Living and Non-Living Things

5 Characteristics of living things:

1. Living things respond to their surroundings.

2. Living things grow and develop.

3. Living things are able to reproduce.

4. Living things use energy.

5. Living things are made of smaller building blocks called cells.

2) Living things sense and respond to change

• All organisms have the ability to sense change in their environment.

Example: Our Pupils

• Get smaller when exposed to light

• Get bigger in the dark

2) Living things sense and respond

to changeThe outside environment of an organism may

change, but conditions inside an organism must remain the same

Example:-Our bodies stay at 98.6o F

- If we get hot, our bodies sweat to cool us down.- If we get cold, our bodies twitch (shivering) to warm

us up.

-Homeostasis:Process of Keeping an organism’s internal environment stable

6) Living things grow and develop

• All living things grow during periods of their lives.

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3) Living things reproduce

• Organisms make other organisms that are similar to themselves.Organisms reproduce one of two ways:

• Sexual Reproduction :2 parents produce offspring that have characteristics of both parents

• Asexual Reproduction : a single parent produces offspring that is identical to the parent.

Hydra →

5) Living things use energy

- Organisms use energy for everyday activities:

• Breaking down foods• Building new cells• Homeostasis

1) Living things have cells

• We are made up of trillions of cells

• Some organisms are made up of just one cell

4) Living things have DNA

All living things contain:

- Deoxyribonucleic Acid • DNA- Control the structure and function of cells- When organisms reproduce, they pass on

copies of their DNA to their offspring.

Because offspring have DNA from their parents, they will resemble their parents.

• Passing traits from parents to offspring is called heredity.

Question:Which statement describes the process of

growth within an organism?

A. A green vine uses energy from the sun to produce more cells.

B. A fire produces more heat as additional fuel is added.

C. An oak tree drops its leaves when the seasons change.

D. An animal’s fur is raised when it senses danger.

Living or Non-Living ?

Alien Submission to TBR Studios

Presented by:

Biographical InformationName: Maizie

Home Planet: Noratunie

Climate: Noratunie is a planet of extremes. Very cold half of the year and hot the other.

There is much vegetation on Noratunie.

Behavior: Very social, affectionate, constantly sensing environment, only aggressive when threatened

“Maizie”

Characteristics of Life of Maizie’s Species

Cellular Organization

• Specialized cells on belly identify ground cover, eyes twist 36o°

Metabolizes

• Vegetarian, burps waste into holes in the ground

Reproduces

• Sexually reproduces up to twice a year

Heredity (Genetic Information)

• Contains DNA…has 100 chromosomes

Maintains Homeostasis

• Body changes color to blend into environment

ConclusionMaizie is a very special alien from the

distant Planet of Noratunie. She would be a great representative of TBR as she is very friendly and likes to interact with new creatures. Having a ferocious bite, she can be very dangerous if provoked. However her ferocity is a rare response that could be very helpful when protecting those about whom she cares. Maizie would be useful in many different action scenarios. TBR would be very wise to choose a creature like Maizie to be their new action hero.