Discuss the six basic life processes and your own example for each.
- Metabolism – it consists of all the chemical processes that happens in the human body. For example, when carbohydrates and fates inter our body, they get turned into ATP and other nutrients, through metabolism, which then turns into chemical wastes such as carbon dioxide and water, some of that energy is also converted into heat.
- Responsiveness – this is our body responding to changes or stimulus that is present. These can be external or internal in nature. For example, when you touch something that is hot, nerve endings on your skin detect that heat, which first makes you feel it then sends signals to other parts of your body that tell you to immediately remove the part that is touching the hot surface.
- Movement – this consists of any motion that happens within the body, from its whole, to the organs, all the way down to the structures found in cells. For example, when your muscles contract because you are moving a certain part of your body, that can be classified under movement.
- Growth – this is literally what the name stands for, it is an increase in size of existing cells and/or the increase in number of cells, which then results in the increase of body size. For example, when your height increases, it is a combination of new cells and existing cells increasing in size resulting in your bones and muscles increasing in mass and size.
- Differentiation – it is when a cell develops from an unspecialized state to a specialized state. Like for example, ordinary cells becoming bone or muscle cells that now specialize at being and forming bones and muscles.
- Reproduction – this not only refers to the production of a new individual, but this also includes the formation of new cells to be used in growth, repair, and replacement. One example is when we have wounds, cells start to fill up the wound to make new tissue, which then allows skin to form over it.