Characteristics of Living ThingsWhat do all living things have in common?
Living Things
In science we tend to use specific language We call all living things organisms Organisms are divided into five kingdoms:
• Animals • Plants • Fungi• Protista• Prokaryotes
Cells
A cell is the smallest unit of an organism that can be considered alive.
They are the building blocks of life
Characteristics of Life
Movement Excretion Reproduction Respiration
Nutrition Sensitivity or Response Growth
Characteristics are features or things we can use to identify an object
For something to be considered alive it must display 7 characteristics
MRS GREN
Movement
Living things must move around their environment to find Food To escape predators Shelter Other members of their species
Nutrition
All organisms must take in nutrients (food) to grow, develop, and reproduce.
Plants are the only group of organisms that can produce their own nutrients Photosynthesis
Excretion
All living things create waste products that they must remove from their system
There are several ways Urination Defecation Sweating Exhalation (Animals release CO2, Plants release O2)
Sensitivity
• Organisms detect and respond to stimuli from their environment.• Predators• The weather• Light
• Try this, face a partner have them close and cover their eyes with their hands for 30 seconds.
• After thirty seconds have them remove their hands quickly and observe their eyes immediately.
• What did you notice? What was the stimulus? What was the response?
Reproduction
The ability to create more of the same species (offspring) , to prevent extinction. Sexual Reproduction
Two organisms needed
Asexual Reproduction Only one organism needed A form of cloning
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Most plants and animals reproduce sexually. This means cells from two different parents fuse to form the first cell of the new organism.
This creates genetic diversity
Reproduction
Other organisms reproduce asexually in which a single parent produces offspring that are identical to themselves.
Offspring are genetic clones of the parent and this leads to poor genetic diversity.
Reproduction
Growth
Growth results from cells dividing. This happens continuously through an organisms life.
As the amount of cells increases the organism gets bigger.
Respiration
Aerobic respiration Anaerobic Respiration
Respiration is a chemical reaction that happens in all living cells. It is the way that energy is released from glucose (food), for our cells to use to keep us functioning.
Remember that respiration is not the same as breathing.
Organisms
Animals
Plants
Prokaryotes
Protists
Fungi
Jellyfish, worms, arthropods, molluscs, echinoderms, amphibians, fish, reptiles, birds and mammals.
Seed bearing plants and non-seed bearing plants
Bacteria and primitive algae
Single-celled organisms
Moulds, mushrooms and toadstools
Animals
Vertebrates Invertebrates
Vertebrates
Animals that have a backbone and an internal skeleton Mammals Fish Reptiles Amphibians Birds
Animals
Vertebrates Invertebrates
Invertebrates
• Animals that do not have a backbone or an internal skeleton
• They may have an exoskeleton, that acts like armour. • Crustaceans• Insects• Arachnids• Molluscs• Echinoderms• Cnidaria
Classification Keys
Despite the fact that 99.9% of all living organisms, that ever existed, are now extinct there is still a large variety on Earth today.Hence it is important to be able to classify organisms in order to be able to find out their names. Also classification helps scientists to be able to understand the relationships between organisms and to investigate the theory of evolution.Now we will try a simple sorting activity to organize some dogs into groups according to their similarities...
Classification Keys
Divide the dogs into two groups
Group A Group B
We divide the dogs into groups by asking a question to which there is a yes or no answer...
Is the dog large (above 65cm)?
Large Dogs Small Dogs
We can now divide each group down into further sub divisions...
white and grey coats brown and black coats
What question could be used to divide the large dogs down into further groups?
Does the dog have a brown and black coat?
No Yes
Finally the groups can be divided down into individual dogs to which we can then give the names.
What question has been used to separate these two dogs?
Does the dog have curly hair?
Airedale Terrier Rotweiller
yes no
1. Is the dog over 65cm tall?If yes go to question 2
If no go to question 52. Does the dog have a brown and black coat?
If yes go to question 3
If no go to question 4
3. Does the dog have a wooly coat?Yes… Airedale TerrierNo…Rotweiller
Create The List of Questions
1. Is the dog over 65cm tall?If yes go to question 2
If no go to question 5
2. Does the dog have a
brown and black coat?If yes go to question 3
If no go to question 4
3. Does the dog have a wooly coat?Yes… Airedale TerrierNo…Rotweiller
Copy down the key and then complete it to classify the rest of the large dogs.
Hint: you will write question 4
Question: What will question 5 be about?
Answer> The small dogs.
Activity
Example Answer
Does the tail curl upwards?
Question 4
Yes No
Akita Old English sheepdog
Activity
Now complete the key, starting with question 5, for the small dogs. You can make your own questions up.
Does the dog have a snub nose?
Yes No
Question 5
Go to question 6 Go to question 7
Example Answer
Does the dog have long hair?Question 6
Yes No
Pekinese Bulldog
Question 7
Does the dog have very long ears?
Yes No
Basset hound Dachsund
Scientific Names
Equs AsinusCamelus CamelidaeFelis catusPan troglodytesCrocodilia niloticusHippopotamus amphibiousPanthera leoMacrpus macropodidaeRodentia muridaeCannis familiaris
DonkeyCamelCatChimpanzeeCrocodileHippopotamusLion
MouseDog
Kangaroo