Living things are organisms that exhibit the seven essential characteristics: movement, respiration, sensitivity, growth, reproduction, excretion, and nutrition (MRSGREN).
Key Characteristics
Movement: All living things move in some way to interact with their environment.
Respiration: Release of energy from food to sustain life processes.
Sensitivity: Ability to detect and respond to changes in the environment.
Growth: Permanent increase in size and mass of an organism.
Reproduction: Ability to produce offspring to continue the species.
Excretion: Removal of metabolic waste products from the body.
Nutrition: Obtaining food for energy and growth (autotrophic or heterotrophic).
Examples
Plants grow towards light (movement and sensitivity).
Humans respire to release energy from food.
Bacteria reproduce rapidly under favorable conditions.
Practice Questions
List the seven characteristics of living things. (7 marks)
Explain why reproduction is essential for living organisms. (3 marks)
Give two differences between living and non-living things. (4 marks)
Describe how a plant shows sensitivity to its environment. (3 marks)
Short answer: What is nutrition? Give an example. (2 marks)