Tuesday, August 7

Hi class,

Today's Bell Ringer Activity was:
List 5 living things. Explain what makes these "things" living?

In class you learned about the importance of taking notes. I gave you a handout which detailed the 3 steps to note taking:
1) Review previous days notes prior to coming to class. Do all homework on time
2) Pay attention in class. Look for key words that might hint that what the teacher will say next is important and should be written down. Do not write everything word for word, paraphrase.
3) Review and rewrite notes.

And of course ASK QUESTIONS. Clarify with the teacher if you do not understand something that was discussed in class.

We then began Chapter 1: What are living things. We learned that there are 6 characteristics that all living things share, from amoeba to human beings. These are:

1) All living things have cellular organization:
-Unicellular: Single celled organisms , example: Amoeba
- Multicellular: Many celled organisms, example: Humans
- All multicellular organisms have cells that are specialized, examples: brain cells,
skin cells, muscles cells, bone cells.
2) All living things are made up of the chemicals of life.
-Water, proteins, carbohydrates, lipids(fats), nucleic acids (DNA, RNA)
3) All living things use energy
4) All living things respond to the surroundings/environment
- Stimulus (stimuli): A change in an organisms surroundings that causes the organism to
react.
- Response: An action taken by the organism in response to a stimulus
>Remember the pupils of the eyes: Light acts as a stimulus, causing the pupil to
get smaller (constrict).
5) All living things develop and grow
6) All living things reproduce
-Asexually: one parent
- Sexually: Two parents

Your homework tonight:
1) Study for your safety quiz on Thursday
2) Read page 6-9 in your textbooks
3) Do problem #1 (a-c) on page 14.