Since physiology (body function) only occurs within living organisms, it is very important for us to know the basic characteristics of living things:
1. Living things have a high degree of Biological Order (body pattern or organization). In general, living organisms are much more organized than dead ones. And we have already said that living things have an extremely high degree of Biological Order. In the human body, for instance, our oral body temperature taken by ‘‘mouth’’ (or) remains relatively constant at about 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Body temperature goes up and down, but it still remains within a normal range. It only goes up about 1 degree Fahrenheit, or down about 1 degree Fahrenheit, from the 98.6 degree level. This creates a roughly S-shaped pattern over time.Similar S-shaped patterns could be constructed for such aspects of physiology as heart rate and respiratory rate (rate of breathing), and such aspects of anatomy as blood sugar concentration and bone density.
2. Living organisms are sensitive to changes in their surrounding environment and respond to them. An earthworm will respond to hot, dry air by quickly burrowing into the cool, moist earth for safety. A row of sprouting bean plants in a box by a window will eventually tilt and grow in the direction of the incoming light. These are just two of the ways in which the huge variety of living organisms can respond to changes in their surrounding environment.
3. Living things produce movement, either internally or externally (outside of their bodies). A crab, for instance, moves its claws externally to clasp a dead minnow and engulf it. The tiny pieces of eaten minnow then move internally, through the crab’s digestive tract.
4. Living organisms undergo growth and specialization of their anatomy and physiology as they become older. At first, a newborn shark is tiny, and it has few or no teeth in its jaws. But the shark keeps growing larger and larger for as long as it lives. And it develops a set of razor-sharp teeth in both jaws for cutting and shredding its prey.
5. Living organisms undergo metabolism for energy production and excrete unusable waste products. The word metabolism (meh-TAB-ah-lizm) means ‘‘a state of change.’’ In living things, food that is eaten is soon changed by the chemical processes of metabolism. Energy is produced, which then performs body work. Excretion (eks-KREE-shun) is a ‘‘sifting out’’ of waste matter after metabolism, thereby eliminating it from the body.
6. Living organisms reproduce themselves. A living creature has the ability to reproduce itself, either sexually or asexually.
Mr. Aly's Science Classroom 
Are we going to go more in depth on this topic?
LikeLike
I like how this article really goes in depth on the 7 life processes. It really is good source to show what each thing does and how living things react to it.
LikeLike
Hi Mr. Aly (it’s your student Maria Tsirias from the seventh grade). I found this article interesting because I always thought that a human doesn’t always have to reproduce to be known as a a human. I was taught that a human needs to do the 7 life processes but I had thought that reproducing was an option because not all women reproduce.
LikeLike
hi, Mr. Ali (its Annmarie) and I really liked the article. I read it twice. I like how it talks about the 7 life processes and how n the article it really digs deep and explains why we need them.i also really like the part when it talks about organisms and how they undergo metabolism for energy and excreting waste. in the article it mentions us being sensitive to new environments so can you give an example of what might happen to a human instead of the example about the earthworm. one last thing I wanted to talk about was the section on living things have a high degree of biological order. I don’t understand what you mean by temperature so could you please explain a little bit more on the topic. thankyou.
LikeLike
hi, Mr aly its Annmarie and I wanted to ask are we going to learn more about metabolism this year?
LikeLike
Are we going to learn about this this year because it is a interesting topic
LikeLike
Hi Mr. Aly it’s me Natalie from 702 I enjoyed reading this article it helped me realize how when a shark grows, it develops new characteristics like how it said in the article that when a baby shark is born it has few or no teeth at all but soon as the shark grows it also grows razor sharp teeth because it helps the shark catch it’s prey. I also like i the article how it compared how certain living organisms respond to there environment like how plants move closer to the sun or earth worms go deep into the wet soil to stay cool from the hot sun. I like how this topic explains the certain things an organism does or goes through in its life ( to survive).
LikeLike