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Growth: getting larger in size
Development: process of change

Example: Growth: growing taller Development: puberty

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passing down traits to offspring - as these traits change over time, it leads to evolution.

Example: eye color from dad but hair color from mom

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What are the 7 characteristics of life?

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making more of a species (making offspring)

Example: pollination

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Covers seven characteristics shared by all living organisms.

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Every living thing is made up of a cell or more. A cell is the smallest living unit of any organs.

Example: Cells come together to make more organs.

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When you look at the world around you, how do you categorise or group what you see? One of the broadest groupings is 'living' and 'non-living'. This may sound simple, but it is sometimes difficult to decide whether something is truly alive or not. Here we look at the characteristics of living things - using earthworms as an example.

All living things share life processes such as growth and reproduction. Most scientists use seven life processes or characteristics to determine whether something is living or non-living.

The table below describes seven characteristics of most living things and contains references to earthworms to explain why we can definitely say that they are 'living'.

Further classification

Based on the information above, we can confidently categorise earthworms as living things as they carry out all seven life processes.

It is now possible to classify them further into a series of hierarchical categories: kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus and species. Classifying living things into these categories is an important way for scientists to show how living things are related to each other. Most scientists classify living things into one of the following six kingdoms.

Bacteria are single-celled microorganisms that don't have a nuclear membrane.

Protozoans are single-celled organisms that are generally much larger than bacteria. They may be autotrophic or heterotrophic.

Chromists are a diverse group of plant-like organisms and range from very small to very large. They are found in almost all environments.

Fungi are multicellular and rely on breaking down organic material as they are not able to make their own food.

Plants are multicellular and autotrophic - they use photosynthesis to produce food using sunlight.

Animals are multicellular. They are heterotrophic and rely on other organisms for food.

Which kingdom do you think earthworms belong to?

Animal characteristics

What did you decide? Sometimes people are surprised to find out that earthworms are actually animals - the same kingdom as humans, cats, dogs, dolphins and spiders! Just as living things share a set of common characteristics, animals have key characteristics that can help you to decide whether a living thing is an animal or not.

Key characteristics of animals include the following:

They obtain energy by consuming other organisms (we say they are 'heterotrophic').

They are able to physically move their bodies about at one or more stages of their life cycle.

Their bodies are made up of multiple cells.

Sexual reproduction occurs - a sperm and an egg cell combine to produce an embryo that grows into a juvenile animal.

Nature of science

Useful link

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When you look at the world around you, how do you categorise or group what you see? One of the broadest groupings is 'living' and 'non-living'. This may sound simple, but it is sometimes difficult to decide whether something is truly alive or not.

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reacting to stimulus (change in the environment) and adjusting

Example: squinting eyes in sunlight

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maintain a stable internal environment even though the outside is changing

Example: shivering, insulin lowers sugar levels in blood

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What is life? This is what scientists have been asking themselves for years. Now, to determine if something is alive or not, characteristics of life have been developed. For something to be considered alive, that something must have all the characteristics, not just one or two. If it does have all the characteristics, it is called an organism.

There are many different versions of these characteristics available, which doesn't make sense. I compiled a list by comparing the many lists I saw. This is what I believe to be an ultimate list from several lists.

1. Organisation: This characteristic doesn't mean that living things should be organised in their daily life but chemically. They have to be composed of atoms, which form molecules, which form cells. Similar c ells put together make a tissue, and two or more tissues make organs. Organs then make a system. A living thing doesn't have to have a system, but at least one cell. These are called unicellular organisms (e.g. Amoeba). If the living thing has more than one cell, it is called a multicellular organism (e.g. Cat, Human).

Example: Muscle cells->Muscle Tissue->Heart (an organ made up of muscle tissue)->Circulatory System (Lungs and Heart and Blood Vessels working together)

2. Growth: All living things should be able to gather resources to use them to make their cells bigger, making their entire system enlarge.

3. Reproduction: All living things should be able to create another of its species. If it couldn't, species would not be able to survive because no young would be born to keep the species going. There are two kinds of reproduction: asexual and sexual. Asexual involves only one parent, for example, bacteria dividing their cells in two, creating two new beings. Sexual involves two parents.

4. Movement: All things should be able to move in some way. It is noticeable that a human, dog, centipede, can all move, but then what about plants? Plants move, only they move so slowly it is only noticeable after a certain number of time. For example, sunflowers move into the direction of the sun, flowering plants open their petals. The roots move down into the earth. Although it is not obvious, like a running animal, plants do move.

5. Response: Response is when an organism has the ability to respond to changes in its environment and to things happening in their bodies. Organisms respond to light, sound, and touch. Again, plants do not seem to be responding much, when you pull of one of their leaves, they don't jump back from shock and pain. But plants do respond. They have no nervous system, so they won't respond to touch, but they grow toward the light. If the sun changes place, they adapt themselves so that they end up back towards the sun. Another example would be that if a seed that is growing finds itself the wrong way, with its roots in the air, then the plant will respond to gravity and shift so that it's roots are back down in the earth.

6. Respiration: Respiration is how organisms get and use their food. There are two types of organisms for this characteristic: Autotrophs and Heterotrophs. Autotrophs are organisms that create their own food, i.e. plants. Heterotrophs are organisms that get food by eating other organisms, i.e. animals.

7. Metabolism: This is how an organism uses it's food, which food it requires, and how much of it it requires, and also what is poisonous to the organism. It is also the ability to create energy, and to divide it for separating it into different parts of the organism. A living thing must be able to metabolize.

All these characteristics must be present in something for it to be an organism, otherwise it is not alive. Is a cellphone alive? It reacts with it's environment (when you press buttons), it moves when it vibrates, but does it reproduce or break down its food to make energy?

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life,
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_7_characteristics_of_life http://edhelper.com/ReadingComprehension_37_158.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabolism http://bit.ly/a2HcIm http://bit.ly/ctPcRv Share on Facebook

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What is life? This is what scientists have been asking themselves for years. Now, to determine if something is alive or not, characteristics of life have been developed. For something to be considered alive, that something must have all the characteristics, not just one or two.

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breaking down food into energy (ATP) that can be used to do everyday functions

Example: Cellular respiration is how the food you eat gives you energy

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Some students have asked for further examples of what we are covering, so I have provided these examples. They are meant as a supplement to the lecture and the reading, not as a substitute for them. No questions will be pulled directly from these examples, but they are examples of material that we have covered.