Life Processes

What are the characteristics of

life?
LIFE PROCESSES

Looking at living things

 What is a living thing?
• Imagine that you are space traveler
who lands on an unknown planet. How
could you determine if what you are
looking at is alive. Ex. A rock and a
blade of grass.
 What are the life processes?
• NUTRITION
• TRANSPORT
• RESPIRATION
• EXCRETION
• SYNTHESIS
• GROWTH
• REGULATION
• REPRODUCTION
 Key Concepts
• Metabolism – The sum total of all the life
functions.

• Homeostasis – the maintenance of a

stable internal environment in spite of
changes in the external environment. Ex:
Your body sweats in order to maintain a
proper internal temperature.
 Nutrition
• Includes the activities involved in
ingestion (obtaining food from the
environment) and digestion (processing
food for use by the organism). It also
includes egestion (removal of solid
wastes)
Nutrition - Ingestion
Nutrition - Digestion
Nutrition - Egestion
 Nutrition – Egestion in Leukocytes
• in which the bacteria, having been
ingested and enclosed in a digestive
vacuole by the leukocyte, are ejected by
the living cellto the outside
 TRANSPORT
• The absorption of materials through cell
membranes and the circulation, or
distribution of materials to all the cells of
an organism.
 TRANSPORT
• Elodea cells • Human Circulation
 RESPIRATION
• The process of releasing energy from organic
molecules for use by cells.

• During respiration glucose is broken down,

and the energy released is stored in the
compound ATP.

• Energy released by the compound ATP is used

by organisms to perform life functions.
 RESPIRATION
• Plants and animals
use the oxygen in
the air to turn food
into energy.
 EXCRETION
• The elimination of cellular waste products
from the organism.

• These wastes include water, carbon

dioxide, salts, and nitrogen-containing
compounds.
EXCRETION
• Urine Sample
 SYNTHESIS
• Chemical reactions in which small
molecules combine to form larger ones.
• When big things are made from small
things.
 SYNTHESIS
• Combining 2 glucose molecules to make a
larger maltose molecule
 GROWTH
• An increase in size brought about by
increases in cell size and cell number.

• The raw materials for growth are the

products of synthesis.
GROWTH
 REGULATION
• The control and coordination of life
functions.
• Responding to changes in the
environment to maintain homeostasis. Ex:
Your eyes immediately adjusting to the
outside light after watching a movie.
 REGULATION
• Nucleus • Brain
• All living things respond
to changes. Living things
notice changes in their
surroundings and react
to them.

• Eg. Plants grow towards

the light.

• Eg. People react to the

temperature around
them.
 REPRODUCTION
• The production of new individuals.

• Reproduction is necessary for the survival

of a species, or kind of organism.
REPRODUCTION
• LIFE PROCESSES VIDEO