Characteristics Of Life Flashcards
Metabolism at the level of organism
The constant flow of energy and matter between the organism and it’s environment
Metabolism at a cellular level
The sum of all biophysical and biochemical processes that occur in the cells of an organism
Homeostasis
The ability of a cell or an organism to maintain an internal environment that operates under specific conditions (tries to keep balance)
What factors are included in the homeostasis
Amount of body fluids,ion composition,osmotic pressure,temperature,acidity,nutrients,respiratory gases
Development
A species-specific,irreversible,progressive quantitative and qualitative change that occurs without any structural change e.g. cells,tissues
Adaptation
The ability of organisms to adapt to their environment (biological adaptation)
Biological clock
An inherent timing mechanism in a living system that is confirmed to exist in order to explain the time or periodicity of various behaviors and psychological states and processes e.g. plants sense the length of a day
Locomotion
Active change of position or location
Reproduction
Biological process by which new individual organisms-“offspring”- are produced,it maintains the continuity of the species
Lethality
Occurs when the life processes of an organism cease to exist before reaching maturity e.g. as a result of genetic, chromosome disorders
Internal Environment
Refers to the internal milieu of a multicellular organism that surrounds the cell
Inheritance
The pass of genetic information stored in the DNA of parents/ancestors
Heritable change
The ability of organisms to react to internal or external factors by responding with the appropriate conversion of the phenotype
Excitability/irritability
The adequate respond of organism to environmental impacts/changes
