What are the life functions?• Life functions are the processes that animals rely on to stay

alive.

• The life functions include:• Nutrition• Excretion• Transport• Synthesis• Growth• Regulation• Reproduction• Respiration

• If a living thing possesses all eight of the life functions, it is considered an organism.

Created by R. Frank, 2013

The 8 Life Processes• Nutrition: the process by which living things take in materials from its environment for growth and repair.

• There are two types of nutrition.• Autotrophic Nutrition: where a living thing can make its

own food• Heterotrophic Nutrition: where a living thing must ingest

(take in) its food

The 8 Life Processes• Excretion: the process by which

living things remove waste products produced by cell activities

• Transport: the process by which usable materials are taken into the living thing (absorption) and distributed throughout the living thing (circulation)

• Synthesis: the process by which smaller, simple substances are combined chemically to form larger, more complex substances

The 8 Life Processes• Growth: the process by which living things increase in size or cell number

• Regulation: the process where a living thing controls and coordinates its various activities. • In animals, the nervous and endocrine systems regulate

metabolic activities.

The 8 Life Processes• Respiration: the breakdown of nutrients to yield (or give off) chemical energy

• There are two types of respiration:• Anaerobic Respiration: doesn’t use oxygen• Aerobic Respiration: uses oxygen

The 8 Life Processes• Reproduction: the process by which living things produce new living things of the same kind

• Reproduction is not needed for the organism itself to survive, but it is needed for the species to survive as a whole.

• There are two types of reproduction:Asexual Reproduction: involves one parent and the offspring are identical to the parentSexual Reproduction: involves two parents and the offspring is a combination of both parents

Homeostasis & Metabolism• An organism's external environment is always changing. By keeping

controlling and regulating its metabolic activities, an organism can maintain a stable internal environment. This is called homeostasis.

• Metabolism: the sum of all eight life functions working together.

• Homeostasis: the process by which an organism's metabolic activities are in a state of balance.

Examples of homeostasis are the regulation body temperature, and levels of blood sugar.