Is It a Living Organism?

Is It a Living Organism?

• The following slides show examples of living and nonliving things.

• Based on the characteristics of life outlined on the

next slide, decide if each example represents a living organism.

• If the object shown is a living organism, write “Yes.” • If the object shown is nonliving, write “No.”

Characteristics of Living Things

1. Living things are based on a universal genetic code.2. Living things grow and develop.3. Living things respond to their environment.4. Living things are made up of cells.5. Living things reproduce.6. Living things maintain a stable internal environment.7. Living things get and use material and energy.8. Taken as a group, living things evolve.

Tree

1

Rock

2

Slime mold

3

Fire

4

River (the flowing water)

5

Wind

6

Rabbit

7

Cloud

8

Coral

9

Feather

10

Grass

11

Seed

12

Egg (unfertilized)

13

Zygote

14

Spore

15

Bacteria

16

White Blood Cell

17

Molecule

18

Shelf Fungus

19

Sun

20

Mushroom

21

Potato

22

Leaf

23

Chloroplast

24

Butterfly

25

Pupae

26

Fossil

27

Hibernating Bear

28

Virus

29

Mitochondria

30

Answers to Is it a living organism?

Characteristics of Living Things

1. Living things are based on a universal genetic code.2. Living things grow and develop.3. Living things respond to their environment.4. Living things are made up of cells.5. Living things reproduce6. Living things maintain a stable internal environment.7. Living things get and use material and energy.8. Taken as a group, living things evolve.

Tree

Yes

Rock

No

Slime mold

Yes

Fire

No

River

No

Wind

No

Rabbit

Yes

Cloud

No

Coral

Yes

Feather

No

Feathers are produced by

living cells located in

small pit-like follicles in a bird’s outer skin layer.

As it’s produced keratin is

protruded straight out

from the skin follicle,

enlarging the feather.

Grass

Yes

Seed

Yes

Seeds may lay dormant for years before conditions

become favorable for germination.

Chicken Egg (unfertilized)

No

The yellow yolk is not the egg, but food for the egg.

The egg is a tiny single haploid cell found in

the egg white.

The unfertilized egg is not capable of

reproducing or evolving.

Zygote

Yes

Spore

Yes

Spores are usually haploid and

unicellular. Once conditions are

favorable, the spore can develop into a

new organism which produces

gametes.

Spores are part of the life cycle of a diploid organism.

They are every bit a living organism as the organism that produces them.

Bacteria

Yes

White Blood Cell

Yes

Molecule

No

Shelf Fungus

Yes

Sun

No

Mushroom

Yes

Potato

Yes

One potato can yield many plants. Just cut it into pieces so that each piece contains a bud.

Place a potato piece cut-side down in a hole, cover it with dirt and

apply water. In time, a potato plant will grow.

Leaf

Yes

Many leaves can be cut at the stem and placed back into soil to grow new roots.

This is known as propagation. In

some cases, the stem isn’t even needed.

Chloroplast

No

There is evidence that the ancestor of

chloroplasts was once a free-living

cyanobacterium that formed a symbiotic

relationship with another cell. This

merger is believed to have happened about

1 billion years ago.

Butterfly

Yes

Pupae

Yes

Fossil

No

Fossils are a remnant or trace of an

organism of a past geological age embedded and

preserved in the earth’s crust or some

natural material.

Hibernating Bear

Yes

Virus

No

Although viruses have genes and can evolve,

they do not have a cellular structure.

In addition, viruses do not have their own

metabolism, and require a host cell to make new

products.

Mitochondria

No

There is evidence that the ancestor of

mitochondria was once a free-living

bacterium that formed a symbiotic

relationship with another cell. This

merger is believed to have happened about 2.5 billion years ago.