Similarities and Differences Among Organisms

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Similarities and Differences Among Organisms

• Mrs. Faulkner

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• Millions of species live on Earth, and scientists
  have identified and described many, but not all
  of these.
• All living things share features that are alike
  and there are also differences.

3
Structure

• All Living things are composed of cells.
• A cell is the basic unit of structure and
  function in an organism.

4
Growth and Development

• All Living things grow and develop.
• Some animals go through metamorphosis, while
  others show a very limited amount of growth. Some
  are so small, you can only see it with a
  microscope.

5
Reproduction

• All Living things reproduce. Reproduction
  involves the processes of mitosis and meiosis.
  During the process of reproduction, living things
  pass on their heredity information to their
  offspring.

6
Response to Stimuli

• All living things respond to stimuli.
• A stimulus is anything that causes a response.
  Living things respond to various stimuli,
  including light, sound, touch, smell, and taste.
• Some living things such as humans, have highly
  specialized structures to respond to stimuli.

7
Energy Use

• All Living things use energy to carry out
  functions such as growth, development,
  reproduction, and responding to stimuli.
• In addition, living things use energy to perform
  functions such as digestion, respiration,
  excretion, and circulation.

8
Adapt to change

• All species change themselves and adapt to change
  around them over time. Organisms develop
  adaptations and behavior that increase their
  survival. We know this because of the changes
  that we see in fossil records.

9
Different Structure

• Although living things are made of cells,
  organisms can be composed of just a single cell
  or billions of cells.

10
Different Growth and Development

• Organisms display significant differences in the
  ways they grown and develop. For example, some
  organisms hatch from eggs, and other organisms
  are born alive.

11
Different Reproduction

• Although all living things reproduce, you learned
  in Lesson 6 that organisms can reproduce sexually
  or asexually. There are many different types of
  sexual and asexual reproduction.

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Different Responses to Stimuli

• Organisms also respond to stimuli in many
  different ways. A plants response to stimuli
  such as light and gravity can be very slow. In
  contrast, if you step on a sharp object, your
  response is immediate.

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Different Energy Use

• Although all living things use energy, not all
  organisms depend on the same energy source.
  Plants, for example, can use light energy to
  carry out their life processes. In contrast,
  animals must take in nutrients to obtain energy.

14
Different Adaptations

• Although all living things change, organisms do
  not all follow the same pattern of change. For
  example, changes in bacteria that are resistant
  to antibiotics have occurred over the last 50
  years. In contrast, alligators have not changed
  significantly during the past 200 million years.