Is it living or non-living?
Name: _______________________
Date: ____________ Period: ______
Content Objective(s): List and understand the characteristics of all living things.
Language Objective(s): Collaborate with peers to discuss and determine whether an organism has living
characteristics.
Question/Problem: How can we tell whether an object is living or non-living?
Hypothesis: If an object has ______________ characteristic, then it is ______________.
PreLab Questions:
1. We are studying biology this year. “Bio” means _________, and “ology” means __________.
So “biology” means ______________________!
2. What are the six characteristics that define a living organism?
Experiment/Exploration
Materials:
Water
Plant
Larva
Candle
Branch
Fruit
Egg
Bone
Moldy
cucumber
Shell
Fossil
Book
Definitions:
Dead –
Alive –
Non-living –
Procedures:
1. Write the following information in the box below.
2. Your table group will be given one specimen. Write the name down.
3. It is your job to make a hypothesis about whether this specimen is living, nonliving, or dead.
4. Support your hypothesis with EVIDENCE!!! (Characteristics of life)
Notes
Drawing of your specimen
Concept: Characteristics of Life Adapted from Rebecca M. Fulop and Lindsay Penrose
Is it living or non-living?
Name: _______________________
Date: ____________ Period: ______
Data: (Notes on classmates’ presentations)
Name of specimen
Presenters’ hypothesis: Living, nonliving,
or dead? & Supporting Evidence
YOUR hypothesis: Living, nonliving,
or dead? & Supporting Evidence
Concept: Characteristics of Life Adapted from Rebecca M. Fulop and Lindsay Penrose
Is it living or non-living?
Name: _______________________
Date: ____________ Period: ______
PostLab Questions:
When you think of living things, you may only think of plants and animals. But there are over 5 million
species of living things!!! So why are they all considered living? It’s difficult for scientists to define what
makes something alive, but in general, all living things have ____ characteristics in common:
1.
______________________: Organisms are made of __________. They can be __________________
(made of more than one cell, like plants or animals) or __________________ (the whole organism just has
one cell, like bacteria). Each cell performs a certain function.
2.
______________________: All types of living organisms reproduce. The organism can reproduce
_________________________ (with a partner) or _________________________ (without a partner).
3.
______________________: ________ is the blueprint which organisms use to determine the traits of
their children. Organisms resemble their parents because they inherit a ______________ code.
4.
__________________________: Every organism ____________ in size. Multicellular organisms
(___________________________) develop from a fertilized egg. During development, the cells
_____________________ into other types of cells and structures.
5.
______________________: An organism needs to build up and break down chemical compounds to
carry out its life processes.
6.
______________________: Living organisms respond to external and internal stimuli. External stimuli
come from ________________. Internal stimuli come from _______________________.
7.
______________________: The maintenance of a balanced internal environment in terms of
_________________________, ________, _____________________________________, etc.
8.
______________________: Over time, a species of organism will ____________ and adapt to its
environment to increase the probability of ________________.
Concept: Characteristics of Life Adapted from Rebecca M. Fulop and Lindsay Penrose