Features of Living Things

1.0Nutrition

Animals and plants feed to obtain the substances they need for growth, for energy and for the replacement of worn-out parts.

“This process of taking in food and other substances for survival is called nutrition”. 

Plants and animals take food in different ways. Animals cannot make their own food and take in their food by eating other plants and animals. Thus, these organisms are classified as heterotrophs.

Green plants are autotrophs as they contain chlorophyll and hence synthesize their own food with the help of sunlight, carbon dioxide and water and this process of making food in plants is referred to as photosynthesis. 

Sunlight, Carbon dioxide (CO₂), Water (H₂O) and chlorophyll are essential for photosynthesis. Plants give Oxygen (O₂) during photosynthesis which is utilized by animals for respiration. Animals gives Carbon dioxide (CO₂) during respiration which is utilized by plants for photosynthesis.

Non-living things do not take any type of food. 

2.0Growth

Growth means increase in size. All the living things can grow. The young ones of all living things (plants and animals) grow and become bigger in size with the passing of time.

All the living things grow from a 'single cell'. The growth in living things is from within the living thing (or living organism). The growth in living things occurs by the division of the single cell to form a large number of cells. As a living thing grows the number of cells in its body go on increasing. Non-living things do not grow.

3.0Repair

Local growth helps in repair. The edges of a skin-wound grow and heal it. Fractured bones re-join by local growth and repair. House lizards often break off their tails to escape danger, the tail regrows after a certain period. In contrast to this, a non-living thing cannot repair by itself, e.g., a torn piece of cloth has to be stitched as it cannot repair on its own.

4.0Respiration

All the living things need energy to grow, move and stay alive. They get this energy from food through respiration. Respiration is the chemical process in which food taken by an organism is broken down with help of oxygen to release energy. This energy is used by the organism to carry out its various life processes. Human respires by lungs while fishes respire by gills.

5.0Excretion

The living things produce some waste materials in their bodies during the various life processes. Many of these waste materials are poisonous to the living things so they have to be removed. The removal of waste substances from the body of a living organism is called excretion.

6.0Movement and locomotion

All the living things move by themselves (without any external help). Animals can move from one place to another or they can move their body parts. For example, a frog moves when it jumps into a pond.

The act of moving from place to place is known as locomotion. It involves the movement of the whole body as in walking, running, swimming or flying. Movement is the change in position of only a part of the body, as movement of stem towards light in plants.

The plants are fixed in the soil at a place, so they cannot move like animals from place to place. The plants can move only parts of their body such as leaves, flowers, shoots and roots. The plant parts move towards a stimulus such as sunlight, water or gravity. But these movements are much slower as compared to movements shown by animals. Opening and closing of flowers and stomata, rolling and unrolling of leaves as seen in touch me not plant are some of the movements shown by plants. Lotus flowers open in the morning and close by sunset. Stomata of leaf open during daytime and close at night.

In living things, movement is caused by internal factors such as muscles pulling on bones, contraction and relaxation of only muscles or by the action of chemicals called hormones (as in plants).

Non-living things cannot move by themselves. For example, a rock or a car is a non-living thing which cannot move by itself from one place to another. They are moved by some outside force or energy such as battery. 

7.0Response to Stimuli (Sensitivity)

All the living things respond to changes around them. The changes in surrounding to which living things respond are called stimuli ('stimuli' is the plural of stimulus). The living things show response to external stimuli such as heat, light, touch, sound and chemicals.  For example, if a man touches a very hot object accidentally, he quickly pulls his hand away from the hot object. In this case, the stimulus is heat and the man responds by moving his hand away from the hot object. 

Living things respond to stimuli. If we touch the leaves of a Mimosa (touch me not) plant with our fingers, then its leaves fold and droop.

Plants respond to light. If a potted plant is kept in the open space, the stem of plant grows straight up towards the source of light “sun”.

Non-living things do not respond to changes in their surroundings. For example, a rock is a non-living thing which does not respond to stimuli like heat, light, touch, sound etc.

8.0Reproduction

The process by which living organisms produce new members of their species is called reproduction. Some animals reproduce by giving birth to their young ones whereas some animals lay eggs. For example, human beings reproduce by giving birth to babies. The animals such as dogs, cats, cow, horse, deer, lion and tiger etc., also reproduce by giving birth to their young ones. The animals like birds and fish reproduce through eggs. Birds lay eggs which on hatching produce young ones. When these eggs are hatched, young ones (baby birds) come out of these eggs.

Like animals, plants also have different modes of reproduction. 

Many plants reproduce through seeds. When the seeds are sown in the moist soil, the seeds germinate and grow into new plants. Most of the common crop plants such as wheat, corn (makka), paddy (rice), Bengal gram (chana) etc., reproduce or grow through their seeds.

Only living things are capable of reproduction whereas non-living things are incapable of reproduction.

9.0Life span

Different kinds of living things remain alive for different duration of time. The time period for which a living thing remains alive is called its life span. For example, man has an average life span of 60 to 70 years. The life span of some insects seen during rainy season is of only a few hours whereas the life span of a tortoise, is more than 100 years. Most of the large trees have longer life spans than animals. Non-living things do not have a definite life span.

All living things follow a cycle of growth & development by which an organism takes birth, grows into an adult, gets old and dies. This is known as the life cycle of organism for example, there are different stages in the life cycle of frog starting from the egg to adult:

Egg → tadpole larva → adult.

A frog lays eggs in large number. The baby that hatches out of a frog's egg is called tadpole. The tadpole undergoes several changes before it becomes an adult frog. Some features that are present in adult are not found in young ones. The tadpoles transform into adult capable of jumping and swimming.

10.0Adaptability

A living thing can survive in a particular habitat if its body is suited (or adapted) to the conditions or environment of that habitat. Plants and animals develop special characteristics or features in their body in order to survive in their habitat (or surroundings). The presence of specific body features (or certain habits) which enable a plant or an animal to live in a particular habitat is called adaptation.

For example, Camel lives in hot desert where water is scarce. The body structure of a camel helps it to survive in desert conditions. The camel has long legs which help to keep its body away from the hot sand in the desert. A camel can drink large amount of water (when it is available) and store it in the body. It passes small amount of urine; its dung is dry and it does not sweat.  The hump of the camel stores fat. The camel break down the fat into energy and water. These adaptations help it to survive for many days without water in the desert.  Non-living things do not have this ability to adapt to their environment. 

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