Things are made up of Living and Non-living Things.
Non-Living things means either once alive or never alive.
Now, what about living things?
Firstly, plants, animals, fungi and micro-organisms are groups of living things.
What are living things characteristics?
-Living things need air, water and food.
-Grow
-Move
-Respond to changes
-Reproduce
What do you need to know:
1. Things can be living or non-living.
2. The characteristics of living things
LIVING AND NON-LIVING THINGS
1. There is a great variety of things in this world.
2. We classify things into living and non-living things.
3. Classifying things this way makes it easier for us to study them.
4. Living things are different from non-living things.
5. Living things are things that are alive.
6. Examples of living things are plants and animals.
7. Living things can do certain things that non-living things cannot do.
8. For example, living things can move about on their own but non-living things cannot.
9. Some non-living things come form living things.
10. For example, a wooden stool is made of wood. Wood comes from trees and trees are living things.
11. Some non-living things such as the fried chicken we eat were once alive.
12. Other non-living things such as rocks, water and air were never alive.
13. Some living things can look like non-living things. For example, a stone fish looks like a stone.
EXAMPLES
Living things: Balsam plant, ant, fish, snail, etc.
Non-living things: Pot, stone, rake, marble, book, etc.
What do living things need?
Living things need air, water and food to stay alive. Air, water and food are the basic needs of living things. Plants do not need to take in food like human and animals. Plants can make their own food. Plants only need air, water and sunlight to produce food. Living things cannot survive long without food. However, they will die more quickly without air or water.
What can living things do?
Living things grow
Living things move
Living things respond to changes
Living things reproduce
Characteristics of plants
1. Plants can make their own food.2. This is because they contain a green substance called chlorophyll. It helps plants to produce food when there is sunlight.
3. Plants need sunlight, water, air and nutrients to make food.
4. Plants with red leaves can still make food because there is chlorophyll hidden inside them.
5. A plant cannot move from place to place. The roots keep it fixed in its position.
6. It responds slowly to changes. For example, it responds to sunlight by growing towards it.
7. Trees, shrubs, grasses and seaweeds are all examples of plants.
Characteristics of animals
Animals can move about on their own. For example, the lizard crawls and the whale swims. Animals can respond quickly to changes around them. For example, a bird flies away when a cat comes near it. Unlike plants, animals cannot make their own food. Therefore, they feed on plants and other animals to obtain energy.
Characteristics of fungi
Fungi form a group of living things that feed on dead plants or animal. They cannot make their own food, thus, they are not plants. Some fungi even attack living plants and animals. For example, certain fungi can grow on our skin and cause skin disease. Fungi are fixed in one position. They are attached to the things they grow and feed on.
Characteristics of Micro-organisms
Micro-organisms are very tiny living things. They cannot be seen by the naked eye, unless you use a microscope. They live in the air, water and soil. There are also micro-organisms living inside or on the bodies of plants and animals. Examples are algae, bacteria and viruses.