Living organisms and the environment Topic: Characteristics of living things There are seven characteristic of living things.

Nutrition What is nutrition? Nutrition is the taking in of food into the body, in order to make energy and provide the materials for building up the body parts.

Types of nutrition Autotrophic The ability to make their own food. Plants can make their own food from simple substances: carbon dioxide, water and mineral salts. Heterotrophic Organisms obtain ready made organic food. They eat plants or animals which have eaten plants.

Types of feeding 1. Herbivores: Eat plants ( Rabbits, cows etc)

2. Carnivores: Eat animals ( Lion, tigers etc)

3. Omnivores: Eat both plants and animals (Humans)

Growth A permanent increase in size and complexity. All living things grow. Animals grow until they reach a certain adult size but most plants can grow continuously throughout their lives.

Movement The change in position of a whole organism or parts of an organism. All living things are capable of movement. Most animals move about using legs, wings or fins. Plants move by growing. Their roots grow down into the soil, and their shoots grow up into the air or towards a source of light.

Reproduction/ reproduce Giving rise to new organisms which have similar characteristics to their parent (s). All living things reproduce, to release organisms lost by death. If a group of organisms does not reproduce fast enough to replace those which die, the group becomes extinct.

Some very small organisms can reproduce by splitting in two. This is an example of asexual reproduction. Plant flowers contain sexual organs which produce seeds, and the seeds grow into new plants.

Sensitivity/ Irritability/ Response

The ability to detect and respond to changes in the environment. All living things are sensitive to certain changes in their surrounding. This means that, to a certain extent, they are aware of what is happening around them. Many animal use sense organs such as eyes and ears to find out things about their surrounding.

Respiration/ Respire

The release of energy from food. All living things need energy for movement, to work the organs of the body and for growth. This energy is obtained from food by a process called respiration.

During respiration, a number of chemical changes release energy from food, usually by combing the food with oxygen.

Excretion/ Excrete The removal of waste products of metabolism. All living things produce waste, such as carbon dioxide (which is a waste of respiration), water, urine, and other chemical.