Test Yourself: Life Functions Quiz

Homeostasis is like your body's internal balancing act. It keeps your temperature, blood sugar, and other vital functions stable, even when the outside environment changes. Adaptation is adjusting to the environment over time, evolution is the change in species over generations, and metabolism is the sum of all chemical reactions in the body.

Abiotic factors are the non-living parts of an ecosystem. Sunlight is essential for plants to make food through photosynthesis, which then supports the entire food web. Deer, bacteria, and predator-prey interactions are all biotic (living) factors.

Mutualism is like a win-win situation! Both organisms benefit from the relationship. Think of bees and flowers: bees get nectar, and flowers get pollinated. In parasitism, one benefits at the expense of the other, like a tick on a dog. Commensalism benefits one with no effect on the other, like a bird nesting in a tree. Amensalism harms one with no effect on the other.

Decomposition is like nature's recycling system! Decomposers (like bacteria and fungi) break down dead plants and animals, returning essential nutrients to the soil. Photosynthesis is how plants make food, respiration is how organisms get energy, and transpiration is how water moves through plants.

Asexual reproduction is like making a copy of yourself! There's no need for a partner or the fusion of sperm and egg. Offspring are genetically identical to the parent. It's faster than sexual reproduction, but it doesn't offer much genetic diversity.

Homeostasis is like your body's thermostat, keeping everything balanced and stable. Sweating, shivering, and insulin release all help regulate your body temperature and blood sugar. Cell differentiation, while important for development, is not directly involved in maintaining homeostasis.

Think of mitochondria as the power plants of your cells! They take the food you eat and convert it into usable energy (called ATP) through a process called cellular respiration. This energy powers everything you do, from thinking to running. Protein synthesis happens in ribosomes, photosynthesis is how plants make food, and waste disposal involves other parts of the cell.

Imagine xylem as tiny straws inside a plant! They suck up water and minerals from the roots and carry them all the way up to the leaves, where they're used for photosynthesis (making food). Phloem is like the delivery service, carrying the food made in the leaves to other parts of the plant. Parenchyma and collenchyma are other types of plant tissues with different jobs.

Negative feedback loops help maintain homeostasis by counteracting changes. When you're cold, shivering generates heat to bring your body temperature back to normal. Blood clotting, oxytocin release, and fruit ripening are examples of positive feedback loops, where the response amplifies the initial change.

While sexual reproduction is a common way for organisms to make more of themselves, it's not the only way. Some organisms reproduce asexually, meaning they don't need a partner. Bacteria, for example, simply split in two! The other options are essential for life: being made of cells, reacting to the environment, and keeping a stable internal state (homeostasis).