Growth and Development . Heritable programs stored in DNA direct the species-specific pattern of growth and development. Energy Utilization . 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.