Living or Non Living What makes something alive?

Objective  To determine what traits are shared amongst living organisms.  Directions: As you see the picture, record the following information in your table.  1. Name of specimen  2. Classify as Living or Nonliving  3. Give 2 reasons why you said living or nonliving.

Specimen 1

Specimen 2

Specimen 3

Specimen 4

Specimen 5

Specimen 6

Traits Shared by ALL Living Organisms  Every living thing has to be able to do or possess all 5 of these traits in order to be considered alive.

Cells  All living things must be made of one or more cells. Life is organized from simple (unicellular) organisms to complex (multicellular organisms).

Reproduce  All living things must be able to exchange or share their DNA.

Energy Exchange (metabolism)  All living things must be able to break down or metabolize to obtain usable energy to run their system.

Respond  All living things must respond to changes in their environment to maintain homeostasis.

Adapt/Variations  Traits giving an organism an advantage to survive in changing conditions.  Variations increase the chance for some on the species to survive.

Analysis Questions  1. What organisms did you say were living or once living?

Analysis Questions  2. What organisms did you say were nonliving?

Analysis Questions  3. Summarize your traits for the organisms that you said were alive or once alive, what do you think makes something alive?

Analysis Questions  4. What were your nonliving organisms lacking? Why did you classify them as not alive?

Analysis Questions  5. List all of the characteristics that must be present in order for something to be considered alive.

Analysis Questions  6. When we say All living things, what do we mean? (Give examples of life big and small)