimulus. A stimulus can be external or internal.
An internal stimulus may be the need to go to the bathroom; the rising sun that causes a snake to come out and explore is an external stimulus.
Stimuli help an organism stay in balance. The senses help detect and respond to these changes.
They adapt to their environment: evolution
This means that they can adapt the way they behave, how they are built, or their way of life. This is necessary for them to survive and reproduce in their habitats.
For example, giraffes have long necks so they can eat tall vegetation that other animals cannot reach. Behavior is also an important form of adaptation; animals inherit many types of behavior.
Natural selection and evolution are common ways that living things adapt to their environment and survive.
They have a metabolism
Metabolism is a set of chemical substance transformations that occur within the cells of living beings.
These reactions allow organisms to grow and reproduce, maintain their structures, and respond to their environments.
The main characteristics of metabolism are the conversion of food / fuel into energy, the conversion of food / fuel to create proteins, lipids and carbohydrates, and the elimination of nitrogenous waste.
Metabolism can be divided into catabolism, referring to the decomposition of organic matter, and anabolism, referring to the construction of nucleic acid and protein cells.
They have different levels of organization
Vegetable epidermal tissue
Living beings have molecular and cellular organization. They organize their cells in the following levels:
- Tissue, a group of cells that carry out a common function.
- Organs, group of tissues that carry out a common function.
- Organ system, group of organs that carry out a common function.
- Organism, a complete living organism.
Excretion: they expel waste
Stripe
Living organisms get rid of waste. Excretion is the process in which metabolic waste and other useless materials are eliminated from an organism.
In vertebrates this process is carried out mainly by the lungs, kidneys and skin. Excretion is an essential process in all forms of life.
In mammals, urine is expelled through the urethra, which is part of the urinary system. In unicellular organisms, waste products are expelled directly through the cell surface.
They nourish themselves
Nutrition is the process of taking food and using it for energy. This vital process helps living beings obtain energy from various sources.
Nutrients are the substances that provide nutrition; All living organisms need nutrients in order to function properly.
There are two modes of nutrition: the autotrophic mode, in which organisms use simple inorganic matter to synthesize their own food; and the heterotrophic mode, in which organisms depend on other organisms for their nutrition.
Plants, algae, and some bacteria are autotrophic. Fungi and all animals, including humans, are heterotrophs.
Homeostasis
Homeostasis refers to the ability of an organism to maintain stability regardless of changes in the environment.
Living cells can only function within a narrow range of temperature, pH, iron concentrations, and nutrient availability.
However, living things must survive in an environment where these conditions can vary from hour to hour, or from season to season.
For this reason, organisms require mechanisms that can maintain their internal stability despite changes in the environment.
For example, the internal temperature of the human body can be controlled by making or getting rid of heat. Most of the body's functions are aimed at maintaining homeostasis.
They contain genetic information
Genetic information can be found in all living things. It is passed from generation to generation through inherited units of chemical information, in most cases called genes.
They breathe
In this process, oxygen is inhaled into a living organism and carbon dioxide is exhaled.
There are two types of respiration: aerobic, which uses oxygen; and the anaerobic that does not need oxygen.
Die
It is the cessation of all biological functions that keep an organism alive. Common phenomena that result in death include biological aging, malnutrition, disease, dehydration, accidents, and predation.
The bodies of all living things begin to decompose very soon after death.
Movement
Movement is obvious in animals, although not so much in living things as in plants. However, these have parts that move to adapt to the movement of the sun.
Irritability
Irritability is the ability of a living being to respond to stimuli from the internal or external environment. This characteristic allows it to survive and eventually adapt to the conditions of its environment.
Said response may be different for the same type of stimulus, and it is also adjusted to its intensity.
An example of this is an animal that changes color to hide from a predator or another that remains still for a long time on the lookout for its prey. Inwardly some kind of mechanism is activated that will guide his next behavior.
Complexity in irritability according to the living being
There are unicellular organisms, such as bacteria, that manifest their irritability by changing the speed of cell division and moving away or approaching the stimulus.
Their responses are not very varied or complex due to the lack of coordination and organic integration systems.
On the other hand, plants slowly move away from or approach the stimulus (tropism) thanks to their hormonal coordination and integration system called phytohormones.
Animals, being multicellular organisms, have an endocrine system and a nervous system that are composed of specialized organs interconnected through a complex communication network that offers a response in a matter of seconds.
References
- Characteristics of living things. Recovered from sciencelearn.org.nz
- Living organisms are made up of cells in Characteristics of living things. Recovered from eschooltoday.com
- Living things grow and develop in Characteristics of living things. Recovered from eschooltoday.com
- Living things reproduces in Characteristics of living things. Recovered from eschooltoday.com
- Living things obtain and use energy in Characteristics of living things. Recovered from eschooltoday.com
- Living things respond to their enviroment in Characteristics of living things. Recovered from eschooltoday.com
- How are living things adapted to their enviroments? Recovered from americangeosciences.org
- Metabolism. Recovered from wikipedia.org
- The 7 characteristics of life. Recovered from infohost.nmt.edu
- Excretion. Recovered from wikipedia.org
- Nutrition in living organisms & modes of nutrition in Biology article (2016). Recovered from byjus.com
- Homeostasis. Recovered from biologyreference.com
- Genetic information is found in all living things. Recovered from education.vic.gov.au
- Respiration in living organism in Diagram & Formulas (2016). Recovered from byjus.com
- Death. Recovered from wikipedia.org.