Living Things and Non-Living Things

Back to: BIOLOGY SS1

 

Welcome to class! 

In today’s class, we will be talking about living things and non-living things. Enjoy the class!

Living Things and Non-Living Things

The earth is full of substances or objects; some are living while others are not. Objects that are living have life in them while non-living things do not have life in them. Living things can also be referred to as organisms. There are various qualities (characteristics) that will help or enable us to recognize living things (objects that have life in them). These characteristics are also called life processes. Let us take a look at these qualities:

Characteristics of living things

The characteristics of living things can be represented by the acronym MR NIGER CAL. Where each letter represents a characteristic.

M- MOVEMENT: Living things change the position of the whole body or parts of the body, they move from one place to another in search of food, shelter or mates.

R- RESPIRATION: In this process, living things break down food substances in a series of reactions to produce the energy needed for other life processes.

N- NUTRITION: This process involves obtaining food which is then used for growth and other life processes.

I- IRRITABILITY: This involved response or reaction of organisms towards changes in their environment, to ensure safety or survival.

G – GROWTH: This is the irreversible increase in size, mass or weight of an organism.

E – EXCRETION: This process involves the removal of waste products of metabolism which are poisonous to the body.

R – REPRODUCTION: Living organisms can produce offspring of their kind. This process ensures continuity of life.

C- COMPETITION: This is the ability of organisms to struggle or fight for necessities to survive in their environment. Most times these necessities are short supply.

A – ADAPTATION: This is the ability of organisms to adjust to changes in their internal and external environment to ensure survival.

L – LIFE SPAN OR DEATH: All organisms have a period of existence after which they die.

Differences between plants and animals.

Living things are classified into plants and animals. They exhibit all the characteristics of living things. Below are notable differences between plants and animals with regards to how they carry out life processes.

Plants:

1. Do not move from place to place and move only parts of the body.
2. Manufacture their food. They are autotrophs
3. They have no special excretory organs.
4. Growth is indefinite and is terminal
5. They Store carbohydrate as starch.
6. Response to stimulus is slow
7. Do not have any specialised respiratory system.

Animals:

1. Move from place to place (locomotion), they move with the whole body.
2. They depend on already made food, they are heterotrophs
3. They Have special excretory organs.
4. Growth is definite and in all parts of the body
5. They Store Carbohydrates as glycogen.
6. Response to stimulus is fast
7. Has a special respiratory system

 

In our next class, we will be talking about the Classification of Living Things.  We hope you enjoyed the class.

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