The characteristics of life

Question 1

What are the five characteristics of life?

Answer 1

Organisation 
Nutrition
Excretion 
Response 
Reproduction

Question 2

What is a mnemonic to remember the 5 characteristics of life?

Answer 2

Olly
Never 
Eats
Red 
Radishes

Question 3

What are the five characteristics of life necessary for?

Answer 3

They are necessary for organisms to maintain their metabolism and continuity of life. They allow organisms to carry out all the reactions necessary to survive and reproduce.

Question 4

What is the basic organisation feature of life?

Answer 4

That living things are composed of cells.

Question 5

What is food needed for?

Answer 5

Food is needed for energy and to supply the materials needed for normal life.

Question 6

How do plants, algae, some bacteria and plankton get their food?

Answer 6

Plants, algae, some bacteria and plankton absorb chemicals from their surroundings and use sunlight energy to make food in a process called photosynthesis.

Question 7

What is the basic source of energy for nutrition?

Answer 7

The sun is the basic source of energy for all nutrition

Question 8

Explain what it means for energy to ‘flow’

Answer 8

Plants use sunlight directly to make food.

The energy in plants is passed on to animals when they eat plants.

Question 9

What must organisms maintain in order to survive? What helps this?

Answer 9

in order to survive, organisms must maintain a fairly constant balance between their inside and outside environments. Excretion helps to provide this balance.

Question 10

What and hows do plants excrete their waste?

Answer 10

Plants excrete waste gases through stomata on the underside of their leaves.

Question 11

How do advanced animals excrete their waste? What organ is important in this?

Answer 11

Advanced animals transfer waste internally from their cells to the blood. The liver is especially important in this process because it breaks down toxins.

Question 12

What are the excretory structures in humans?

Answer 12

The skin, lungs and urinary system (kidneys and bladder)

Question 13

What are the main products excreted by humans?

Answer 13

carbon dioxide, salts and surplus water.

Question 14

What must living things do in order to react to changes in their internal and external environments?

Answer 14

they must respond

Question 15

name some forms of stimuli

Answer 15

Light, temperature, pressure, pain and sound

Question 16

To allow for response, animals have what structures?

Answer 16

Eyes, nose, ears, tongue and skin

Question 17

What do plants move in response to?

Answer 17

Factors such as water, light, gravity, touch and chemicals.

Question 18

What does all life develop from and why is it essential?

Answer 18

All life develops only from living things. This means it is essential that organisms can produce offspring of their own type.

Question 19

What can reproduction be?

Answer 19

Sexual or asexual

Question 20

What does sexual reproduction occur in?

Answer 20

It occurs in most animals and plants

Question 21

What does asexual reproduction often involve?

Answer 21

It often involves simple organisms splitting into two or more identical offspring e.g strawberry plant

Question 22

What does sexual reproduction involve?

Answer 22

The joining of two sex cells (called gametes) formed by two parents. The offspring will carry the genetic information from both parents and will show features that are a combination of maternal (Mother’s) and paternal (father’s) features.