Organisms take in and transform energy to do work, including the maintenance of their ordered state. Response to Environment . Organisms respond to stimuli from their environment. Organisms regulate their internal environment to maintain a steady-state, even in the face of a fluctuating external environment. Evolutionary Adaptation .
Life evolves in response to interactions between organisms and their environment.
Because properties of life emerge from complex organization, it is impossible to fully explain a higher level of order by breaking it into its parts. The principle that a higher level of order cannot be meaningfully explained by examining component parts in isolation. An organism is a living whole greater than the sum of its parts. For example, a cell dismantled to its chemical ingredients is no longer a cell. It is also difficult to analyze a complex process without taking it apart.