Characteristics of Living Things

1. Characteristics of Living Things By Mr. Krall

2. Organism = any living thing

3. All organisms… • move • use energy • reproduce • grow & change • have a lifespan • are made of at least one cell • react and respond to the environment

4. Move All organisms have some way to get from place to place. Some run. Some fly. Running, climbing, slithering, gliding, hopping, & swimming are all ways of moving. Some slither.

5. Organisms Move Plants (and some other organisms) move by growing towards water and sunlight. Organisms that stay in one place most of their life (like plants) are called sessile.

6. Use Energy Organisms need energy to move, grow, develop, and reproduce. They get energy from their environment or by eating other organisms. I know, right. These PowerPoint presentations are amazing.

7. Use Energy Producers – create food from energy and non-food substances. Ex. Plants create food from sunlight, CO2, and H2O. Thanks for the energy. I’m making food out of it. Yeah. I know. I read the thing.

8. Use Energy Consumers – get energy from the bodies of the producers and/or consumers they eat. Ex. A horse eats grass, a frog eats a spider.

9. Reproduce Reproduce – organisms can make more of their own kind. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways: Ex. seeds, spores, buds, sex cells, etc. This is not one of them. goo goo

10. Grow & Change Growing – All organisms get bigger as they get older. But organisms don’t just get bigger… If that was all humans did, we’d just end up giant babies.

11. Grow & Change Developing – the changes an organism goes through. All organisms develop (change) at some point. Ex. Frogs starting as tadpoles Humans getting new teeth, going through puberty. Butterflies starting as caterpillars, then cocoon, then butterfly

12. Have a lifespan Lifespan – how long an organisms is expected to live A human’s lifespan is currently around 75 years. Some fruit flies have a lifespan of 1 day. Certain trees have a lifespan of 2,000 years. You thought you had a busy day…

13. Made of 1 or more cells Cell – the building block of organisms Unicellular – organisms whose entire body is one cell Ex. bacteria, germs, pond scum Multi-cellular - organisms made of more than one cell Ex. plants, animals, fungi No, not me.

14. React & Respond All organisms must be able to sense and react to their environment. Stimulus – anything an organism can detect with their senses Response – the action an organism takes after detecting a stimuli

15. React & Respond Adaptation - over long periods of time, organisms change to better survive in their environment. These changes are called adaptations. Ex. a skunk’s spray, a giraffe’s long neck, a frog’s camouflage, a scorpion’s poison

16. React & Respond Homeostasis – when an organism’s body tries to keep inside body conditions the same no matter what is happening outside the body. An example is your body temperature. If you are too hot, your body sweats to cool off. If you are too cold, you shiver to warm up.