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Characteristics of living organisms

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visibility 141update 10 months agobookmarkshare

Living and non-living

How do you know when something is alive? If it is a person, you can check to see if they are breathing, or if they have a heartbeat.

Plants don’t breathe or have hearts, yet they are alive.

Living things are called organisms. Living organisms have a set of seven characteristics that make them different from non-living things.

Nutrition: Plants feed by photosynthesis. Bears eat meat.
Growth: All living organisms grow.
Movement: Living organisms can move.
Sensitivity: Living organisms are sensitive to changes going on around them.
Excretion: Living organisms get rid of waste materials, such as carbon dioxide.
Reproduction: Living organisms can produce young.
Respiration: Food is broken down inside cells to provide energy.

These questions are about the picture of the polar bears. Copy and complete the sentences.

Use these words. You can use each word once, more than once or not at all.

carbon dioxide, chewing, feeding, growth, movement,
oxygen, sight, smell, reproduce, respiration

1. Another word for taking in nutrition is ___________.

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feeding

2. Polar bears can sense things in their environment. For example, with their nose they can sense the ___________ of meat.

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smell

3. All living organisms excrete waste substances. Animals excrete ___________ when they breathe out.

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carbon dioxide

4. Living organisms ___________ to make more of the same kind of organism.

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reproduce

5. Young plants and animals get bigger. This is called ___________.

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growth

6. All living organisms break down some of the food they eat, to provide them with energy. This happens in a process called ___________.

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chewing

7. Most living organisms can change the shape and position of their bodies. This is called ___________.

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movement