1. Lesson L1 ~ Characteristics of Living Things
Science 8 Life Science
Lesson L1 ~ Characteristics
of Living Things

2. Living Things Are Made Of Cells
one cell (AKA single-celled or unicellular organisms) or
more than one cell (AKA multicellular organisms)
A cell is the basic unit of life.
Cells can be seen using a compound light microscope (as we will in class) or a scanning electron microscope (more powerful and used by scientists).

3. Living Things Respond To Their Environment
A stimulus is anything that causes a living thing to respond.
External stimuli
A hot pan is the stimulus for you to pull your hand away (response).
Sunlight is the stimulus for a plant to turn towards it (response).
Internal stimuli
feeling of hunger/thirst are stimuli for animals to eat/drink (response).

4. Living Things Need Energy
Living things require energy to carry out activities needed for survival (like responding to stimuli, growing, reproducing, moving, and sleeping).
plants are producers (make their own energy using sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide)
animals are consumers (must eat plants or other animals to obtain their energy)

5. Living Things Grow
Unicellular organisms grow by increasing in cell size (to a point).
Multicellular organisms grow by increasing in number for:
growth and
to replace cells that wear out and die.

6. Living Things Reproduce
Living things produce more of their own species to replace older individuals that die.
Unicellular organisms reproduce by dividing into two identical cells.
Multicellular organisms reproduce by mating.

7. Living Things Must Get Rid Of Wastes
Waste products from eating (feces), drinking (urine), breathing (CO2), etc. are dangerous if they build up in our bodies, so must have a way of getting rid of them!