Living things and Non-living Things
We see many things in our surroundings. Everything that
we see can be categorized into two groups – living things and non-living
things. All animals and plants including us are living things. The pencil we
write with, the book we read, the toys we play with are all non-living things.
All livings thing displays the following
characteristics of life
Living thing need food
Living things need food to obtain energy, to grow and
to stay healthy. Plants make their own food by the process of photosynthesis.
Animal get their food from plants and other animal.
Living things breathe
All living things need to breathe. Different animals
use different organ to breathe for example some animal use their nose, fishes
uses their gills and worms use their skin. We breathe in oxygen and breathe out
carbon dioxide through our nose. Plants breathe through opening present in
their leaves called stomata.
Living things grow and develop
When living thing eats they receive energy which helps
them in their growth. Living things grow from smaller to larger and finally
become adult. We human being born and grow into adults. Seed grows into baby
plant and finally into big plant or tree.
Living things die
All living thing grow and become old and finally die.
Living things move
All living things show some sort of movements. They can
move their body part .Plant usually do not move from one place to another but can
move their parts. For example, they move its root downward to obtain water and
mineral nutrients from soil and the shoot upward for sunlight. All living show internal movement and some
living things show external movement too such as walking, jumping, flying,
Living things feel
Living things react to changes in their environment.
They usually respond to touch, light, heat, cold and sound etc.
Living things reproduce
All living things produce new organism of its kind. Some
animals produce babies and some lay eggs. Plants mainly reproduce through seeds
which can germinate in suitable condition and grow into new plants.
Note: -To be called living thing, particular thing
should have all above characteristics. For example car show few characteristics
of living things such as it need fuel for energy and can move from one place to
another but it is not a living thing as it does not have other characteristics
of living things.