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Characteristics of Living Things. MRS FERG. M ovement R espiration S ensitivity F eeding E xcretion R eproduction G rowth. Plant Kingdom. Animal Kingdom. Movement the ability of an organism to change position
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MRS FERG • Movement • Respiration • Sensitivity • Feeding • Excretion • Reproduction • Growth
Movementthe ability of an organism to change position • Some organisms can move the entire body e.g. single-celled organisms like Amoeba • Some organisms can move part of the body e.g. plants • Some organisms can move boththeir entire body, and each section of the body eg insects, amphibians, reptiles, mammals • Most organisms move towards things they need and away from things that harm them
carbon dioxide glucose water energy oxygen Respirationis the release of energy from food • Glucose in the food is broken down inside cells, and energy is released • Most organisms use oxygen for this process – so it is called aerobic respiration cell
Sensitivity/Responseis the ability of an organism to gather information and respond to it • Some of the things that cause living organisms to respond are light, sound, touch, chemicals, gravity…e.g. roots grow downwards in response to gravity, shoots grow towards light • Both plants and animals use their sense of touch when climbing • Predatorsuse sound and smell to hunt for prey
Feeding/Nutritionmeans obtaining food • All living organisms need food as a source of energy • Plants can make their own food using energy from the sun (photosynthesis) • Animals need to find an external source of food
Excretionis the removal of toxic chemical substances made in the body • toxic substances are poisonous and may harm cells if not removed • examples of toxic substances are carbon dioxide and urea NH3
Scientists have a name for the “children” of all living organisms – they say OFFSPRING Reproductionmeans producing more organisms of the species • Some organisms reproduce from one parent only – this is called ASEXUAL reproduction • Other organisms reproduce by combining one cell from a male with one cell from a female – this is called SEXUAL reproduction
Growththe development of an organism into an adult • For micro-organisms, this means their cell grows to full size before reproducing • For multi-celled organisms, this means that cells divide, organs grow in size, and systems develop maturity