Differences between living and nonliving things
What are the properties that define a living organism?
These questions are not as simple as that appear,because some of the most obvious properties of living organisms are also properties of nonliving things,for example,coplexity (a computer is complex) ,movement (clouds move in the sky),and respond to stimulation(a soap bubble pops if you touch it).
To appreciate why these three properties are so common among living things,do not help us to define life,imagine a mushroom standing next to a television :the television seems more complex than the mushroom,the picture on the television screen is moving while the mushroom just stands there,and a television respond to a remote control device while the mushroom continues to just stand there-yet it is the mushroom that is alive.
Fundamental Properties that Define Life
All living things share following five fundamental properties,passed down over million of years from the first organisms to evolve on Earth.
1.Cellular Organization
2.Energy Utilization
3.Homeostasis
4.Growth,Development and Reproduction
5.Heredity
1.Cellular Organization(constitution)
All living things are composed of one or more cells.often too tiny to see,cells carry out the basic activities of living. Some cells have simple interiors ,whereas others have complex organization ,but all are able to grow and reproduce. Many organisms possess a single cell like the paramecia infigure.
2.Energy Utilization
All living things use energy. Moving, growing, thinking—everything you do requires energy. Where does all this energy come from? It is captured from sunlight by plants and algae through photosynthesis. To get the energy that powers our lives, we extract it from plants or from plant-eating animals. That’s what the kingfisher is doing in figure ,eating a fish that ate algae.
This kingfisher obtains the energy it needs to move, grow, and carry out its body processes by eating fish. It harvests the energy from food using chemical processes that occur within cells.
3.Homeostasis
All living things maintain relatively constant internal conditions so that their complex processes can be better coordinated. Although the environment often varies a lot, organisms act to keep their interior conditions relatively constant, a process called homeostasis. Your body acts to maintain an internal temperature of 37˚C (98.6˚F), however hot or cold the weather might be.
All living things grow and reproduce. Bacteria increase in size and simply split in two, as often as every 15 minutes. More complex organisms grow by increasing the number of cells, and they develop by producing different kinds of cells.
All organisms possess a genetic system that is based on the replication and duplication of a long molecule called DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). The information that determines what an individual organism will be like is contained in a code dictated by the order of the subunits making up the DNA molecule. Because DNA is copied from one generation to the next, any change in a gene is also preserved and passed on to future generations. The transmission of characteristics from parent to offspring is a process called heredity. All organisms interact with other organisms and the nonliving environment in ways that influence their survival, and as a consequence, organisms evolve adaptations to their environments.
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