Seven

characteristics of
Living Things
 Organisms

• An ORGANISM is a living thing

• All organisms share characteristics that
separate them from non-living things
• All organisms share SEVEN
characteristics that make them alive.
 All living things…
are made up of cells.
• A cell is the smallest “unit of life”

• CELL: the smallest basic unit of structure

and organization of all living organisms

• Some organisms have only a single cell…

others have many – the human body
contains over 100 trillion cells

That’s 100,000,000,000,000!!
 All living things…
display organization.
• Arranged in an orderly way
• Cells Tissues Organs
Organ Systems Organism
 All living things…
grow and develop
• Growth: addition of mass to an
organism

• Development:the process that occurs in an

organism's life that results in a more
complex organism.
 All living things…
reproduce.
Basically, this means that they can make more of their
own kind!
• SPECIES: A group of organisms that mate together
and have fertile offspring

• Asexual Reproduction – when a single parent

doubles its contents and splits in two to create a
new organism (ex:bacteria)
MITOSIS

• Sexual Reproduction – when two different parents

unite to produce a new organism ( for example
humans)
 All living things…
are sensitive to stimuli.
• Stimuli: Anything from the
environment that causes
some sort of reaction, such
as temperature, light,
sound, and other factors
that cause living things to
respond. Nonliving objects
(rocks for instance) do not
respond to stimuli!
 All living things…
need nutrition.
Used to run the processes of life
• Humans (and other animals) get
energy from the food we eat
• Plants get energy from the sunlight,
through a process called
photosynthesis
 All living things…
undergo cellular
respiration.
Used to run the
processes of life
• Living organisms
break down food
inside cells
(mitochondria) to
obtain energy.
 All living things…
perform excretion.
Used to remove or eliminate waste
products
• In human beings and • In plants, waste
other animals excretion is products are
done by lungs, kidney and obtained through
skin. cellular respiration
and photosynthesis
are removed by
leaves.
 All living things…
can move.
Living things can move without outside
/ external help.
• Humans (and other animals) move
using musculoskeletal system.
 All living things…
can move.
Living things can move without outside
/ external help.
• Parts of plants can track movement
of sun or even track water sources.
Quick Group Discussion!!!
• What about dead things?
Seven characteristics of
Living Things
1. Grow and develop
2. Reproduce
3. Respond to stimuli
4. Require and use nutrition
5. Undergo cellular respiration
6. Perform excretion
7. Can undergo movement