Qualities of Living Things
What does it mean to be alive??
Benchmarks
• Compare and classify organisms into
major groups on the basis of their
structure. (III.2.MS.1)
Misconceptions
• http://www.nasalearn.org/teacher_suppor
t_alerts_misconceps_lifesci.htm
• http://homepage.mac.com/vtalsma/syllabi
/2943/handouts/misconcept.html#biology
• Sing the Science Standards
– Living or Non-Living?
Qualities of Living Things
ALL of the following must apply. Living things
must...
• move.
• grow and develop and die.
• adapt to their environment.
• respond to stimuli/ are sensitive.
• excrete wastes.
• respire. (breathe)
• reproduce.
• are made of cells.
• obtain and use energy.
Alive???
Move?
Grow/develop/d
ie?
Respond?
Adapt?
Excrete wastes?
Respire?
Reproduce?
Made of Cells?
Obtain/use
energy?
Human
Candle
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Maybe
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
So……
Which is alive????
• Is the human alive???
• Is the candle alive???
Symmetry
Bilateral
Symmetry
Radial
Symmetry
1 line of
Many lines of
symmetry
symmetry
dividing an
possible.
organism into 2
mirror image
parts.
Example:
Example:
human
Sea star
Asymmetrical
No lines of
symmetry.
Example:
amoeba
Onward…
Now that you know about
Qualities of Life, and Symmetry, let’s
continue.
Levels of Organization
Cells 
Example
Nerve cell
Example
Bone cell
Tissues 
Nerve tissue
Organs 
Brain
Connective
(bone) tissue
bones
Organ systems 
Central
nervous
system
human
Organism
Skeletal
system
vertebrate
Levels of Organization
• Create a chart and fill in the levels of
organization chart according to the
following information.
Level 1 - Cells
• Are the basic units of
•
•
structure and function
in living things.
May serve a specific
function within the
organism
Blood cells, nerve
cells, bone cells, etc
Level 2 - Tissues
• Made up of cells that
•
are similar in
structure and function
and which work
together to perform a
specific activity.
Muscle, nerve,
connective, epithelial,
are the 4 types of
tissue in humans.
Level 3 - Organs
• Made up of tissues
•
that work together to
perform a specific
activity.
Brain, heart, skin
Level 4 – Organ Systems
• Groups of 2+ organs that
•
work together to perform
a specific function for the
organism.
Circulatory, nervous,
skeletal, digestive,
endocrine, excretory,
immune, reproductive,
respiratory
The Body Systems…
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Circulatory-heart, blood, blood vessels, etc.
Respiratory-lungs, bronchi, etc.
Endocrine-glands, lymph nodes, etc.
Nervous-nerves, spinal cord, brain, etc.
Skeletal-bones, connective tissue, etc
Digestive-esophagus, stomach, liver, etc.
Excretory-kidney, liver, skin, etc.
Immune-white blood cells, lymph, etc.
Reporoductive- sexual organs, etc.
Level 5 - Organisms
• Entire living things that
•
•
can carry out all basic life
processes.
Usually made up of organ
systems, but organisms
can also be unicellular.
(“uni” means one)
Bacteria, amoeba,
mushroom, sunflower,
human
Levels of Organization
• How will you remember these in order?
Cells  Tissues Organs Organ
systemsOrganism
Onward…
• Before we go any further….
Let’s clarify the difference between the terms
Heterotrophic
and
Autotrophic
Heterotrophic
• Organism that can
•
•
NOT manufacture
their own food.
Get their energy from
eating other
organisms.
Example: Animals of
all kinds.
Autotrophic
• Organism that CAN
•
•
manufacture it’s own
food.
Create their food from
sunlight, or chemical
means.
Example: Plants of all
kinds.
Kingdoms…
• Now that you know the difference
between Autotrophic and Heterotrophic,
we can begin to discuss the 5 kingdoms
that all life is divided into.
• Did you know that every living organism
can be classified into one of the 5
kingdoms.
The 5 Kingdoms of Life
• Monera
• Protista
• Fungi
• Plantae
• Animalia
Kingdom Monera (bacteria)
• Unicellular
• No nucleus
• Heterotrophic or
•
•
•
autotrophic
Most primitive
Most numerous
Example: bacteria
3 shapes of bacteria
Spirilli
Bacillu Cocci
s
Spiral Rod
Sphere
shaped shaped shaped
Kingdom Protista (protists)
• Unicellular
• With nucleus
• Autotrophic or
•
•
3 ways Protists Move
Cilia
Flagellum Pseudopodia
heterotrophic
Small Long
Examples:
hairlike whiplike
Amoeba/ diatom oars
Parame Euglena
cium
Streaming
protoplasm
(False foot)
Amoeba
Kingdom Fungi
• Unicellular or
•
•
•
•
Multicellular
Have nuclei
Heterotrophic (can’t
make it’s own food)
Cell wall contains
chitin.
Examples: mushroom,
yeast
Kingdom Plantae
• Multicellular
• Have nuclei
• Autotrophic (makes it’s
•
•
own food)
Cell wall contains
cellulose.
Examples: grass, corn,
tree
Kingdom Animalia
• Multicellular
• Have nuclei
• Heterotrophic (can’t
•
make it’s own food)
Examples: spider,
bird, human
Remember those Kingdoms…
Now create a mnemonic to remember the
Kingdoms of life,
and
Draw a picture to make it easier for you to
remember these kingdoms. 
Oh yes!
Another list to remember…
Are you ready????
Classification of Life
• Every organism can be considered part of 1 of
the 5 kingdoms, but the kingdom is only the
broadest of the classification categories.
• Every organism also has a much longer
classification name.
• This classification name gives clues as to how
organisms are related to each other.
Classification of Life
• Kingdom
• Phylum
• Class
• Order
• Family
• Genus
• Species
***Make a mnemonic
to remember levels of
classification in order.

Then draw a picture of
your mnemonic so that
you will remember it.
Compare a lion to a human…
Lion
Human
Kingdom
Animalia
Animalia
Phylum
Chrodata
Chordata
Class
Mammalia
Mammalia
Order
Carnivora
Primate
Family
Felidae
Homo
Genus
Panthera
Sapiens
Species
leo
sapiens
Classification of Life
• Do you see how they share the same
Kingdom, Phylum and Class, but begin to
differ at the Order level?
• This shows that we are more closely
related to lions than Pine Trees, because
they would be an entirely different
kingdom.
Classification of Organisms
How this fits together…
5 Kingdoms of Life
Animalia
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
Plantae
Fungi
Monera
Protist
Classification of Life
• Any organism from any Kingdom can be
classified in a similar manner.
• Relationship to other organisms is based
on how similar/different they are
according to their structure.
Classification Genus & Species
• When we refer to an animal, many times
they are referred to only by their genus
and species names.
• The genus name is ALWAYS capitalized.
• The species name is NEVER capitalized.