6 Characteristics of Living Things Project
BEFORE: 7th Grade Science is Life Science. We need to start with the
basics before we get started. How do we know if something is alive? Is it
because it’s breathing or moving? Not exactly, there are 6
Characteristics of all living things.
PREDICT: What do you think are the characteristics that all living
things have in common? Restated a different way, what things
distinguish something as alive?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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RESEARCH: See attachments and read through all resources. Take
notes as you go.
These are the characteristics that everything that is living has in
common:
• Living things ______________________________
• Living things ______________________________
• Living things ______________________________
• Living things ______________________________
• Living things _______________________________
• Living things _______________________________
NEW VOCABULARY/ADDITIONAL FACTS:
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CREATE: Make a final product (Animation, Video, Kids book, Skit written and recorded, or a Garage Band style Song) to show the
following information. You may need to do additional research.
To find information on your examples:
simple organisms= bacteria, fungus, and anything microscopic
complex organisms=plants and animals
Topic: Characteristics of ALL Living Things
I. Have Cells
A. Define cells
B. Provide a detail
C. Simple example
D. Complex example
II. Have DNA
A. Define DNA
B. Provide a detail
C. Simple example
D. Complex example
III. Grow and Develop
A. Provide a detail
B. Simple example
C. Complex example
IV. Sense and Respond to Change
A. Define stimulus
B. Define homeostasis
C. Simple example
D. Complex example
V. Need Nutrients
A. Provide a detail
B. Simple example
C. Complex example
VI. Reproduce
A. Define asexual reproduction
B. Define sexual reproduction
C. Simple example
D. Complex example
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
“Building Blocks" of life.
2. Use and Need Energy
!All organisms need !Sunlight is the
and use energy to
source of energy for
live.
most living things.
!Energy is the
Plants use the energy in
sunlight to make food,
ability to do work.
!
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
change, or develop,
and 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.
Characteristics of Living Organisms
It is not always an easy thing to tell the difference between living, dead, and nonliving
things. Prior to the 1600's many people believed that nonliving things could
spontaneously turn into living things. For example, it was believed that piles of straw
could turn into mice. That is obviously not the case. What does it mean to be alive?
Life is characterized by the presence of all seven of the following properties at some
stage in an organism’s life.
1. Living things must be made of cells
All living things are made of one or more cells. Cells are highly organized, tiny
structures with thin coverings called membranes.A cell is the smallest unit capable of
all life functions.The basic structure of cells is the same in all organisms, although
some cells are more complex than others. Most cells can perform all the functions we
associate with life. Cells are remarkably diverse. A single cell by itself can form an
entire living organism. Organisms consisting of only a single cell are called unicellular
(uni-means one, so unicellular means single celled.) Most of the organisms you are
familiar with, such as dogs and trees, are multicellular (multi-means many, so
multicellular means many-celled.) Multicellular organisms contain hundreds,
thousands, even trillions of cells. Your body contains more than 100 trillion cells.
2. Living things must reproduce
All living things reproduce. Reproduction is the process by which organisms make
more of their own kind from one generation to the next. Since all cells come from
existing cells, they must have some way of reproducing, whether that involves
asexual (no recombination of genetic material) or sexual (recombination of genetic
material). Some rapidly growing bacteria divide into offspring cells approximately
every 15 minutes, and bristlecone pine trees that are 5,000 years old still produce
seedlings. Because no organism lives forever, reproduction is an essential part of
living.
3. Living things must obtain and use energy
Living organisms carry out many different chemical reactions in order to obtain and
use energy to run the processes of life. All living things use energy to grow, to move,
reproduce and to process information. Without energy, life soon stops. Metabolism is
the sum of all of the chemical reactions carried out in an organism. Almost all the
energy used by living organisms is originally captured from sunlight. Plants, algae, and
some bacteria capture this solar energy and use it to make complex molecules in a
process called photosynthesis. These molecules then serve as a source of energy, or
food, for other organisms. Energy flows from the sun to plants, from these plants to
plant-eating organisms, and from plant-eating organisms to meat-eating organisms.
4. Living things must maintain homeostasis
All living organisms must maintain a stable internal environment in order to function
properly. Organisms respond to changes in their external environment, and their
internal processes adjust accordingly.The maintenance of stable internal conditions in
spite of changes in the external environment is called homeostasis. An organism
unable to balance its internal conditions with its environmental conditions could
become ill and die. Much of our own metabolic energy goes toward maintaining
homeostasis. If you run a high fever for long enough, the increased temperature will
damage certain organs and impair your proper functioning. Arctic seals for example
are able to maintain a constant body temperature in spite of their cold environment
because of their body shape and thick layer of body fat.In another example muscular
activity generates heat as a waste product. Some of this heat is used by warmblooded animals, mammals and birds, to maintain their internal temperatures. This
heat is removed from our bodies by sweating. If you sweat for a long time, the
resulting thirst persuades you to replace the water your body has lost.
5. Living things must be able to pass characteristics of the parent to the
offspring
All living things are able to pass on traits to their offspring through genes that are
passed from parent to offspring each generation. A gene is the basic unit of heredity.
Genes are coded in a molecule called deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and determine an
organism’s traits.The passing of traits from parent to offspring is called heredity.
Heredity is the reason children tend to resemble their parents.
6. Living things must change
The great diversity of life on Earth is the result of a long history of change. Change in
the inherited traits of species over generations is called evolution. A species is a
group of genetically similar organisms that can produce fertile offspring. Individuals in
a species are similar, but not identical. Those individuals with genetic traits that better
enable them to meet nature’s challenges tend to survive and reproduce in greater
numbers, causing these favorable traits to become more common. Charles Darwin, a
nineteenth-century British naturalist, called this process in which organisms with
favorable genes are more likely to survive to reproduce natural selection.
Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection is the essence of biology, providing a
consistent explanation for life’s diversity.
7. Living things must interact with their environment in some way
The organisms in a biological community live and interact with other organisms. A
biological community is a group of interacting organisms. Ecology is the branch of
biology that studies the interactions of organisms with one another and with the
nonliving part of their environment. Organisms are dependent on one another and
their environment – that is, they are interdependent. Interdependence within
biological communities is the result of a long history of evolutionary adjustments. The
complex web of interactions in a biological community depends on the proper
functioning of all of its members, even those too small to be seen without a
microscope.