The Characteristics

of Living Organism

For further understanding about living organisms characteristics and their differences with non-living things, let’s do observation

Observation Sheet

1. Observe the characteristics of some things (can be plants, animals, or things) near your school

2. Fill in the table belowput a positive sign (+) if the object has the characteristics, and negative sign (-) if it doesn’t have the characteristics.

object Characteristics

Moves Eats Breathes

Grows Reproduces

Excretes

Cat

Car

Man

Ants

Bicycle

Coconut treeBall

Stone

Motorcycle

Hibiscus tree

a. Movement animals and humans movement can

be clearly observed

animals move from one place to another place because they have special organs

ex. A bird has wings and feet, fish have fins to swim

• The movement of plants is very difficult to observe, because its movement is very slow and doesn’t cause any displacement.

• Plants move by growing

• Ex. The root is growing and extending into the ground, stem tip grow toward the sunlight, a flower bud opens when it blossoms.

b. Eat• All living things need food• But plants do not eat like animals, plants produce

organic matters as their food through photosysnthesis, it’s called autotrophic

6CO2 + 6H2O C6H12O6 + 6O2 + Energy

Carbon Water Glucose Oxygen dioxide

• Green plants need certain substances, such as carbon dioxide from the air and water are taken from the soil.

chlorophyl

• That process will produce glucose, oxygen, and energy.

• Animals need another organisms to be eaten, it is called heterotrophic.

• Base on their kind of food, animal divided into 3 ;1. herbivores : feed on plants only2. carnivores : feed on animals only3. omnivores : feed on both plants and animals

c. Respiration / Breath• All living things need oxygen to breathe.

• They inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide and water vapor.

• The inhaled oxygen is used to help the burning process of nutrient, this process is called oxidation.

• Oxidation produce energy which is used to perform daily activities.

• The process of inhaling oxygen and exhaling carbon dioxide and water vapor is called respiration.

C6H12O6 + 6O2 6CO2 + 6H2O

• The kind of respiration organs are ;1. Mamalians : lungs2. Birds : lungs and air sacs3. Fish : gills4. Plants : stomata and lenticels

d. Irritability• Living things are sensitive to changes that occur in

their surroundings.

• When we are on a mountain range, we feel cold. This cold sensation is received by the sensory receptors in our skin.

• A sensory reseptor is an instrument within the body which is sensitive to stimulus

• Animals and humans have sensory receptors, therefore they can see, hear, smell, taste, feel, touch.

• Eyes are sensitive to light so that we can see,

• ears are sensitive to the vibration so that we can hear,

• nose is sensitive to odor so that we can smell,

• tongue is sensitive to taste so that we can taste food,

• skin is sensitive to hot or cold and to pressure, touch and wounds

• Plants do not have sensory receptors to receive stimuli, but they are sensitive to the stimuli such as light, water, gravity, and touch.

• Ex. Touch-me-not plant (Mimosa pudica)will close its leaves when it is touched, shoots will grow and bend toward the direction of the light.

e. Grow and developed• If we plant a seed, it will germinate. The sprout will

grow bigger and thicker.

• Chicken growth starts from a chick that hatched from an egg, the chick then grow and become an adult, hen or rooster.

• Human and animal growth will stop when they reach a certain age.

• However, in plants, we will find that the forming of buds, leaves and flowers, happen continuously all their lives.

• Grow occurs because cells divide causing them to be more numerous which causes organisms to get bigger.

• Developed occurs when cells take on specific jobs within the organism (like heart cell or brain cell)

f. Excretion • The process of removing metabolic waste in living

organisms is called excretion.

• Excretion organs in humans as follow ;1. Lungs : CO2 and H2O vapor2. Liver : excrete bile3. Kidneys : urine4. Skin : Sweat

• Excretion in seed plants occurs through the stomata in the leaves and lenticels on the stems.

g. Reproduction

• Every living organism will produce its own offspring, called reproduction.

• Every species has different methods to reproduce, but the two main methods are by asexual (vegetative) and sexual (generative) reproduction.