CHAPTER 2 – LIVING THINGS
CONCEPT MAP
LIVING THINGS
have characteristics
classified as
kingdoms called
can be described and
identified by
MOVEMENT
KEYS
FUNGI
FEEDING
MONERA
PROTISTA
PLANTS
ANIMALS
GROWTH
REPRODUCTION
classified
RESPIRATION
into
EXCRETION
have characteristics
MAKE OWN FOOD
FROM AIR & WATER
have characteristics
classified into
divisions called
classified into
phyla called
FEED ON LIVING
THINGS
MOVE AROUND
DO NOT MOVE AROUND
SENSITIVITY
FLOWERING PLANTS
MOSSES
classified into
classes called
FERNS
CONIFERS
VERTEBRATES
classified into
classes called
classified into phyla such as
ARTHROPODS
MONOCOTS
DICOTS
FISH
AMPHIBIA
REPTILES
BIRDS
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INVERTEBRATES
MAMMALS
MOLLUSCS
classified into
classes such as
ANNELIDS
INSECTS and others
2.1 INTRODUCTION
Aims:
 To interest students in biology as the study of living things.
 To introduce students to the formal characteristics of living things as recognised in biology.
 To introduce informally, some of the differences between animals and plants.
Activities:
 Presentation and discussion of pictures of as wide a variety of living things as possible.
 Discussion of the seven characteristics of living things as given in the text. This could be followed by a
short field trip. Different groups of students, for example, could be given different characteristics or
different organisms to observe and report to the class afterwards.
2.2 INTRODUCING PLANTS
Aims:




To interest students in the study of plants and emphasise their wide variety.
To emphasise the idea that plants make their own food from carbon dioxide and water.
To make sure that students can identify the main parts of a flowering plant by name.
To give students practice in drawing plants.
Activities:
 Discussion, collection, observation and drawing. Students should carefully collect, observe and draw a
small flowering plant, identifying and labelling the main parts as shown in the diagram in the text.
(Copying from the book is not satisfactory, but is better than not drawing at all).
Answers:
 Q1. The organisms are grass, people, flies, trees, fish, snakes and birds.
 Q2. (i) Reproduction is the process whereby an organism produces young of its own kind. (ii)
Respiration is the process whereby living things obtain energy from air (oxygen) and food. (iii)
Excretion is the process whereby living things get rid of their waste products. (Do not confuse students
by trying to discriminate between excretion and elimination at this stage). (iv) Sensitivity refers to the
ways in which living things react to the world around them.
 Q3. There are at least 11; Redwood trees, duckweed, palm trees, pandanus, Apple of Peru, forest trees,
vines, bamboo, grasses, water lilies, pond weeds.
 Q4. Up to this stage students should be able to list the following general differences: (i) Plants look
quite different from animals - they generally have roots, stems and leaves and animals do not; (ii) Plants
can not move from place to place but most animals can; (iii) Plants make their own food but animals eat
other living things; (iv) Plants usually reproduce by seeds but animals do not; (v) Plants respire but they
do not breathe air in and out like animals; (vi) Plants do not urinate (or defecate) but animals do; (vii)
Plants are less sensitive to the world around them than animals and they respond much more slowly.
2.3 INTRODUCING ANIMALS
Aims:
 To interest students in the study of animals and emphasise their wide variety.
 To make sure that students can identify the main parts of various animals by name.
 To give students practice in drawing animals.
Activities:
 Discussion, observation and drawing. Students often find it difficult to draw animals, however they
should be encouraged to observe, draw and label simple sketches from living specimens if possible.
(Copying is better than not drawing at all).
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Answers:
 Q1. The biggest plants are much bigger and heavier than the biggest animals. A Redwood tree is more
than three times longer than a Blue Whale and more than 30 times heavier!
 Q2. (i) bird, insect, (ii) antelope, lizard, (iii) insect, (iv) snail, (v) antelope, (vi) fish, lizard (birds also
have scales on their legs), (vii) snail, (viii) insect, (ix) antelope, (x) insect.
 Q3. (i) arms, (ii) wings, (iii) fins (but note that fish do not have four fins which correspond to the four
limbs of many animals), (iv) foot (the snail has no legs but moves around on its single foot), (v)
nothing! (the snake moves by a wriggling motion; it does not have any equivalent of legs).
 Q4. The deer, bird, fish and lizard all have bones, but the insect and snail do not. (You could take the
opportunity to mention the backbone in particular).
2.4 CLASSIFICATION AND KEYS
Aims:
 To re-emphasise the idea of classification as a way of summarising what we observe by putting things
into sets which have similar features.
 To give students experience of classifying a set of objects.
 To show students how to construct and use a simple key.
 To introduce students to the names of the five kingdoms recognised by many biologists.
Activities:
 Discussion of classification and keys as presented in the text.
 Students could help the teacher classify a small group of familiar objects into sets and to make a key to
correspond with their classifications - then try their own example for homework.
 A good class exercise is to take a small group of students and divide them into sets, sub-sets and so on,
making a corresponding key on the board as you do so. A stranger could then be asked to come in and
use the key to find the name of any student in the group!
Answers:
 Q1. The five kingdoms are plants, animals, fungi, protista and monera. Grass and cassava (manioc) are
plants; insect and fish are animals; mushroom is a fungus; and seaweed is a protist.
 Q2. (i) Citrus, (ii)
CITRUS
yellow colour
lemon


orange or green colour
orange
Q3. (i) The vegetable, sweet potato. (ii) Alum.
Q4. (i) The food is things we can eat, but the crystals are regular geometric shapes. (ii) The fruit has
seeds in it, but the vegetable has no seeds in it. (iii) The rock salt is white, but the lead ore is grey black.
2.5 CLASSIFYING PLANTS
Aims:
 To further stimulate students' interest in studying plants.
 To introduce students to the four main divisions of plants (mosses, ferns, conifers and flowering plants),
and some of the characteristics of each.
 To introduce students to the two main classes of flowering plants (monocots and dicots) and some of the
characteristics of each.
 To give students practice in using both written and diagrammatic keys.
Activities:
 Discussion of the classification of plants with reference to actual samples of each division/class.
 Observing/studying examples of moss, ferns, conifers, monocots and dicots. Students should make
drawings of some of these.
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
Practise exercises using the keys provided to classify real organisms (or pictures) and to answer the end
of module questions.
Answers:
 Q1. Yes. (Keys must always be followed from the top! So starting from the top, monocots have a
system of roots and stems, fruits, and flowers).
 Q2. (i) Ferns, (ii) Conifers, (iii) Dicots (To confirm the first two, start from the top of the key!)
 Q3. No, a fern is neither a monocot nor a dicot. (It does not matter what sort of leaves it has, because
monocots and dicots are classes of flowering plants, and a fern is not a flowering plant. Always starting
at the top of the key will avoid mistakes.)
 Q4. Starting from the top, and working down the route leading to dicots, we can see that all dicots have
a system of roots and stems, have fruits, have flowers, and have variable leaves with network veins and
seeds with two cotyledons.
2.6 CLASSIFYING ANIMALS - INVERTEBRATES
Aims:
 To further stimulate students' interest in studying animals.
 To introduce students to the distinction between vertebrates and invertebrates.
 To introduce three important phyla of invertebrates (molluscs, annelid worms and arthropods), and
some of the characteristics of each.
 To introduce students to the four main classes of arthropods (insects, arachnids, crustaceans and
myriapods), and some of the characteristics of each.
 To give students further practice in using both written and diagrammatic keys.
Activities:
 Discussion of the classification of animals using actual examples and pictures.
 Observing/studying examples of typical vertebrates and invertebrates. Include skeletons (or pictures of
skeletons) if possible.
 Observing/studying examples of molluscs, annelid worms and arthropods (including insects, arachnids,
crustaceans and myriapods). Students should make drawings of some of these.
 Practical exercises using the keys provided to classify real organisms (or pictures) and to answer the end
of module questions.
Answers:
 Q1. (i) Invertebrates are animals with no backbone. (ii) Phyla are the largest sets into which Biologists
divide animals. (iii) Squid are free swimming molluscs that have an internal shell and tentacles for
catching their prey. (iv) Leeches are annelid worms that feed by sucking blood from larger animals. (v)
Myriapods are a class of arachnids that have many identical body segments, and many identical legs
(like centipedes and millipedes). The word myriapod literally means many feet.
 Q2. An arachnid has eight joined legs.
 Q3. (i) Many crabs are good to eat. Crabs also help to keep their surroundings clean by eating rubbish.
(ii) Earthworms help to fertilise the soil (by helping to break up dead leaves). They also let air into the
soil and help to improve its texture. (iii) Spiders help to control insect pests. (iv) Some molluscs are
good to eat. They are also used to make buttons, ornaments and souvenirs for tourists. (v) Many insects
are essential for pollinating our crops and other useful plants (see Chapter 5). Bees make honey which is
good to eat, and insects such as locusts are eaten by some people. Preying mantises help to control
insect pests.
 Q4. Starting from the top of the diagrammatic key (which has slightly more information than the written
key), and working down the route leading to crustaceans, we can see that all crustaceans have no
backbone, have segments with hard outer covers and jointed legs, have more than 8 legs. They also
have 4 antennae and their body segments are all different.
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2.7 CLASSIFYING ANIMALS - VERTEBRATES
Aims:
 To further stimulate students' interest in studying animals.
 To introduce the five important classes of vertebrates (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals),
and some of the characteristics of each.
 To give students further practice in using both written and diagrammatic keys.
Activities:
 Discussion of the classification of animals using samples and pictures as available.
 Observing/studying samples and pictures of vertebrate animals.
 Practice exercises using the keys provided to classify real organisms (or pictures) and to answer the end
of module questions.
Answers:
 Q1. Starting from the top of either key, fish have a backbone, a body covered in scales and fins.
 Q2. (i) All except the centipede are vertebrates and have backbones. (ii) The snake, goby and hen have
scales. (The snake is a reptile, and the goby is a fish, so both are covered in scales. The hen is a bird and
birds have scales on their legs. The whale is a mammal not a fish, so it has no scales).
 Q3. A complete list would be very long! Here are some of the main uses: for food; for milk (and butter,
cheese etc which are made from milk); for riding, carrying and pulling loads; for manure (to fertilise
crops); dogs and other animals for guarding our homes and hunting; cats and other animals for catching
pests such as mice and rats; their skins for clothing; other parts of their bodies for various products such
as scents, glue, gut, bone products and so on; dogs, cats and others for companionship!
2.8 FOOD CHAINS
Aim:


To show students how animals depend on plants, and on one another, for food.
To introduce students, in a simple way, to the following terminology and to give them practice in using
it: photosynthesis, herbivore, carnivore, food chain, producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer,
omnivore.
Activities:
 Discussion of food chains using examples familiar to the students as well as those in the textbook.
 Field trip to observe what different animals feed on in the natural environment. Students should use
their observations to construct food chains. (This could be combined with a field trip to observe
adaptation).
Answers:
 Q1. (i) Producers are plants which produce food by photosynthesis from carbon dioxide and water. (ii)
Herbivores are animals that eat only plants; they are primary consumers. (iii) Secondary consumers are
animals (carnivores) that eat herbivores (primary consumers). (iv) Food chains are lists that show
feeding relationships from producer, to primary consumer, to secondary consumers.
 Q2. (i) An omnivore is an animal that eats both plants and other animals - an everything eater! (ii)
Omnivores, including humans, are both primary consumers and secondary consumers.
2.9 ADAPTATION
Aims:
 To introduce students to the ideas of habitat and adaptation, and to get them to think about familiar
examples of adaptation.
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Activities:
 Discussion of adaptation using examples familiar to the students as well as those in the textbook.
 Field trip to observe one or two plants and one or two animals in the natural environment. For each
organism, students should first describe its habitat, then try to identify one or two adaptations that help
to fit the organism for its habitat and way of life. (Simple food chains could be observed on the same
field trip).
Answers:
 Q1. (i) The habitat of an organism is the kind of place where it lives. For example the habitat of most
monkeys is trees; the habitat of whales is the sea; the habitat of centipedes is under stones and bark. (ii)
Adaptation refers to the way in which different organisms vary so that each one is fit to live in its own
particular way, in its own particular habitat.
 Q2. (i) Fish are adapted to living in water by gills for breathing under water, fins for swimming, a
streamlined shape so that they can move easily through the water etc. (ii) Birds are adapted for flying
by their light weight, wings, strong chest muscles etc. (iii) Monkeys are adapted for living in trees by
their long, strong arms, by their hands, feet and tails which are adapted for gripping branches etc.
 Q3. For example, ducks and other water birds have webbed feet which help them to swim; birds of prey
have strong claws for killing and carrying their prey; birds that perch in trees have claws the right size
and shape for grasping branches; herons have long legs so they can stand in water to catch fish.
 Q4. Answers will depend on the examples selected. They should be discussed with the science teacher.
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