The Characteristics of
Living Things
 Biologists use six characteristics to
classify something as a living thing.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Made of Cells
Use and Need Energy
Adapted to Their Surroundings
React to Changes
Reproduce
Grow and Develop
The Characteristics of
Living Things
 All living things have these six
characteristics.
 Anything without one of these six
characteristics is nonliving.
 Living things are called organisms.
1. Made of Cells
 Organisms are
made up of one
or more cells.
 A cell is the basic
unit of structure
and function in
living things.

Cells = the
of life.
2. Use and Need Energy
 All organisms
 Sunlight is the
need and use
source of energy
energy to live.
for most living
things.
 Energy is the
Plants use the energy
ability to do work.

in sunlight to make
food, and animals get
energy by eating plants
or other animals that
have eaten plants.
3. Adapted to Their
Surroundings
 Organisms are adapted, or suited, to
their surroundings.
 All organisms have features that help
them survive in their surroundings.

For example: fish have gills
4. React to Changes
 Organisms react
to change in their
surroundings.
 Any reaction to
change is called a
response.

For example: A
bright light may
cause you to blink.
5. Reproduce
 Organisms
produce more
organisms of their
own kind.
 Reproduction
allows organisms
to continue living
on the earth.
6. Grow and Develop
 All organisms grow  Living things
and develop.
change, or develop,
during their
lifetimes.


One way organisms
change is by growing.
Living things may also
change in appearance.
• For example: tadpoles
and frogs
Summary
 Biologists use six characteristics to
classify something as a living thing.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Made of Cells
Use and Need Energy
Adapted to Their Surroundings
React to Changes
Reproduce
Grow and Develop
 All living things display all of the above
characteristics.
Discussion
As a teacher, one of the techniques for presenting information to your students is through lecture. However,
traditionally lectures have been thought of as dull, boring, and utterly uninteresting. Often students don’t pay attention,
and even those who do don’t get much actual learning out of it. That was until now. With the help of Power Point almost
any lecture can be spiced up to captivate its intended audience and at the same time convey the information that needs to
be conveyed. Using Power Point a teacher can add sounds, pictures, movies, and even Flash programs to any lesson.
Trying to incorporate these types of valuable multimedia to the chalkboard is virtually impossible.
Thus, in my classroom I can foresee myself using Power Point as a tool to lecture with. I could set up my
lectures over the summer or whenever I had the free time and could then present them to my students when that chapter
was being covered. I think that Power Point would add some value to my lectures in that the students would be more
interested and numerous sources of multimedia could be included. The only drawback I see to using Power Point is that
it’s somewhat involved and can take a while to produce. However, the extra time that is spent making a Power Point
lecture is not wasted time because the lectures can be used again and again.
For my students I can foresee Power Point as a project that they might have to complete. I could apply this
idea in a number of ways. For example, when learning about the periodic table each student could be assigned a specific
group from the table or a specific element and could then produce a Power Point slide show to describe the properties of
that specific group or element. Students could also use Power Point as a way of writing-up one lab that they do during the
year. The students could develop a slide show to explain the purpose of the lab, the procedure of the lab, and then their
results from the lab. They could then present their slide show to the class. I think both of these ideas provide a good
break from the normal monotonous homework, lab write-ups, and tests that a chemistry class entails.