Characteristics

of Living Things
Questions: what are the
characteristics of living things?

Video link :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?relo
ad=9&v=30qOijVBS7o
 Organisms
• An ORGANISM is a living thing
• All organisms share characteristics that
separate them from non-living things
• All organisms share Seven characteristics
that make them alive. A living (biotic)
organism must have all seven !
These are the seven characteristics of living
organisms.
(MRS GREN)
M = Movement
R = Respiration
S = Sensitivity
G = Growth
R = Reproduction
E = Excretion
N = Nutrition/ Feeding
 All living things have
(Arranged in an orderly way)
Cells Tissues Organs Organ
Systems Organism
 All living things…
grow and develop
• Growth: addition of mass to an
organism

• Development:the process that occurs in an

organism's life that results in a more
complex organism.
 All living things…
reproduce.
Basically, this means that they can make more of
their own kind!
• SPECIES: A group of organisms that mate together
and have fertile offspring

• Asexual Reproduction – when a single parent

doubles its contents and splits in two to create a
new organism (ex:bacteria)
MITOSIS

• Sexual Reproduction – when two different parents

unite to produce a new organism (ex:humans)
 All living things respond to
stimuli (sensitivity).
• Stimuli: Anything from the
environment that causes
some sort of reaction, such
as temperature, light,
sound, and other factors
that cause living things to
respond. Nonliving objects
(rocks for instance) do not
respond to stimuli!
All living things require and
use energy (Nutrition).

Used to run the processes of life

• Humans (and other animals) get
energy from the food we eat
Quick Group Discussion!!!

Where do plants get their energy

from?
Plants get energy from the
sunlight, through a process
called photosynthesis
All living things respire…
Respiration is the release of energy from
food substances in all living cells. Living
things break down food within their cells to
release energy for carrying out the
processes. This is known as cellular/
internal respiration.
External respiration (breathing) is seen in
higher class animals.
 All living things excrete…
As a result of the many chemical reactions
occurring in cells, they have to get rid of
waste products which might poison the
cells. Excretion is defined as the removal
of toxic materials, the waste products of
metabolism and substances in excess
from the body of an organism.
 All living things move…

All living things move.

It is very obvious that a leopard

moves but what about the thorn tree
it sits in?
Plants too move in various
different ways. The
movement may be so slow
that it is very difficult to
see.
Categorize the following
as Biotic or Abiotic
1. the Sun: ____________
2. a bean plant: ____________
3. the wind: _____________
4. a river: ____________
5. a fossil: ____________
6. a giraffe: ____________
7. an apple tree: ____________
8. a bald eagle: ___________
9. a volcano: ___________
10. a starfish: ___________
11. A rock: ___________
 Home Work

• Do the activity from workbook pg 17

- exercise 2.1 (also uploaded in
Google Classroom)
Thank you.