Characteristics

& classification
of living things
1.1 Characteristics of living things

MRS GREN

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Movement Action - change in place or position

Respiration
Chemical reactions that breakdown nutrients
to release energy

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Sensitivity Ability to detect stimuli and respond to them

Growth
Permanent increase of size and dry mass of
an organisms.

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Reproduction Process of making new individual for organisms

Excretion
Process of removing waste products of
metabolism

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 Obtaining food to provide energy and
Nutrition substances needed for growth

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1.2 Classification
⊳ Define and describe the binomial system
⊳ What is traditional classification based on?
⊳ What do classification today aim to show and
how can this be presented?
⊳ List in order of the classification system
⊳ Define species

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Binomial system
- Internationally agreed naming system
- Creating a scientific names

Genus + species
Rules of writing the scientific names
a) Underlined if written with hand
b) Italic if typed
c) First word (Genus) must be capital, second word (species) lowercase.
Linnaeus system
- Traditional naming / classification system.
- Classifying species based on morphology and
anatomy
- Not accurate
Modern Classification
- By using sequences of bases in DNA (amino acids
in protein)
- This method is more accurate and can be used to
reflect evolutionary relationships in phylogenetic
tree.
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Naming Species

Species : Group of organisms that can

reproduce to produce fertile offspring.
1.3 Features of organisms
- All living organisms must consists of cells.

cytoplasm Ribosomes
Enzymes
DNA Cell
membrane

Genetic materials

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Features of organisms

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5 Main Kingdoms

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Animal Kingdom
⊳ they are multicellular
⊳ their cells contain a nucleus but no cell walls or chloroplasts
⊳ they feed on organic substances made by other living things

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Plant Kingdom
● they are multicellular
● their cells contain a nucleus, chloroplasts and cellulose cell walls
● they all feed by photosynthesis

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Fungi Kingdom
Main features of all fungi (e.g. moulds, mushrooms, yeast)

● usually multicellular
● cells have nuclei and cell walls not made from cellulose
● do not photosynthesize but feed by saprophytic (on dead or decaying material) or parasitic
(on live material) nutrition

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Protoctist Kingdom
● most are unicellular but some are multicellular
● all have a nucleus, some may have cell walls and chloroplasts
● meaning some protoctists photosynthesise and some feed on organic substances made by
other living things
● Example : Amoeba, paramecium

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Prokaryotes Kingdom
● often unicellular
● cells have cell walls (not made of cellulose) and cytoplasm but no nucleus or mitochondria
● Example : Blue green algae, bacteria

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1.4 Classifying animals.

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1.5 Classification of plants
Plants

Non Flowering
Flowering
Plants

Monocotyledon Dicotyledon Ferns Moss

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Non- Flowering Plants

● Have leaves called fronds

● Do not produce flowers but instead reproduce by spores
produced on the underside of fronds

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Flowering Plants

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1.6 Viruses
● Viruses are not considered as living things
● They do not carry out the seven life processes for themselves, instead they
take over a host cell’s metabolic pathways in order to make multiple copies
of themselves
● Virus structure is simply genetic material (RNA or DNA) inside a protein coat

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1.7 Dichotomous key

● Keys are used to identify organisms based on a series of questions about

their features
● Dichotomous means ‘branching into two’ and it leads the user through to
the name of the organism by giving two descriptions at a time and asking
them to choose

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END OF UNIT 1

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