Distinguishing Living and Non-living Things

Distinguishing Living and Non-living Things

• Living things exhibit characteristics including growth, reproduction, and response to stimuli, while non-living things do not.

• Living things require energy to survive, and utilize metabolism to convert this energy. Non-living things do not exhibit metabolism.

Features of Living Things

• Growth: Living organisms increase in size and complexity over time. This involves cellular division, increased cell size, and accumulation of matter.

• Reproduction: Living organisms produce offspring, either asexually (from a single parent) or sexually (two parents). This allows the species to continue.

• Response to Stimuli: Living beings react to their environment. This can include physical stimuli (touch, light, temperature) and chemical stimuli.

• Metabolism: Living things carry out chemical processes to use and store energy. This includes processes like photosynthesis and cellular respiration.

• Adaptation: Over time, living organisms evolve to better suit their environment. This adaptation allows a species to survive and succeed.

Features of Non-Living Things

• Inanimate: Non-living things aren't composed of cells or alive. They remain the same size and shape over time.

• No Reproduction: Non-living things do not reproduce. They can't produce offspring.

• No Response to Stimuli: Non-living things don't react to changes in their environment.

• No Metabolism: Non-living materials do not carry out metabolic processes.

Examples

• Living things (examples): Plants, animals, bacteria, fungi, protists.

• Non-living things (examples): Rocks, water, air, metals, minerals. Even if made of cells, a part of a plant (like a leaf) that has stopped functioning is considered non-living.

Key Concepts

• Organization: Living things exhibit a high degree of organized structure, from cells to complex organs and systems.

• Cells: The fundamental unit of life in living things.

• Ecosystems: Interdependent relationships between living organisms and their non-living environment.

• Energy Flow: Energy flows from one organism to another within an ecosystem.

• Homeostasis: Maintaining a relatively stable internal environment.

• Evolution: The continuous process of change over time in living organisms.