 Characteristics of Living Things What do all living things have in common?

Living Things  In science we tend to use specific language  We call all living things organisms  Organisms are divided into five kingdoms: Animals Plants Fungi Protista Prokaryotes

Cells  A cell is the smallest unit of an organism that can be considered alive.  They are the building blocks of life

Characteristics of Life  Movement  Excretion  Reproduction  Respiration  Nutrition  Sensitivity or Response  Growth  Characteristics are features or things we can use to identify an object  For something to be considered alive it must display 7 characteristics MRS GREN

Movement  Living things must move around their environment to find  Food  To escape predators  Shelter  Other members of their species

Nutrition  All organisms must take in nutrients (food) to grow, develop, and reproduce.  Plants are the only group of organisms that can produce their own nutrients  Photosynthesis

Excretion  All living things create waste products that they must remove from their system  There are several ways  Urination  Defecation  Sweating  Exhalation (Animals release CO 2, Plants release O 2 )

Sensitivity Organisms detect and respond to stimuli from their environment. Predators The weather Light Try this, face a partner have them close and cover their eyes with their hands for 30 seconds. After thirty seconds have them remove their hands quickly and observe their eyes immediately. What did you notice? What was the stimulus? What was the response?

Reproduction  The ability to create more of the same species (offspring), to prevent extinction.  Sexual Reproduction  Two organisms needed  Asexual Reproduction  Only one organism needed  A form of cloning =

 Most plants and animals reproduce sexually. This means cells from two different parents fuse to form the first cell of the new organism.  This creates genetic diversity Reproduction

 Other organisms reproduce asexually in which a single parent produces offspring that are identical to themselves.  Offspring are genetic clones of the parent and this leads to poor genetic diversity. Reproduction

Growth  Growth results from cells dividing.  This happens continuously through an organisms life. As the amount of cells increases the organism gets bigger.

Respiration  Aerobic respiration  Anaerobic Respiration Respiration is a chemical reaction that happens in all living cells. It is the way that energy is released from glucose (food), for our cells to use to keep us functioning. Remember that respiration is not the same as breathing.

Organisms Animals Plants Prokaryotes Protists Fungi Jellyfish, worms, arthropods, molluscs, echinoderms, amphibians, fish, reptiles, birds and mammals. Seed bearing plants and non-seed bearing plants Bacteria and primitive algae Single-celled organisms Moulds, mushrooms and toadstools

Animals Vertebrates Invertebrates

Vertebrates  Animals that have a backbone and an internal skeleton  Mammals  Fish  Reptiles  Amphibians  Birds

Animals Vertebrates Invertebrates

Animals that do not have a backbone or an internal skeleton They may have an exoskeleton, that acts like armour. Crustaceans Insects Arachnids Molluscs Echinoderms Cnidaria

Classification Keys

Despite the fact that 99.9% of all living organisms, that ever existed, are now extinct there is still a large variety on Earth today. Hence it is important to be able to classify organisms in order to be able to find out their names. Also classification helps scientists to be able to understand the relationships between organisms and to investigate the theory of evolution. Now we will try a simple sorting activity to organize some dogs into groups according to their similarities... Classification Keys

Divide the dogs into two groups Group AGroup B We divide the dogs into groups by asking a question to which there is a yes or no answer... Is the dog large (above 65cm)?

Large DogsSmall Dogs We can now divide each group down into further sub divisions...

white and grey coatsbrown and black coats What question could be used to divide the large dogs down into further groups? Does the dog have a brown and black coat? No Yes

Finally the groups can be divided down into individual dogs to which we can then give the names. What question has been used to separate these two dogs? Does the dog have curly hair? Airedale TerrierRotweiller yes no

1. Is the dog over 65cm tall? If yes go to question 2 If no go to question 5 2. Does the dog have a brown and black coat? If yes go to question 3 If no go to question 4 3. Does the dog have a wooly coat? Yes… Airedale Terrier No…Rotweiller Create The List of Questions

1. Is the dog over 65cm tall? If yes go to question 2 If no go to question 5 2. Does the dog have a brown and black coat? If yes go to question 3 If no go to question 4 3. Does the dog have a wooly coat? Yes… Airedale Terrier No…Rotweiller Copy down the key and then complete it to classify the rest of the large dogs. Hint: you will write question 4 Question: What will question 5 be about? Answer> The small dogs. Activity

Example Answer Does the tail curl upwards? Question 4 Yes No Akita Old English sheepdog

Activity Now complete the key, starting with question 5, for the small dogs. You can make your own questions up.

Does the dog have a snub nose? YesNo Question 5 Go to question 6Go to question 7 Example Answer

Does the dog have long hair? Question 6 YesNo Pekinese Bulldog

Question 7 Does the dog have very long ears? Yes No Basset hound Dachsund

Scientific Names Equs Asinus Camelus Camelidae Felis catus Pan troglodytes Crocodilia niloticus Hippopotamus amphibious Panthera leo Macrpus macropodidae Rodentia muridae Cannis familiaris Donkey Camel Cat Chimpanzee Crocodile Hippopotamus Lion Mouse Dog Kangaroo