Characteristics of Living Things

Living organisms are characterized by the performance of certain life processes or functions or
properties, which distinguish them from non-living things. Non living things may perform one
or more of these processes. It is only a living organism that can perform all of the following
processes at some time in its life. Such processes/properties/performance/activities/
characteristics are:

1. Living things are made up of cells

2. Living things carry out metabolic processes such as nutrition, respiration and
excretion.
3. Responsiveness

4. Movement process
5. Generative Processes such as reproduction, growth and development.
6. Death.

1. Living things are made up of cells

The first characteristic of a living thing is that, they are made up of cells. A cell is the basic
building block of all organisms. It is the smallest unit of organization in a living thing. They
contain the organism’s hereditary information (DNA) and can make copies of themselves in
a process called mitosis.

Cells are made up of a nucleus and a cytoplasm, enclosed by a thin wall called a membrane,
which separates it from its surrounding. Plant cells have a nucleus, cytoplasm and a cell
membrane too. Some of the differences between a plant and an animal cell are that, plant cells
have a large central vacuole, chloroplast and a cell wall.

Here is an illustration of an animal and a plant cell.

Unicellular and Multicellular Organisms.

Every living organism begins life as a single cell..

Some microorganisms are made up of only one cell and are known as unicellular
organisms. Unicellular organisms may stay as one cell but they grow too. Unicellular organisms
can be complex too, even though they are simply a one-cell organism. Examples are bacteria,
yeast, amoeba and paramecia. These organisms have very clear cell structures, with many cell
types performing different specialized functions. For example, blood cells only specialize in
blood production, and hair cells only specialize in hair growth and repair. They do not mix up.
Multicellular organisms are organisms that are made up of millions of different cells. they add
more and more cells to form more tissues and organs as they grow. In a multi-cellular organism,
organization of the cells are very important. Here is an illustration of cell organization:

A group of cells can form a tissue e.g blood is made up of different cells such as red blood cell
(erythrocytes), white blood cell (leucocytes is made up of lymphocytes and phagocytic cells),
platelets (thrombocytes)

A group of tissues can make up an organ (such as heart) Connective tissue (pericardium),
Epithelial tissue (squamous epithelium), Muscle tissue (cardiac muscle) and Nervous tissue

A set or organs can make up a system (e.g circulatory system is made up of artery, heart, vein,
capillaries, )—and the systems make up the organism (skeletal, hormonal, digestive, respiratory,
circulatory, excretory, reproductive, muscular, nervous and integumentary systems).

All the cells that make up the organism have an important role to play for the organism to
perform its life functions.

7. Living things carry out metabolic processes such as nutrition, respiration and
excretion.

Living things exhibit a rapid turnover of chemical materials, which is referred to as metabolism.
Metabolism involves exchanges of chemical matter with the external environment and
extensive transformations of organic matter within the cells of a living organism.
Metabolism generally involves the release or use of chemical energy. Nonliving things do not
display metabolism.
Cells cannot survive on their own, they need power to stay alive. They need energy to
perform functions such as growth, maintaining balance, repair, reproduction, movement
and defense. This means all living organisms must obtain and use energy to live.

The process of obtaining and using energy by living organisms are best explained by three
important scientific terms namely Anabolism, Catabolism and Metabolism. Take a look at
the illustration below:

Anabolism (constructive metabolism)

This is a process whereby living organisms use simpler substances to put together, or build
complex substances such as carbohydrates, proteins and fats for storage. Such an activity is
known as an anabolic activity.

Catabolism (destructive metabolism)

This is when the cells in living organisms, breakdown complex substances and molecules into
simpler substances, often to release energy for use.
Metabolic processes include NUTRITION, RESPIRATION AND EXCRETION.

a) Nutrition
Living things take in materials from their surroundings that they use for growth or to provide
energy. Nutrition is the process by which organisms obtain energy and raw materials from
nutrients such as proteins, carbohydrates and fats. A living organism can either make its own
food or depend on others to make food for them. Organisms that can manufacture their food
do so through photosynthesis and chemosynthesis. Such organisms are called autotrophs. For
example green plants produce their own food from a process called photosynthesis. They use the
chloroplasts in their cells to capture energy in sunlight. They combine it with water and carbon
dioxide from the air to produce sugars for themselves. Green plants are therefore known as
producers or autotrophs. Bacteria can also make their own food or breakdown food.
the overall reaction in photosynthesis is:
Light
6CO2 + 6 H2O C6H12O6 + 6O2
 Chlorophyll
The raw materials required by green plants are H 2O, CO2 and is a variety of inorganic ions. The
so-called essential elements or macro nutrients are Nitrogen, Phosphorus, sulphur, potassium,
calcium and iron (N, P, S, K, Mg, Ca, Fe). Many plants require certain other elements in such
small quantities that they are known as trace elements or micro nutrients. They include boron,
manganese, zinc, copper, molybdenum (B, Mn, Zn, Cu, Mo). The sources of these substances
vary with the environment of the plant concerned.
LIGHT AND DARK PHASE
The mechanism of photosynthesis is completed in two stages or phases i.e. the light and dark
phases.
The light (Hill reaction) phase involves a series of chemical reaction of which light is
indispensable and therefore called light reaction. This involves absorption of light energy by
chlorophyll, splitting of water molecules with the production of reducing agent (NADP) and
some cellular energy.
The dark phase which does not need light, is a series of chemical reaction of CO2 (fixation of
carbondioxide) by the reducing agent (got from light phase) to organic compounds.
Chemosynthesis involves the transformation of one kind of chemical energy (and not light
energy) to another chemical energy. Is the process by which colourless bacteria manufacture
their food by nitrogen suphide or iron.

Heterotrophs are known as consumers. Other organisms eat green plants (which has a store of
the energy they produce) to obtain energy.. Rabbits and sheep are examples of consumers.
Herbivores, carnivores and omnivores are all consumers, and they all have to go find food to
give them energy. Herbivores are animals that feed on plant. Carnivores feed on other animals
flesh while omnivores feed on both plant and animals

b) Respiration
Respiration is the release of energy from food substances in all living cells. Living things break
down food within their cells to release energy for carrying out the following processes. It is
comprises of two components which are external respiration and internal respiration.
External respiration involves the movement of gas from external environment into the respiratory
surface before reaching every cell while internal respiration is the production of ATP. Internal
respiration may aerobic or anaerobic. Internal respiration involves glycolysis, kreb cycle and
electron transport chain. Organs of respiration is lungs in mammals: gills in fish; body surface in
amoeba etc.
Aerobic respiration takes place in the presence of oxygen
C6H12O6 + O2 CO2 + H2O + ATP
Anaerobic respiration takes place in the absence of oxygen
C6H12O6 C2H5OH + CO2 + Energy

c)Excretion
All living things excrete. As a result of the many chemical reactions occurring in cells, they have
to get rid of waste products which might poison the cells. Excretion is defined as the removal
of toxic materials, the waste products of metabolism and substances in excess from the
body of an organism. Excretory products include carbondioxide, sweat, oxygen, urea,
ammonia, uric acid etc. Excretory organ in animal include the skin, lungs, liver, and kidneys.
Plants do not have specialized excretory organ. In plants, carbondioxide is a waste product of
respiration while oxygen is a waste product of photosynthesis. Plants get rid of excess water
through guttation and transpiration. Excess carbondioxide and oxygen are excreted from plants
through the stomata in leaves and lenticels in stem. Other waste products of plant are tannin,
resin which are stored within the plant body.

3. Responsiveness

Living things respond to their environment. Anything that causes a living organism to react is
called a stimulus (plural is stimuli). Responsiveness include irritability and adaptation

a) Irritability

The ability of the organism to react is called ‘irritability’. It helps the organism to stay in
balance. All living things are able to respond to stimuli in the external environment. For
example, living things respond to changes in light, heat, sound, and chemical and
mechanical contact. To detect stimuli, organisms have means for receiving information, such as
eyes, ears, and taste buds. To respond effectively to changes in the environment, an organism
must coordinate its responses. A system of nerves and a number of chemical regulators called
hormones coordinate activities within an organism. The organism responds to the stimuli by
means of a number of effectors, such as muscles and glands. Just like all the changes that occur
outside of our bodies (external environment), there are changes in our internal environment too.
Animals respond to stimuli much quicker plants. Plants have evolved an intricate (plant
are made up of different parts) and elaborate set of intricate and dramatic responses to the
environment. These responses allow plants not only to survive adverse conditions that would
kill most animals, but also to coordinate their growth and development with appropriate
environmental conditions.

Gravitropism response to or towards or away from gravity.

Phototropism: response to uni-direction (one direction) of light.

Hydrotropism: The growth of roots toward soil moisture or the growth of plant or other animals
either towards or away from water.
Thigmotropism: This is a growth response of plants to touch.

The most common example is the coiling of tendrils or an entire stem of plants such as morning
glory. Before touching an object, tendrils and twining stems often grow in a spiral pattern called
Circumulation that increases their chances of contacting an object to which it can cling. Contact
with an object is perceived by specialized epidermal cells, which induce differential growth in
the tendril. Such growth can be extremely rapid; a tendril can encircle an object with 5 - 10
minutes. Furthermore, thigmotropism is often long lasting. Stroking a tendril of garden pea for
only a couple of minutes can induced a curling response that lasts for several days.
Thigmotropism,is probably influenced phytohormones, these hormones induce thigmotropic-like
curvature of tendril even in the absence of touch tendrils can also store the "memory" of touch.
Tendrils that are touched while growing in the dark do not respond until they are illuminated.
Thus, although tendrils can store the sensory information received in the dark, light is required
for the growth response to proceed. This light-induced expression of thigmotropism may be due
to a requirement for ATP, since ATP will substitute for light inducing thighmotropism of desk-
stimulated tendrils. Various degrees of thigmotropism are exhibited not only by tendrils, but also
by leaves, stems, petioles and roots.
Flowering Responses
Day length changes with the seasons; the farther from the equator one is, the greater the
variation. The flowering responses of plants fall into two basic categories in relations to day
length. Short-day plants being to form flowers when the days become shorter than a critical
length. Long-day plants on the other hand, initiate when the days become longer than a critical
length. In both kinds of plants, it is actually the length of darkness (night) that is significant, and
not the length of day. In addition to the long-day and short-day plant, a number of plants are
described as day neutral. These plants produce flowers whenever environmental conditions are
suitable, without reference to day length. Day- neutral plants include roses and tomatoes

b) Adaptation

Adaptation the process that helps an organism survives in its environment. A polar bear, for
example, will struggle to survive in a hot climate, because the temperature will be too much i.e
hot for it. The polar bear's heavy fur is best suited for colder regions, therefore we say that polar
bears are adapted to colder regions.

4. Movement process

All living organisms change position from one place to the other. Animals carry out obvious
movements which include walking (e. g man), running etc. Nastic Movements is carried out by
plants. Nastic movements are movements that also occur in response to environmental stimuli.
Unlike tropisms, nastic movements are independent of the direction of the stimulus. They occur
in an automatically predetermined direction, rather than toward or away from the stimulus.
Nastic movements include some of the most unusual plant kingdom.

These are mostly temporary movements induced by diffused stimuli but not directed by them.
These movements are generally confined to bifacial organs like leaves and petals. Changes in the
turgor or unequal growth on both sides of an organ caused these movement.

Different types of nastic movement are

i) Nyctinasty: This is induced by diurnal (daylight) variation in light and temperature.

It is seen in leguminous plants. The leaflets fold in the evening and open up in the
morning.
ii) Seismonasty: This is induced by touch or shock. Leaves of touch me not plant
(Mimosa pudica) show this movement. The leaf consists of main petiole with 2-4
secondary stalks each bearing many pairs of leaflets. The leaflets are aarranged in
opposite manner. When the plant is stimulated by touch or shock, the, leaflets fold
upwards and the main petiole droops. The mechanism of movement is based on
changes in the turgor in pulvini. Pulvini are the swollen leaf bases particularly seen
 among these legume plants. In the pulvini, it is the cell of the upper side that loses
water allowing the leaflet to move upwards.
iii) Thermonasty: It is induced by temperature. For example, the opening and closing of
the flowers of tulip.
iv) Photonasty: It is induced by light. Leaves of Oxalis take up horizontal position in
sunlight and droop down during the night. Many flowers open during the day and
close during the night under cloudy sky.
v) Thigmonasty: It is induce by touch. In the leaves of certain insectivorous plant like
Drosera, the tentacles show how variation in movement on coming in contact with an
insect

5. Generative processes (GROWTH)

Living things have the ability to increase in size (growth) and in number (reproduction)

a) Growth and Development

Growth and development of living organisms are not the same things. Growth is the increase in
size and mass of an organism. Development involves transformation of the organism as it goes
through the growth process.

Think of a newly born baby. It has all the features of a fully-grown adult, but they are very tiny.
As the years go by, they become big and become a young person like you, and later on, into a
fully grown adult, maintaining all the features that they are born with. This is growth. But in their
mummy’s tummy, they started off as a single cell, and transformed onto a zygote, and into a
foetus before transforming into a tiny baby.

In some organisms, growing involves drastic transformation. Think of a butterfly for instance. It
starts off as a cell (egg). Then it transforms into a caterpillar, then into a pupa (chrysalis), and
then pops out as a beautiful butterfly.

Plants often start from a tiny seed, and grow into a big tree. One thing common to all
organisms is that they grow or develop to look just like their parent species, even though
there may be some slight variations resulting from the mixing of cells by the parents.

b) Reproduction
A living thing has the ability to produce copies of itself by the process known as reproduction.
These copies are made while the organism is still living. Among plants and simple animals,
reproduction is often an extension of the growth process.

Reproduction is the process by which new organisms (offsprings) are generated.

Two main types of reproduction

Sexual Reproduction:
This involves two individuals of the same species, usually a male and female. Here the male and
female sex cells come together for fertilization to take place. After this the newly fertilized cell
goes on to become a new organism, the offspring.

Asexual reproduction:
This form of reproduction occurs without the involvement of another. Asexual
reproduction is very common in single cell organisms and in many plants. There are many
forms of asexual reproduction. Mitosis, fission, budding, fragmentation, sporulation and
vegetative reproduction are all examples of asexual reproduction. In unicellular organisms,
the parent cell just divides to produce two daughter cells. The term for this type of cell
division is Mitosis

Below is an illustration of the process of mitosis:

6. Death
Living organisms do not live forever. Some live for many years, others live for a few years and
some live for a few days. The term for the length of time an organism lives is called their
‘Lifespan’. For instance, an adult mayfly lives for only one day, a mouse lives for 1-2 years and
tortoise can live for 152 years and above.