Life Processes

Life Processes(Activities) – These are the processes that all livings things must accomplish in order to be alive. Think of some of the things you need to survive:

Food

Going to the bathroom#1 and #2

Growth

Build muscle

Energy

Having kids

Staying at 98.6 F, 37C

Circulation

These are the official life processes:

Transport RegulationRespiration GrowthExcretion ReproductionSynthesis Nutrition

TransportMulticellular organisms must transport nutrients to all cells and remove wastes from those cells. Humans use our blood stream, or circulatory system, while single cells use an intracellular network in the cytoplasm made of microtubules. 

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RespirationThe release of energy from food. The MITOCHONDRIA is where this happens.  Most life forms receive energy from glucose. Some can form ATP from glucose using Oxygen and others form ATP from glucose without using oxygen. Dou you know the difference between aerobic respiration and anaerobic respiration?

C6H12O6 + 6O2 → 6CO2 + 6H2O + 36 ATP

ExcretionGetting rid of wastes. You know how we get rid of wastes. Single-celled organisms and single cells use exocytosis and membrane transport. 

exocytosis

SynthesisBuilding bigger things from smaller things for growing or maintenance. Humans synthesize new cells all the time, like our skin cells. We also make new cells as we grow. Single-celled organisms and single cells make new proteins in the ribosomes. 

Regulation• A response to maintain stability, or homeostasis. We drink water

when it is hot out to replace water we are loosing. Single cells respond to heat by also absorbing more water. There are many examples of regulation. Can you think of one?

Which of these illustrates dynamic equilibrium?

 GrowthThe increase in size of an organism. This is made possible by synthesis. We grow by making new cells while protozoa and other single-celled organisms grow by just getting bigger.  

After dividing, these cells will grow to become as large as the cells on the right.

ReproductionProducing more of the same kind. All living things have the drive to reproduce. From bacteria to humans, reproduction is built into our genetics. This is the only life process that individuals do not need to survive.

Nutrition is the obtaining and processing of food. We and other organisms obtain food by eating. This is called heterotrophic nutrition. Plants make their food during photosynthesis in the chloroplasts. This is called autotrophic nutrition.   

Nutrition

Is a mushroom heterotrophic or autotrophic?

Heterotrophic, mushrooms feed off of dead plant matter. They do not make their own food