Biology Themes

Life, it might be argued, is the distinguishing feature of all organisms and may most usefully be thought of as involving various kinds of complex systems of organization providing individual organisms with the ability to make use of those energy sources available to them for both self maintenance and reproduction. Underlying this deceptively persuasive definition, however, lie those persistent traditional problems inherent in the search for an essential, distinctive substance characteristic of all forms of life. Additionally, as evolution theory makes clear, there is the problem of borderline instances, organisms of which it is not easy to say whether or not they may be defined as being alive. One such case

How does the growth among living and nonliving things differ?: Some nonliving things grow by gathering more of the same material of which they are made. However, the growth of living things develops from the enlargement and division of cells.

Defining living organisms from nonliving materials can be difficult given the multitude of characteristics defining each. Biologists have identified at least six key properties that appear to be shared by most, or all, living organisms on Earth, according to the 3rd edition of Life in the Universe by Jeffrey Bennett and Seth Shostak. The general properties defining life on Earth are: order, reproduction, growth and development, energy utilization,

Though the robot described fits some of the technical criteria necessary for life, it is not alive. Rather, it is life-like. As discussed in lecture, the six conditions considered in determining whether or not something is alive are order, the ability to reproduce, growth and development overtime, energy utilization, environmental response, and evolutionary development. The robot certainly has an ordered structure, as it contains bits and pieces manufactured to make it work. However, the structure of the robot is produced in a lab, dissimilar to organisms traditionally considered life, such as plants or animals that naturally contain a cellular structure. Additionally, like a plant or animal, this robot has the ability to reproduce, utilize energy, and possibly to respond to the environment. However, again, what disqualifies the robot form being considered alive is the fact that these are not inherent processes of the robot, the robot had to be programmed by a human. Though the robot has the capability to reproduce itself, this fact is contingent a human granting the robot this ability. Plants and animals are born with these abilities and need not artificial intervention to carry out these duties. In these ways, the robot described should not be considered living, but

Viruses are in fact not alive. As the author in Are Viruses Alive states " They {viruses} have a certain potential, which can be snuffed out, but they do not attain the more autonomous state of life". Though they do have the 6 out of 7 characteristics I feel that they still do not qualify as a living organism because they carry on no independent metabolic or respiratory functions and cannot "live" until inserted into a host cell to begin their biological activities. Also they consist of a protein coat which contains either DNA or RNA. They are not made of cells. They have no cellular structures. They do not obtain homeostasis or evolve. Finally the genetic material of a viruses has to combine with a living cell to reproduce its like having

The five themes of biology are organization/structure, energy flow, genetic flow, interactions, and evolution. Organization/structure is all about the different structures and their functions, energy flow relates to energy conversions, genetic flow talks about the transfer of genetic information, interactions can be large scale such as predators and mates, and finally, evolution is genetic changes in a population over time. A fairly big topic we covered this semester was viruses, and viruses relate to all five of the themes in biology. First, it correlates to organization/structure because all viruses are organized in similar ways and are made up of the same components. All viruses have some kind of genetic material and have a protein coat

With the rapid advance of the science and technology，the exploration of organisms has been gradually deepened. In biology, an organism is any individual existence that shows the properties of life.( Miller, Kenneth. R, Levine, Joseph. S, 2010)[1] Every thing in the world is made by million of organism. All the organisms have functions such as reproduction, growth, development and maintenance, meaning an organism can live independently on this planet which is every living thing living in. Organisms can be classified into two groups which are the multicellular such as animals, plants, and fungi and unicellular microorganisms such as bacteria, and archaea. These are also known as prokaryote and eukaryote. A prokaryote is a unicellular organism

Have you ever wondered if something was actually living? Have you considered a seed to be living? Well, it is! In this essay, the purpose is to argue my stance on if a mystery object is a complete living organism or if it is any other life process. In our science class, we have been conducting a mystery object lab. We have been observing a mystery object to find out if the object is a living organism or not. I believe that the mystery object belongs in “A living organism in a dormant stage.” I believe it should be in this category because it is capable to execute some characteristics instead of a non living object that cannot do any of the characteristics.

I think the point Leavitt is making is how life is a very complicated subject to try to understand. There may not ever be a true definition to the word “life”. Like Leavitt said, “One could always find exceptions.” There is still no true distinction from living and nonliving things. Yes, all living things are supposed to possess the traits of being able to reproduce, maintain homeostasis, take in a form of energy whether it's through direct food intake, or from sunlight, and so on and so forth. However, sometimes one thing that we may consider a “living thing” might not contain all of these traits. One example is a virus. Some people say it's alive others say it's not. It can respond to stimuli, has DNA to pass to offspring, and other simple

Cells are some of the smallest organisms around. All living things consist of cells, and yet they are invisible to the naked eye. Cells are the basic structural and functional units of life. Cells are made up of many different parts which allow them to function properly.

comprises a single cell (unicellular), cell clusters or multicellular relatively complex organisms. They are small living forms of life, which we cannot see with the naked eye. Bacteria, yeast and molds are three types of microorganisms. Some people often confuse, and almost always misunderstand, their functions, but they are just as real and alive as you are. They eat and grow. They reproduce and die.

Through the film “Tree of Life”, directed by Terrence Malick, philosophical themes with sensational visuals present the audience with questions about the nature of life, love, and compassion. The film portrays the death of a son and brother which brings the question of existence. Malick presents the ideology of how good people are forced upon inevitable disappointments, however he compares that with a representation of Nature and how the loved world is either conquered or conquers . The film often depicts scenes of natural wonders of the Earth from the dinosaurs to a peaceful landscapes of nature.

The first characteristic that all living organisms share is order. Order refers to an organism containing a type of structure. All living things are composed of basic units of structure and function called cells. Some organisms may be unicellular while others are multicellular based upon certain abilities each type of organism needs to perform. For example, humans are multicellular organisms meaning that all of the cells are organized into a division of labor versus single-celled organisms who perform every function on their

Organisms are described as “Living things that are capable of reacting to stimuli, reproduction, grow, and homeostasis” (1. Biology-online.org-Organisms). There are many types of organisms with contrasting cells that can number billions with differing structures and functions. If a basic unit of an organism such as a cell can be so diverse, the complexity of the rest of the organism is imaginable.

Have you ever thought about what makes you a living thing ? The characteristics of a living thing are Reproduction , growth/development , use energy , reacting to stimuli. The difference between A non-living thing and a dead thing is that a non-living was never alive , A dead thing was alive at one point . Non-living factors can affect living factors in a big way. Some non-living factors are temperature , soil , water , air and minerals . An example of a nonliving factor affecting a living factor would be temperature . The temperature being the nonliving factor can affect living things by either being too hot or too cold when a living thing needs a certain temperature to stay alive . However there