Biology The Study of Life

Small Group Discussion

In a group of 2-3 people, discuss the following questions:
What does life mean? How do biologists decide if something is living or not? In what ways do biologists study life?

Characteristics of Life
Metabolism (living things use energy) Growth Reproduction Response Homeostasis (regulate their internal environment) Nutrition Made of cells

Characteristics of Life
In order to be considered living, an organism must exhibit ALL of the characteristics of life. Living things can be either:
Unicellular are made up of only one cell that is capable of performing all the functions of life (e.g. bacteria, amoeba, paramecium) Multicellular composed of many cells that are specialized to carry out some functions but not others. As a whole, the full organism carries out all functions of life. E.g. plants, animals

Cell Theory
Three simple statements that form the basis of our definition of life

1. All living things are composed of one or more cells.

Evidence: Robert Hooke and Anton von Leeuwenhoek were the first to develop this part of the cell theory. Hooke looked at sections of cork under the microscope and Leeuwenhoek observed pond water. Both saw cells and hypothesized that they were present in all living things.

Cell Theory
2. Cells are the smallest unit of life.
Just like an atom is the smallest part of an element that still has all the properties of the element, a cell is the smallest unit of a living thing that is still capable of carrying out the functions of life. This means that parts of cells like proteins and DNA would not be considered living things.

Cell Theory
3. All cells come from pre-existing cells.
- Louis Pasteur disproves spontaneous generation of living things - Remak and Virchow observed chicken embryos and saw cells dividing to make new cells.

Homework
Are viruses living or non-living? Support your answer using cell theory and the characteristics of life.