Characteristics of living organisms

Characteristics of living organisms

Every living organism have certain traits that it needs to be
demonstrating in order for it to classify as “living”. There are 7
characteristics that we need to go through. If even a single one of these
characteristics are not present in an organism, then it not alive.

1. Movement – An action by an organism or part of an organism

causing a change of position or place
2. Respiration – The chemical reactions in cells that break down
nutrient molecules and release energy for metabolism
3. Sensitivity – The ability to detect or sense stimuli in the internal or
external environment and to make appropriate responses
4. Growth – Permanent increase in size and dry mass by an increase
in cell number or cell size or both
5. Reproduction – The processes that make more of the same kind of
organism
6. Excretion – Removal from organisms of the waste products of
metabolism (chemical reactions in cells including respiration),
toxic materials, and substances in excess of requirements
7. Nutrition -Taking in of materials for energy, growth and
development; plants require light, carbon dioxide, water and ions;
animals need organic compounds and ions and usually need water

Concept and use of classification system

Organisms can be classified into groups by features that they share.
Classification systems aim to therefore classify groups of organisms in
a systemic way, in order to reflect their evolutionary relationships.

Before the advance of technology and science, classification was

traditionally based on morphology and anatomy. Basically this means
that if certain organisms “looked” similar and shared similar features,
then they would be classified under the same umbrella. But it is
important to understand that now, we can more accurately classify
organisms by analyzing their DNA (rather than look at appearance
alone). Organisms which share similar DNA base sequences and
protein amino acid sequences are more likely to be closely related.

Every organism has a scientific name. The binomial system is an

internationally agreed system in which the scientific name of an
organisms is made up of two parts (Genus & Species). The Genus is a
generic term used in the classification of living organisms or binomial
nomenclature and species is a group of organisms that can reproduce to
produce fertile offspring.

For example: Homo sapiens

It is important to understand here that Homo represents the genus

and is always starts in capital letters. Sapiens is the species and is all
lower case and in italics.

Features of organisms
All organisms are made of cells. Although the cellular structure may be
different depending on the type of organism, there are certain things
that are universally shared across every single organism:

• Cytoplasm
• Cell membrane
• DNA
• Ribosomes
• Enzymes
Now, we can actually organize every single organism into 5 main
categories called “kingdoms”. Here are the 5 kingdoms that you need
to know:

• Animal (i.e. Lion)

• Plant (i.e. Tree)
• Fungus (i.e. Yeast)
• Prokaryote (i.e. Bacteria)
• Protoctist (i.e. Marimo)

You need to know the features of these 5 kingdoms so that for a given
example of an organism, you can determine the kingdom it belongs in.
Here is a simple table to help you.
Now that we understand the features of the 5 kingdoms, we can
actually branch further. The syllabus wants you to understand how to
classify different “types” of animals and plants. In the animal kingdom,
animals they can further be classed as vertebrates (with backbone) or
invertebrates (no backbone).
In the plant kingdom, plants can be classed into either flowering plants
or ferns. The table below (Oxford Revision Guide 2018) demonstrates
the further classification of both the animal and the plant kingdom.
Dichotomous keys
A dichotomous key is a tool that allows the user to determine the
identity of items in the natural world, such as trees, wildflowers,
mammals, reptiles, rocks, and fish. Keys consist of a series of choices
that lead the user to the correct name of a given item.

For example, use the key to answer the question

1. Wings present ……………………………………… Go to 2

Wings absent ……………………………………….. Go to 3
2. One pair of wings visible ………………………………. A
Two pairs of wings visible …………………………….. B
3. Three pairs of legs …………………………………………. C
Two pairs of legs …………………………………………… D

Since this insect has wins, and has two pairs visible, the answer is B!