Characteristics of Living Things
Vocabulary
Living (Biotic)
Has all characteristics of living things
Non-living (Abiotic)
Does not have all the characteristics of living things
Dead
Had all of the characteristics of living things at one time, but no longer has the
characteristics of living things
Living things (Biotic):
All living things are:
1. Made of cells
2. Ingest (take in nutrients)
3. Digest (break down nutrients)
4. Sense and respond to stimuli in order to maintain homeostasis
a. Homestasis=constant internal conditions
b. Stimulus=change in the environment (homeostasis is interrupted when a
stimulus happens); example-you sweat when your body is warm
c. Your body attempts to “stay right” or you may die (you need homeostasis)
5. Grow and repair
a. Cells grow larger
b. Cells multiply (multicellur only)
c. Wounded cells heal (plants too!)
d. Cells differentiate (get different) multicellular only
6. Reproduce by passing on DNA to their offspring
7. Excrete (release wastes)
Non-living
In order to be considered non-living, it must not have any of the 7 characteristics of living things
Examples: chair, pen, desk, water
OR
It was living or dead at one time and has been chemically altered or processed
Examples: paper, leather shoes, apple juice
Dead
In order to consider something dead, it must have been alive at one time and it no longer has
any of the 7 characteristics of living things.