What is the name for a characteristic, such as eye color, of an organism ?

This can be termed the phenotype of that organism.

Physical characteristics that can be observed, such as eye color, are phenotypes.

The genetic code that is coding for this eye color is known as the genotype of that organism, and it cannot be directly seen.

label a cell membrane

label b cytoplasm

label c ribosomes

label d dna

the membrane forms the outside of the cell

cytoplasm is the liquid within

ribosomes are the components within that distribute rna

the dna is the genetic make-up

cells use diffusion to get substances in and out of themselves. that diffusion will occur across the cell membrane or the outer covering of the cell. because we are talking about the surface of the cell, surface area and volume are  important factors here. as a cell increases in size, its surface area and volume increase as well.  we call that the surface area to volume ratio (sa: vol).  but the catch is that  volume increases at a greater rate than surface  area. in other words, as a cell gets bigger, the sa: vol gets smaller. so a really small cell like bacteria is mostly cell membrane (surface) with very little contents (volume). a really big cell like an egg, is mostly insides with a super thin membrane. so what ends up happening is that the cell cannot efficiently diffuse all of the stuff it needs in/out to survive. therefore cell size is limited to about 100mm. so how do we make organisms bigger than 100mm? cells divide! by dividing and becoming multicellular, organisms are able to grow!   check out the diagrams i attached to see the effect of sa: vol. i hope this ! good luck!