Characteristics of Life
Infographic showing the 7 traits of living things.
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All living beings must show every one of these seven characteristics.
Understand and apply the 7 essential characteristics of living beings to differentiate them from non-living things.
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A hook comparing clouds (which grow and move) to living things.
A cloud grows larger, moves across the sky, and produces "waste" as rain. But is a cloud actually alive?
It is easy to get tricked! Many non-living things share one or two traits with living beings. For example, a car moves, and a crystal grows.
Explanation of Nutrition, Respiration, Excretion, Stimuli, Reproduction, Movement, and Growth.
Every living being requires energy to survive. Nutrition is the process of taking in food to fuel growth and development.
But food alone isn't enough; living things must also breathe. This process is called respiration. Animals inhale and exhale, while plants take air in and out through tiny pores on their leaves called stomata.
Infographic showing the 7 traits of living things.
All living beings must show every one of these seven characteristics.
A matrix comparing different objects across the 7 characteristics.
| Subject | Grows? | Respires? | Needs Food? | Reproduces? | Moves? | Final Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ✏️ Pencil | No | No | No | No | No | Non-living |
| 🐦 Pigeon | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Living |
| 🚗 Car | No | No | No | No | Yes | Non-living |
| 🌱 Plant | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Living |
| ☁️ Cloud | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Non-living |
Fill-in-the-blanks testing key vocabulary.
In the process of breathing, plants use tiny pores called on the surface of their leaves to take air in and out. The removal of waste products from the body is a vital process known as . When you step on a thorn or touch a hot object, your body reacts instantly; anything that prompts living beings to respond is called a . For instance, the leaves of the touch-me-not plant fold up as an instant to being touched. Even though plants don't travel from place to place like animals, they still show by opening their flowers or growing toward sunlight.