8 Characteristics of
Living Things
Mr. Carney
6th Grade Science
Review previous day
Biotic/Abiotic
• What makes something alive (biotic)
or not alive (abiotic)?
• What is “Spontaneous Generation”?
8
Organisms
• An ORGANISM is a living thing
• All organisms share characteristics that
separate them from non-living things
• All organisms share EIGHT
characteristics that make them alive. A
living (biotic) organism must have all
EIGHT !
All living things…
are made up of cells.
• A cell is the smallest “unit of life”
• CELL: the smallest basic unit of structure
and organization of all living organisms
• Some organisms have only a single cell…
others have many – the human body
contains over 100 trillion cells
That’s 100,000,000,000,000!!
All living things…
display organization.
• Arranged in an orderly way
• Cells Tissues
Organs
Organ Systems
Organism
All living things…
grow and develop
• Growth: addition of mass to an
organism
• Development:the process that occurs in an
organism's life that results in a more
complex organism.
All living things…
reproduce.
Basically, this means that they can make more of their
own kind!
• SPECIES: A group of organisms that mate together
and have fertile offspring
• Asexual Reproduction – when a single parent
doubles its contents and splits in two to create a
new organism (ex:bacteria)
MITOSIS
• Sexual Reproduction – when two different parents
unite to produce a new organism (ex:humans)
All living things…
respond to stimuli.
• Stimuli: Anything from the
environment that causes
some sort of reaction, such
as temperature, light,
sound, and other factors
that cause living things to
respond. Nonliving objects
(rocks for instance) do not
respond to stimuli!
All living things…
require and use energy.
Used to run the processes of life
• Humans (and other animals) get
energy from the food we eat
• Plants get energy from the sunlight,
through a process called
photosynthesis
All living things can move
• Animals move to find food and shelter. Movement
can be the difference between life and death.
• Plants do not move, but they bend toward sunlight.
• All living things also have internal movement of
substances (food, water, waste, etc.)
Living things adapt
Adaptations come about through
evolution.
Evolution is the process by which a
species changes through time.
1-13
All living things are
homeostatic
• Homeostasis is the ability of an
organism to maintain relatively
constant internal conditions.
An example is temperature regulation
in the human body.
All organ systems contribute
to homeostasis.
Quick Group Discussion!!!
• What about dead things?
8 Characteristics of
Living Things
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Made up of one or more cells
Display organization
Grow and develop
Reproduce
Respond to stimuli
Require and use energy
Maintain Homeostasis
Move
Categorize the following
as Biotic or Abiotic
1. the Sun: ____________
2. a bean plant: ____________
3. the wind: _____________
4. a river: ____________
5. a fossil: ____________
6. a giraffe: ____________
7. an apple tree: ____________
8. a bald eagle: ___________
9. a volcano: ___________
10. a starfish: ___________
11. A rock: ___________