Living vs Non-Living Things

Characteristics of Living Things At your table grouping, use your whiteboard to record your thoughts on the following questions: What are characteristics or features of living things? What are some examples of living things? What are some examples of non-living things?

Living things… Are organized and made of cells Example: Organism  organ systems  organs  tissue  cell  organelles

2. Reproduce Asexual reproduction: one parent, offspring are identical Sexual reproduction: two parents, offspring are different (genetically)

3. Grow and develop Grow…get larger Develop…structural change (puberty, life cycles of insects/frogs)

4. Respond to their surroundings Response to stimulus Homeostasis: An organism maintains and keeps the same conditions in order to survive Example: A person sweats (response) when they’re hot (stimulus) to maintain the constant body temperature needed to stay alive

5. Require energy Autotroph: makes it’s own energy, like plants doing photosynthesis Heterotroph: has to consume or eat things to get energy

6. Adapt and evolve Adapt: Anything that enables an organism to survive Evolve: Changes in characteristics of an entire species over a long, long, long time