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Living & Non Living

Characteristic of living thing :

There are seven processes that are common to living things. These
seven processes are movement, respiration, sensitivity, growth,
reproduction, excretion and nutrition.

MRS GREN
Living things have certain life processes in common. There are seven
things that they need to do to count as being alive. The phrase MRS
GREN is a way to remember them:

M Movement All living things move, even plants

R Respiration Getting energy from food
S Sensitivity Detecting changes in the surroundings
G Growth All living things grow
R Reproduction Making more living things of the same type
E Excretion Getting rid of waste
N Nutrition Taking in and using food

Respiration
Respiration is a chemical reaction that happens in all living cells. It is the
way that energy is released from glucose, for our cells to use to keep us
functioning.
Remember that respiration is not the same as breathing.( Breathing is
taking oxygen inside the body and giving out carbon dioxide)
Aerobic respiration
The glucose and oxygen react together in the cells to produce carbon
dioxide and water. The reaction is called aerobic respiration because
oxygen from the air is needed for it to work.
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Here is the word equation for aerobic respiration:

glucose + oxygen → carbon dioxide + water (+ energy)
(Energy is released in the reaction. This energy is used by our body.)

Anaerobic respiration: Anaerobic respiration is a type

of respiration that does not use oxygen. It is used when there is not
enough oxygen for aerobic respiration. Examples of anaerobic
respiration are alcohol fermentation, lactic acid fermentation
fermentation, idli ,dosa
batter fermentation, Yogurt and Cheese fermentation and in
decomposition of organic matter.

Movement & Response to stimuli or sensitivity

This allows them to change their position in their environment to obtain

essential requirements such as water, air and food as well as to protect
themselves, or locate a mate.
Plants are slower and more limited in their movement.

Sensitivity

It is important that living things can sense, and respond to, changing
factors in their environment. Information taken in through the senses is
processed to allow a response which helps it to survive. For example, if
you are too close to a fire, you usuallyy go back to prevent yourself being
burnt. You know whether you are too close by sensing with your eyes
(you see flames), heat detectors in the skin pick up warmth, your nose
picks up the smell of burning and your ears hear the crackling fire.

Similarly, plants can sense and respond to light, water and gravity.

 Plants do move as demonstrated by Sunflowers that rotate to

follow the Sun and pea plant tentacles that coil around a branch.

 Plants do respond to changes in their environment as their shoots

grow towards light and their roots grow downwards.

 Plants carry out two main chemical processes, photosynthesis and

respiration. Photosynthesis is the process by which plants make
their own food which is then broken down by respiration to
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produce energy. Plant cells need to make energy to keep the plant
working and hence staying alive.

Growth

This involves both an increase in size, and repair of damaged parts.

Unlike crystals which grow only on their outer edges, living things take in
nutrients, change them and then use them as building blocks wherever
required throughout the organism.

Excretion

All life functions create wastes which must be removed from the organism
or these would build up and become poisonous. In humans, these include
carbon dioxide (removed via the lungs), excess salts and water (removed
through the skin and the kidneys), and unused waste food (removed as
faeces). Excess heat is also continuously lost from the body through the
skin.

Nutrition

In all living things, there is a continual need to take in food for the
nutrients which are required for growth, as well as energy.

Living things can be unicellular or multicellular

Unicellular organism:

An organism with only one cell is called a unicellular organism.

Unicellular organisms can be complex too, even though they are simply
a one-cell organism. They include bacteria, yeast, amoeba and
paramecia.

Multicellular organism:

These are organisms that are made up of more than one cell. These
organisms have very clear cell structures, with many cell types
performing different specialized functions. For example, blood cells only
specialize in blood production, and hair cells only specialize in hair
growth and repair. The do not mix up. In a multicellular organism,
organization of the cells are very important.