Biological Life Cycle of Organisms | Term Paper | Biology

Here is a term paper on the biological life cycle of organisms.

The lifecycle of an organism is defined by some very specific steps. Each organism, no matter who or what they are, follow these basic patterns. It must be noted that on the cellular level, new organisms are created through a cycle of cell division. But once we leave the cellular level behind, it is quickly obvious that the lifecycle is a pattern that has been repeated over and over again from the beginning of time.

Step One – The Beginning:

When it comes to the beginning of an organism, most of us think first of babyhood. Yet even before babyhood, there is a moment where the process of creating an organism begins. That is known as conception. Every creature goes through this process, although some ways are different from others. For example, humans have sex, thus giving the egg an opportunity to join with the egg and settle into the uterus to begin the process of growing into a baby. Female frogs lay eggs and then the male frog fertilizes them. These are just two examples of the process of conception.

After conception, the fertilized egg is kept in an environment where it can grow to a specific level of maturity. This maturity level can differ based on the organism. The resulting new life form may be born and ready to care for itself upon hatching or birth, as in the case of frogs and turtles, both of whom have limited care from their parents once they are born.

Instead, these creatures are born in such large masses because the survival rate for the infants is not high. But larger numbers of young increase the chances that more will survive. As with many different species, offspring survival often becomes a numbers and percentage game.

Others are born requiring more parental involvement in their early development. Birds are just one example. The babies hatch and then the parents are constantly working to feed and care for them. They are also training the babies on how to function as adult birds, such as feeding themselves, building a home and even finding their own mate. Eventually, these babies take their first flights and begin the process of starting their own families.

Humans must also be active in the early lives of their offspring, providing food, shelter and training. Yet as they grow and develop, the needs of these organisms’ change. Parents find themselves altering their interactions with their offspring. Birds stop providing food for their young at a certain point to force their continued development, but not all of their young will survive to adulthood especially if they have not taken the lessons of their parents to heart.

Step Two – Moving from Childhood to Adulthood:

As babies develop and progress, they move into a phase of maturing toward adulthood. In humans, this can be described as childhood and the teenage years. During this time period, a child’s body develops and grows into its adult version. Hormones kick in and the body matures. Hair grows in unique places, which is an outward sign of the inward changes that will allow this body to eventually produce a baby of their own.

This process takes years. Parents use this time period to train and guide their children in social norms, as well as teaching them how to provide for themselves and skills they will need to survive.

Other animals have a shorter maturation process. Deer often only spend one year in this maturing process. By their first spring, they are considered mature enough to fight for their own female and to father a child. Does also quickly mature. Yet no matter the animal, eventually, they all mature to the point of starting the reproduction process.

Another part of this particular time of an organism is the amount of energy needed. Food consumption grows to accommodate the needs of the body during its growth process. As anyone with a teenager understands, food becomes an expensive commodity as the amount eaten continues to increase during a process of extensive growth that requires production of a large amount of energy and a big supply of the building blocks for proteins and cells.

Inputs of fuel to meet the demands of the body are typically never this high at such a constant level again within the lifecycle, with the exception of pregnant females. Again, the demands of reproduction and the growth of a new organism prompt increased demands of fuel.

Step Three – Reproduction:

At this point, mature organisms look for a partner to reproduce. The underlying demand of a vast majority of organisms is to reproduce. It is instinctive. Yet humans are unique in the fact that they can have some control both on when they reproduce and if they reproduce. Fundamentally, the desire and need of most organisms is to create offspring.

Some use this to create a family unit, while others just create the offspring without an active role in creating a traditional family unit. An example is fish. These organisms lay eggs, fertilize them and then wait for them to hatch. While the parents may provide some initial care, for the most part, the baby fish are on their own.

When it comes to humans, the desire to build a family is more than just an instinctive reaction. It also has social and cultural significance. Basic processes of biology, including the production of food and shelter, have often been elevated into human culture.

Throughout this period of reproduction and adulthood, the organisms pass on knowledge and wisdom, as well as acquire these things for themselves. Still, the organisms eventually reach the final stage of their lifecycle, but one that also includes renewal for the biological diversity of our planet as a whole.

Step Four – Maturing and Death:

All organisms renew on a cellular level, but at some point, they stop the process. Thus, the organism itself begins the process of aging. Organs breakdown, bodily functions begin to slow or stop and then the organism’s ability to sustain its own life gradually disappears. Within the animal kingdom, few animals make it to die of old age, as the natural order of predator and prey plays a factor in keeping populations in check.

Yet if an animal manages to avoid being prey, they will eventually die as their body ceases to function. Humans have built rituals around the ending of life within the body. There are burial services and other traditions of particular cultural significance, depending on the area and group of humans.

Still, in the end, the body itself stops all metabolic processes and begins to decay. Within the plant and animal kingdoms, this decay allows the earth to reclaim the nutrients and thus provide these building blocks to the next generation of organisms.

To aid this process of breaking down dead organisms, there are specific bacteria, insects and animals that reduce the dead cells into the basic building blocks. What is known as rot or decay is a part of the lifecycle, thus recycling cellular material to produce new plants, animals and humans.

Most of the decayed material is first reused by plants, which are ingested by other organisms as food sources. Thus, a bear that dies in the woods becomes nutrients for the trees, which provide food for squirrels and birds. Even when plants die or are destroyed, they also return important elements back to the earth.

Farmers understand the cycle of renewing the soil better than just about any other group. Over the years, they have learned how important it is to rotate crops, so different nutrients are used and also replenished as the plants are turned back over and into the soil to decay during the winter months. Additionally, they recognize the importance of allowing land to rest, giving the soil an opportunity to renew and regenerate itself.

Life has a cycle that constantly depends on a process of creation and destruction. As a result, the lifecycle itself is one that is constantly in all these states at exactly the same time, because every organism is part of the larger process of life and survival on planet earth.

While most of what we have discussed can be attributed more to animals and humans, plants also follow that life cycle. Yet they also have some very distinctive processes to create food for themselves.