LIVING THINGS AND NON-LIVING THINGS

Do you know the difference between plants and your toy ball? Broadly speaking, objects in this universe
consist of living things and non-living things which have their own characteristics. God has created
various types of living creatures in a very orderly manner. God also created this universe perfectly, such
as water, air, forests, rocks and various kinds of minerals found in the bowels of the earth.

Try to observe the natural symptoms around you. Natural symptoms can be grouped into 2 types. Biotic
and abiotic natural phenomena. Biotics are parts of nature that are alive while abiotic are natural
objects that are inanimate. Have you ever looked closely at your toy animals and pets? Are there any
differences between the two? If so, what are the differences?

Humans, animals and plants shown in the picture above are groups of living creatures. Try what is the
difference between living things and non-living or inanimate objects? Living things and non-living or
inanimate objects are distinguished by the characteristics of life. Living creatures show the
characteristics of life, including needing nutrition, moving, breathing, growing and developing,
reproducing, and being sensitive to stimuli. Inanimate objects such as rocks, water and air do not have
these characteristics.

Characteristics of Living Things.

Do you know what the characteristics of living things are? In general, the characteristics found in living
creatures are breathing, moving, eating and drinking, growing and developing, reproducing, excreting
waste substances, and being sensitive to stimuli.
Some characteristics of living things can be easily observed by us and some require detailed observation.
Some general characteristics of living things are:

1. have the ability to move;

2. grow and develop;

3. have the ability to reproduce;

4. respond to stimuli from the environment;

5. take in and use energy;

6. has breathability;

7. produces waste (excretion); as well as

8. The body is composed of one or many cells.

The characteristics of living things in animals can be clearly observed by humans. Plants are living things
too, though

movement and growth happens so slowly that you often don't realize it. Some non-living things have
some of the characteristics of life but will not have all of them. Something to be classified as a living
thing must have all the characteristics of life. Something that has life is called an organism. Organisms
vary in size. For example, Elephants and whales are very large compared to human size as in the picture.
This is different with bacteria and amoeba which have a microscopic size (can only be seen with the help
of a microscope).

The following is an explanation of the characteristics of living things.

1. Living Things Have the Ability to Move

The ability to move is a basic characteristic of life. Usually you can easily observe animal movements.
This is different from plants which move slowly and are difficult to observe directly. One of the plant
movements that is easy to observe is the closing movement of the leaves shy princess (Mimosa pudica)
when touched as in the picture.

Plants also move whenever they grow or respond to light. Other characteristics of life, such as
responding to stimuli and feeding (accumulating energy), would rely on movement.

2. Living Things Can Grow and Develop

Something is called a living thing meaning they can grow and develop. This means being bigger, more
complicated or both. Some living things can grow very slowly, but some living things grow faster. When
you plant a corn seed in the ground, a few days later sprouts will form. Every day high From the sprout it
will grow until it forms leaves and grows into a larger plant as in the picture.

3. Living Creatures Have Reproductive Ability

All living things can reproduce. This shows that they can produce offspring that are similar to their
parents. Reproduction can occur sexually and asexual. Sexual reproduction involves the meeting of male
sex cells and female sex cells. Asexual reproduction does not involve the meeting of male and female sex
cells, but only requires one parent. Look at the picture that shows sexual reproduction in chickens by
laying eggs.
Living creatures that have low reproductive capacity tend to be difficult to find in the wild and are
generally classified as endangered living creatures.

4. Living Creatures Respond to Stimuli

Living things respond to environmental changes. Changes in the internal and external environment are
called stimuli. Reactions to environmental changes are called responses. If you accidentally touch hot
water, quickly withdraw your hand and then scream. The stimulus in this case is heat and the response is
attraction hands and screamed.

Responses to stimuli in plants are more difficult to observe than in animals. The movement of plants
such as sunflowers (Helianthus anuus) following the direction of light is examples of plants responding
to stimuli. The stimulus in this case is sunlight and the response is a change in the position of the
sunflower as in the picture.

5. Living Things Take in and Use Energy

Living creatures take in and use energy to move, grow, reproduce and carry out other bodily functions.
Plants use the Sun's energy to run photosynthesis process. Photosynthesis is the process of converting
simple compounds (carbon dioxide and water) into complex compounds (glucose). Apart from glucose,
the product of photosynthesis is oxygen. Organisms that can make their own food are called producers
or autotrophs. Look at the picture that depicts the process of photosynthesis in plants.

Animals get energy by eating other organisms, both plants and other animals. Organisms that get energy
from other organisms are called heterotrophs. Food will be digested and converted into simple
compounds, for example glucose. This glucose compound will then be converted into energy through
the process of cellular respiration. The energy obtained are used to move, grow, reproduce and carry
out other bodily functions. Some of the energy will be lost to the environment in the form of heat or
waste.

Basically energy cannot be created or destroyed. Instead, energy can only be changed or transferred
from one form to another. For example, in the incident above, energy Light from the Sun is converted
into chemical energy in the form of carbohydrates by plants. When these carbohydrates are eaten by
animals, they are converted into mechanical energy and heat energy which is released into the
environment. This law is known as law of conservation of energy.

6. Living Creatures Can Breathe

Animals need oxygen to breathe (respiration). The oxygen inhaled by animals is used to oxidize (burn)
food substances in cells so that energy is produced. The remaining substances from this oxidation
process are carbon dioxide and water vapor. Just like animals, plants also need oxygen for the process of
oxidizing food substances and producing the same waste substances, namely carbon dioxide and water
vapor. Apart from that, plants binds carbon dioxide which is used for photosynthesis. So, plants are
slightly different from animals because they use oxygen and carbon dioxide gases as seen in the picture.
7. Living Creatures Produce Waste Substances

There are many biochemical processes in the bodies of living creatures. Apart from producing useful
products, this reaction also produces waste substances which are toxic to the body and must be
removed from the bodies of living creatures. The process of removing waste substances This
metabolism is called excretion.

Humans produce waste carbon dioxide and water vapor from the cellular respiration process and expel
them through the breathing process as in the picture. We also remove other waste substances from the
body by sweating and excreting urine. Plants use leaves to emit carbon dioxide gas, which is a waste
product of cellular respiration.

8. Living Things Are Composed of Cells

Living things are structurally composed of cells. There are living creatures that are composed of one cell
(unicellular) such as Paramecium, Amoeba, and Euglena in the picture. Living creatures that are
composed of many cells (multicellular), for example humans, animals and fungi. Viruses are not included
in living things because they are not composed of cell. The body of a virus is only composed of protein
which contains genetic material in the form of DNA or RNA only.