Life process Explanation Earthworms

Movement All living things move in some Earthworms use circular

way. This may be obvious, such and longitudinal muscles to
as animals that are able to walk, move through soil or along
or less obvious, such as plants surfaces.
that have parts that move to
track the movement of the sun.
Respiration Respiration is a chemical The food that earthworms
reaction that happens within eat supplies their body with
cells to release energy from energy-rich molecules such
food. as glucose. On entering the
cells of their body, these
molecules are broken down
in a series of steps to
release energy to be used
by the body,
producing carbon
dioxide and water as waste
products.
Sensitivity The ability to detect changes in Earthworms have light-
the surrounding environment. sensitive cells scattered in
their outer skin. Their skin
cells are also sensitive to
touch and chemicals.
Growth All living things grow. Earthworms hatch from
eggs and can grow up to a
metre or more in length!
Some earthworms are also
able to regrow small parts of
their body that have been
lost or injured.
Reproduction The ability to reproduce and Earthworms have both
pass genetic information onto sperm and eggs within their
their offspring. bodies (they are
hermaphrodites) but they
cannot self-fertilise and
 need to mate with another
individual. After mating, a
cocoon containing the
fertilised eggs is deposited
in the soil.
Excretion Getting rid of waste. Earthworms excrete waste
from their anus the last
segment of their body.
Nutrition The intake and use of nutrients. Earthworm nutrition comes
This occurs in very different from a variety of sources,
ways in different kinds of living depending on their species.
things. Food types include manure,
compost, plant
material, fungi,
microorganisms and
decaying animals. They
take in food through their
mouths.
Homeostatic processes ensure a constant internal environment by various mechanisms working in
combination to maintain set points.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
Give an example and describe a homeostatic process.

KEY POINTS
Homeostasis is the body's attempt to maintain a constant and balanced internal environment, which
requires persistent monitoring and adjustments as conditions change.
Homeostatic regulation is monitored and adjusted by the receptor, the command center, and the effector.
The receptor receives information based on the internal environment; the command center, receives and
processes the information; and the effector responds to the command center, opposing or enhancing the
stimulus.

TERMS
homeostasis
the ability of a system or living organism to adjust its internal environment to maintain a stable
equilibrium
effector
any muscle, organ etc. that can respond to a stimulus from a nerve
FULL TEXT
Homeostatic Process
The human organism consists of trillions of cells working together for the maintenance of the entire
organism. While cells may perform very different functions, the cells are quite similar in their metabolic
requirements. Maintaining a constant internal environment with everything that the cells need to survive
(oxygen, glucose, mineral ions, waste removal, etc.) is necessary for the well-being of individual cells and
the well-being of the entire body. The varied processes by which the body regulates its internal
environment are collectively referred to as homeostasis.
Homeostasis
Homeostasis, in a general sense, refers to stability, balance, or equilibrium. Physiologically, it is the
body's attempt to maintain a constant and balanced internal environment, which requires persistent
monitoring and adjustments as conditions change. Adjustment of physiological systems within the body is
called homeostatic regulation, which involves three parts or mechanisms: (1) the receptor, (2) the control
center, and (3) the effector.
The receptor receives information that something in the environment is changing. The control center or
integration center receives and processes information from the receptor. The effector responds to the
commands of the control center by either opposing or enhancing the stimulus. This ongoing process
continually works to restore and maintain homeostasis. For example, during body temperature regulation,
temperature receptors in the skin communicate information to the brain (the control center) which signals
the effectors: blood vessels and sweat glands in the skin. As the internal and external environment of the
body are constantly changing, adjustments must be made continuously to stay at or near a specific value:
the set point.
Purpose of Homeostasis
The ultimate goal of homeostasis is the maintenance of equilibrium around the set point. While there are
normal fluctuations from the set point, the body's systems will usually attempt to revert to it. A change in
the internal or external environment (a stimulus) is detected by a receptor; the response of the system is to
adjust the deviation parameter toward the set point. For instance, if the body becomes too warm,
adjustments are made to cool the animal. If the blood's glucose rises after a meal, adjustments are made to
lower the blood glucose level by moving the nutrient into tissues in the command center that require it, or
to store it for later use.
Blood glucose homeostasis
An example of how homeostasis is achieved by controlling blood sugar levels after a meal.

Characteristics of Living Things

Defining a living thing is a difficult proposition, as is defining lifethat property
possessed by living things. However, a living thing possesses certain properties that
help define what life is.

Complex organization
Living things have a level of complexity and organization not found in lifeless objects. At
its most fundamental level, a living thing is composed of one or more cells. These units,
generally too small to be seen with the naked eye, are organized into tissues. A tissue is
a series of cells that accomplish a shared function. Tissues, in turn, form organs,such
as the stomach and kidney. A number of organs working together compose an organ
system. An organism is a complex series of various organ systems.

Metabolism
Living things exhibit a rapid turnover of chemical materials, which is referred to
as metabolism. Metabolism involves exchanges of chemical matter with the external
environment and extensive transformations of organic matter within the cells of a living
organism. Metabolism generally involves the release or use of chemical energy.
Nonliving things do not display metabolism.
Responsiveness
All living things are able to respond to stimuli in the external environment. For example,
living things respond to changes in light, heat, sound, and chemical and mechanical
contact. To detect stimuli, organisms have means for receiving information, such as
eyes, ears, and taste buds.

To respond effectively to changes in the environment, an organism must coordinate its

responses. A system of nerves and a number of chemical regulators
called hormones coordinate activities within an organism. The organism responds to
the stimuli by means of a number of effectors, such as muscles and glands. Energy is
generally used in the process.

Organisms change their behavior in response to changes in the surrounding

environment. For example, an organism may move in response to its environment.
Responses such as this occur in definite patterns and make up the behavior of an
organism. The behavior is active, not passive; an animal responding to a stimulus is
different from a stone rolling down a hill. Living things
display responsiveness; nonliving things do not.

Growth
Growth requires an organism to take in material from the environment and organize the
material into its own structures. To accomplish growth, an organism expends some of
the energy it acquires during metabolism. An organism has a pattern for accomplishing
the building of growth structures.

During growth, a living organism transforms material that is unlike itself into materials
that are like it. A person, for example, digests a meal of meat and vegetables and
transforms the chemical material into more of himself or herself. A nonliving organism
does not display this characteristic.

Reproduction
A living thing has the ability to produce copies of itself by the process known
as reproduction. These copies are made while the organism is still living. Among plants
and simple animals, reproduction is often an extension of the growth process. More
complex organisms engage in a type of reproduction called sexual reproduction, in
which two parents contribute to the formation of a new individual. During this process, a
new combination of traits can be produced.

Asexual reproduction involves only one parent, and the resulting cells are generally
identical to the parent cell. For example, bacteria grow and quickly reach maturity, after
which they split into two organisms by a process of asexual reproduction called binary
fission.
Evolution
Living organisms have the ability to adapt to their environment through the process of
evolution. During evolution, changes occur in populations, and the organisms in the
population become better able to metabolize, respond, and reproduce. They develop
abilities to cope with their environment that their ancestors did not have.

Evolution also results in a greater variety of organisms than existed in previous eras.
This proliferation of populations of organisms is unique to living things.

Ecology
The environment influences the living things that it surrounds. Ecology is the study of
relationships between organisms and their relationships with their environment. Both
biotic factors (living things) and abiotic factors (nonliving things) can alter the
environment. Rain and sunlight are non-living components, for example, that greatly
influence the environment. Living things may migrate or hibernate if the environment
becomes difficult to live in.

Anabolism (from Greek: , "upward"

and , "to throw") is the set of metabolic
pathways that construct molecules from smaller
units.[1] These reactions require energy, known
also as an endergonic process. One way of
categorizing metabolic processes, whether at
the cellular, organ or organism level, is as
"anabolic", or as "catabolic" which is the opposite
and thus the separation of a macromolecule.
Anabolism is powered by catabolism, where large
molecules are broken down into smaller parts and
then used up in cellular respiration. Many anabolic
processes are powered by the hydrolysis of
adenosine triphosphate (ATP).[2]
Anabolic processes tend toward "building
up" organs and tissues. These processes produce
growth and differentiation of cells and increase in
body size, a process that involves synthesis of
complex molecules. Examples of anabolic
processes include the growth and mineralization
of bone and increases
in muscle mass. Endocrinologists have
traditionally classified hormonesas anabolic or
catabolic, depending on which part of metabolism
they stimulate. The classic anabolic hormones are
the anabolic steroids, which stimulate protein
synthesis, muscle growth, and insulin. The use
and/or abuse of synthetic anabolic steroids can
result in acne, high blood pressure, heart attack,
high cholesterol levels in the blood, liver damage
and aggression, also known as roid rage. [3] The
balance between anabolism and catabolism is
also regulated by circadian rhythms, with
processes such as glucose metabolism fluctuating
to match an animal's normal periods of activity
throughout the day.[4]
Week 8
Week 8 (GA Clinical Week 10)

Day Stage Event

Head scalp vascular plexus visible

Limb upper limbs begin to rotate
ventrally
Neural amygdaloid body has at least
four individual nuclei[23]
Stage
50 oculomotor nerve shows a dorsolateral
20
and a ventromedial portion
rhombic lip (rhombencephalon)
formation of the cerebellum
(intermediate layer) and of the cochlear
nuclei
cerebellum cell layer (future Purkinje
cells) develops
 choroid plexuses of the fourth and
lateral ventricles
Eyelid the inner canthus is
established.[7]
Gastrointestinal Tract anal membrane
51
perforates

Neural cortical plate appears in the

area of future insula[24]
Neural - Vascular Development -
formation of the anterior communicating
artery.[5]
Stage Limb upper and lower limbs rotate
52
21
Intraembryonic
Coelom pericardioperitoneal canals
close
Abdominal Wall Myoblasts have
reached the ventral midline and
myotubes were present and oriented
uniformly within all muscle groups. The
rectus abdominis formed distinct
 bundles of muscle. Connective tissue
layers comprised the majority of the
thickness of the abdominal wall,
outermost layer of connective tissue
accounted for the majority of this
thickness.[9]
53

Neural neocortical fibres

project to epithalamus, to dorsal
thalamus, and to mesencephalon[24]
Limb fingers and toes lengthen

Stage Smell Stage 22 to early fetal period -

54 migratory streams of neurons from the
22
subventricular zone of the olfactory
bulb towards the future claustrum[6]
Uterus Vagina fused duct (uterovaginal
canal) bifurcated at the caudal portion
at Carnegie stages 22 and 23[15]
Genital 8 Weeks Testis - mesenchyme,
interstitial cells (of Leydig) secrete
55
testosterone, androstenedione
Genital 8 to 12 Weeks - hCG stimulates
 testosterone production
Tongue Week 8 - nerves penetrate
epitheilai basal lamina and synapse
with undifferentiated, elongated,
epithelial cells (taste bud progenitor
cell)[25]

Stage 23 defines the end of the

embryonic (organogenesis) period
Mesoderm heart prominence,
ossification continues
Head nose, eye, external acoustic
meatus, eyelids, external ears, rounded
head
Stage
56
23 Body - straightening of trunk, umbilical
cord, intestines herniated at umbilicus
Limb upper limbs longer and bent at
elbow, hands and feet turned inward,
foot with separated digits, wrist, hand
with separated digits
Extraembryonic Coelom chorionic
cavity is now lost by fusion with the
 expanding amniotic cavity
Neural rhombencephalon, pyramidal
decussation present, nuclei and tracts
similar to those present in the newborn
cerebellum present as only a plate
connected to midbrain and hindbrain
through fibre bundles[26]
Axial Skeleton vertebral column 33 or
34 cartilaginous vertebrae (20-33 mm
in total length), vertebral pedicles,
articular and transverse processes
identifiable (no spinous processes)[27]
Abdominal Wall Rectus muscle forms 2
or 3 distinct layers with myotube
orientation uniform in all muscles. The
external oblique and internal oblique
started to expand in thickness,
transversus a thin layer of muscle.[9]
Stomach Week 8 - Gastrin containing
cells in stomach antrum. Somatostatin
Week cells in both the antrum and the fundus.
8 Genital - Female Development paired
paramesonephric (Mllerian) ducts
contact each other and are fused into a
single tube that separates again and
returns to the mesonephric (Wolffian)
ducts. The paramesonephric ducts
have not yet reached the urogenital
sinus.[15]