6
What do living things do?
Living things
All living things carry out the basic life processes
of
interaction
,
nutrition
and
reproduction
.
1
Test your partner on living and non–living things. Give examples.
Student 1:
Name a living thing.
Student 2:
A bear. Name a non–living thing.
G
E T T I N G S T A R T E D
Interaction
All living things detect information in their environment. Then they
react to this information in different ways. For example, interaction
can help animals defend their territory, and help plants get the most
sunlight.
Nutrition
All living things take in essential nutrients from
their environment. These nutrients give them
energy and enable them to grow and develop.
For example, this kingfisher is eating a fish.
Reproduction
Living things
can create
new members
of their own
species. Different
organisms
reproduce in a
specific way. For
example, some
plants reproduce
from seeds, but
birds and snakes
hatch from eggs.
The largest living
organism on Earth is a
fungus called
Armillaria
ostoya.
It measures nearly
ten square kilometres
in size. It grows mainly
underground, so we don’t
see much of it.
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