Characteristics of Living Things

To be considered living you must have certain characteristics and perform certain activities.

1. Made of Cells All living things are made up of one or more cells Cell – basic unit of structure and function in living things

2. Perform complex chemical activities Building up and breaking down chemicals Building up: Simple Complex Breaking down: Complex Simple

Metabolism Sum total of all the chemical reactions that occur in a living thing BUT WAIT! Before an organism can metabolize, it needs to get chemicals from it’s environment!

Nutrition Taking chemicals from the environment and breaking them down both consumers and producers need this to survive

Consumers: Need to get food from their surroundings Ingestion - eating, getting food into the body Digestion - food is broken down into simple substances Excretion/egestion – getting rid of wastes Egestion – the removal of feces Excretion the removal of liquid and gaseous wastes

Producers: Make their own food. Photosynthesis – a process using light to make their own food

3. Growth, Repair and Development: Growth: An increase in size and number of cells Repair: The ability of an organism to heal certain wounds Development: the maturation of an organism How long an animal lives affects how it grows and develops – about 13-14 for sexual maturity, 25 years for physical for humans.

4. Movement Necessary to: find food and shelter avoid possible injury/death Plants can move certain parts towards sunlight

5. Responding to the Environment Stimulus – any change in the environment, or surroundings that produces a response from the organism. Homeostasis – the ability of an organism to maintain a balanced environment inside their bodies Response – action, movement, or change in behavior i.e. clap hands next to student.

6. Reproduction: The ability to produce a new organism Necessary for the survival of the species, not the individual Two types: sexual (two parents) and asexual (one parent) Hydra: budding Amoeba: fission

How do we know a car is not living?

We know that a car is not living because it does not perform all of the required activities on it’s own