Reproduction and Living Organisms - Case Study Example

Life is the form of being that organisms like plants and animals possess and that is absent in inanimate things or organic dead bodies lack. There are many characteristics that make us say that an animal (a cat or a dog) is alive as opposed to a chunk of rock. Living organisms are characterized by growth, reproduction, metabolism and response to stimuli. Growth is an irreversible increase in size and weight of an organism through division, enlargement and differentiation of cells.

Reproduction is the asexual or sexual process by which living organisms produce other organisms like themselves. In asexual reproduction, new organisms develop from a cell or cells of the parent without the fusion of nuclei in processes such as binary fission, budding and sporulation. In sexual reproduction, there is the production of specialized sex cells/gametes and the fusion of their nuclei to produce a fertilized egg cell. Metabolism is the sum of the physiological processes by which an organism maintains life.

These processes produce energy which is used by the body to build up new cells and tissues; provide heat and engage in physical activities (Barnhart, 1986). Response to stimuli is a situation in which the body or a part of the body is excited to transmit an impulse along a nerve, moving a muscle or increasing the heartbeat rate.