Living Things
We are surrounded by living and non-living
things. All animals and plants are living things and biology is the study of
these living things. A cat playing with a ball is obviously living. A pigeon
flying from tree to tree is also a living thing.
Sometimes it is not so easy to decide.
Plants are living things but they do not play with balls or fly. If something
is living it will carry out all of the seven activities shown opposite.
Some non-living things show one or two of
the seven characteristics of living things. Machines, such as washing machines,
can move. The car needs to be fed with petrol in order to move.
Crystals, such as ice crystals forming on a
window, grow bigger if the conditions are right. For something to be living it
has to show all of the seven characteristics of living things.
The Seven Characteristics of
Living Things
All living organisms
need to take substances from their environment to obtain energy, to grow and to
stay healthy.
All living organisms show movement of one
kind or another. All living organisms have internal movement, which means that
they have the ability of moving substances from one part of their body to
another. Some living organisms show external movement as well - they can move
from place to place by walking, flying or swimming.
Breathing or
Respiration
All living things exchange gases with their
environment. Animals take in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide.
Excretion is the removal of waste from the
body. If this waste was allowed to remain in the body it could be poisonous.
Humans produce a liquid waste called urine. We also excrete waste when we
breathe out. All living things need to remove waste from their bodies.
When living things feed they gain energy.
Some of this energy is used in growth. Living things become larger and more
complicated as they grow.
Living things react to changes around them.
We react to touch, light, heat, cold and sound, we can smell different scents and do other living things.
All living things produce young. Humans make
babies, cats produce kittens and pigeons lay eggs. Plants also reproduce. Many
make seeds which can germinate and grow into new plants.
Non-living
things
Sand, wood and glass are all non-living
things. None of them shows any of the characteristics listed above. Non-living
things can be divided into two groups. First, come those which were never part of a living thing,
such as stone and gold.
The second group are those which were once
part of living things. Coal is a good example. It was formed when trees died
and sank into the soft ground. This happened many millions of years ago when
the Earth was covered with forests. Paper is non-living but it is also made
from trees. Jam is also non-living but it was made from the fruit of a plant.
The Living
and Non-living Things Quiz
There are six items. For each one in turn
you need to choose one of the three options. Good luck!
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1.Stone
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2. Aeroplane
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3. Butterfly
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4. Ping wing
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5. Flower
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6. Saw
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