We often say that plants, animals, and microorganisms are living things.

How can we say whether a thing is living or non-living? Which characteristics of living things classify them as living? Let us explore. The various characteristics of living things are: All living things are made up of cells. Cell is the basic unit of life. Living organisms that are made up of only one cell are called unicellular such as Amoeba, Chlamydomonas, bacteria, etc. Those made up of many cells are called multicellular. A complex multicellular organism is made up of trillions of cells. All living things require food for growth and development. t also gives them energy for sustaining life processes. !or example, plants manufacture their own food by the process of photosynthesis. "uch organisms are called autotrophs. Animals, on the other hand, depend on plants and other animals for their food. They are called heterotrophs. All living things grow. #rowth can be easily observed in all plants and animals. Living things either produce new cells or their pre$existing cells increase in si%e and hence they grow. n animals, growth stops as they reach their adult stage while the plants &eep on growing throughout their life. All living things respire. 'espiration is a process that includes breathing. The movement of air in and out of the body and vice$versa is &nown as breathing. !or example, animals such as earthworms breathe through their s&in( fishes use gills for breathing( and plants exchange gases through tiny pores called stomata, which are present mainly on the surface of leaves. 'espiration is a two stage process. t has two stages: )xternal respiration * This is the process of breathing i.e., ta&ing in oxygen and giving outcarbon dioxide. nternal respiration * n this stage, oxygen ta&en in is utilised to produce energy. All living organisms respond to stimuli. Do you know what stimulus is? "timuli are certain changes in the surroundings that cause an organism to respond to them. !or example, animals such as coc&roaches hide as soon as the light is switched on. +lants such as Mimosa pudica ,touch$me$not- close their leaves when touched. Let us now perform the following activity to understand how plants respond to stimuli. Ta&e a potted plant and &eep it in a room at a slight distance from the window. "unlight must enter through the window during the day time. Water this plant regularly for a few days.

.ou will observe that the stem of the plant bends towards the sunlight. This proves that living organisms react to stimuli. All living organisms e crete. What is e cretion?

A part of the food we eat is utilised by the body while the rest is removed from the body. The process of getting rid of waste materials in the body is &nown as excretion. This process occurs in both plants and animals. n animals, waste products such as urea are excreted in urine( and carbon dioxide, which is also a waste product, is excreted by lungs. n plants, the wastes are converted into harmless substances such as gum, resins, etc. All living organisms reproduce. "ome animals produce eggs while others give birth to young ones. +lants, on the other hand, reproduce by producing spores or seeds. All living organisms can move. t should be noted that all living organisms can move. While animals can move from one place to another with the help of special locomotory organs such as limbs, plants show movement in the form of movement of root towards earth, bending of flowers in sunflower plant towards light, etc. The energy for movement comes from within the organism. All living organisms have a definite life span. All organisms have a definite life span. /rganisms are born( they grow, and finally die. "ome organisms have a short life span such as bacteria that live for only 01 to 02 minutes while some organisms have a longer life span such as tortoise that live up to 321 years. We can now distinguish !etween living and non-living things.

Living things They are made up of cells. They show movement, but the energy for movement comes from within the organism.

"on-living things They are not made up of cells. They show movement by ta&ing external force or energy.

They re4uire food. #rowth in them is irreversible. 'espiration occurs in them for oxidising food to release energy. 'eproduction occurs in living things. Differences !etween plants and animals #lants They can ma&e their own food by the process of photosynthesis. They are autotrophs. They show movement, but cannot show locomotion i.e., they cannot change their position from one place to another. They show response to stimuli, but lac& sense organs.

They do not re4uire food. #rowth is reversible. They do not re4uire respiration. 5on$living things do not reproduce.

Animals They cannot ma&e their own food. They are heterotrophs. They show movement as well as locomotion. They also show response to stimuli and have well$developed sense organs. They stop growing once they reach their adult form.

They grow throughout their life.

Diversity in the Living World $iodiversity * Total number and types of organisms present on earth "um!er of known species * 3.6 * 3.7 million "omenclature * 5aming a particular organism by a standard name &nown all over the world %cientific "ames +rovided by The nternational Code for 8otanical 5omenclature , C85- to plants and the nternational Code for 9oological 5omenclature , C95- to animals !ollow the concept of binomial nomenclature

#iven by Carolus Linnaeus

&ules of $inomial "omenclature $iological "ames #enerally in Latin, Latinised or derived from Latin The first word represents genus while second component represents specific epithet. 8oth words when hand written * separately underlined when printed * in italics The first word of generic name starts with a capital letter and specific epithet starts with a small letter. )xample

The name of author appears after specific epithet. Written in abbreviated form !or example: Mangifera indica Linn * described by Linnaeus

%ystemic #osition The systematic position is the description of various taxonomical ran&s in which an organism is placed. %ystematic position of human The scientific name of human is :Homo Sapiens;. <omo means human and sapiens means wise.

Level

Human

'haracteristic feature <eterotrophic mode of nutrition, bodily movements +resence of notochord

=ingdom Animalia +hylum Class /rder !amily #enus "pecies Chordate

>ammalian +resence of mammary glands +rimates <ominidae <omo "apiens <aving erect position with binocular vision <aving forelimbs shorter than hind limbs <uman having large cranium and tool ma&ing ability <aving highly developed brain capable of thin&ing and spea&ing.

%ystematic position of mango The scientific name of mango is Mangifera indica; . >angifera means sweet fruit and indica indicates its origin in ndia.

Level

(ango

'haracteristic feature Autotrophic mode of nutrition, no bodily movements !lowering plants ?icotyledons >ostly woody plants, with compound or lobed leaves. 8ear fruits that are drupes <aving sweet fruit

=ingdom +lantae ?ivision >agnoliophyta Class /rder !amily #enus >agnoliopsida "apindales Anacardiaceae >angifera

"pecies

indica

/riginated from ndia.

'lassification +rocess of grouping into convenient categories 8ased on some easily observable characters <elps in revealing the relationship between various organisms and ma&ing their study easy and organi%ed )a a "cientific term for categories )a onomy +rocess of classification of living organisms into different taxa %ystematics "tudy of systematic classification Word derived from Latin @SystemaA means systematic arrangement. Linnaeus used Systema Natureae as the title of his publication. ncludes evolutionary relationships among organisms )a onomical %tudies "tudy of various species of plants and animals and is useful in agriculture, forestry, industry, etc. Bseful in &nowing about our bio$resources and their diversity

'e4uire correct classification and identification of organisms dentification re4uires intensive laboratory and field studies. +rime re4uisite $ collection of plant and animal specimens

Bsed for classification

nformation gathered is stored along with specimens. 8iologists have established certain procedures and techni4ues ,called taxonomical aids- to store and preserve information as well as specimens. )a onomical Aids Her!arium

"torehouse of plant specimens "pecimens dried, pressed, and preserved on sheets These sheets are arranged according to the accepted system of classification.

<erbarium sheet contains information about date and place of collection, collectorAs name, local and botanical names. Also provides 4uic& referral systems in taxonomical studies

$otanical *ardens

"pecialised gardens for collecting living plants #rown for identification purposes

)ach plant labelled, indicating scientific name and family it belongs to )xample * 8otanical garden at =ew ,)ngland-, ndian 8otanical garden at <owrah , ndia-, 5ational 8otanical 'esearch nstitute at Luc&now , ndia(useums

Collection of preserved plant and animal specimens

Bseful for study and reference "pecimens are preserved in containers or Cars in preservative solutions. "pecimens can also be preserved dry. nsects are preserved in insect boxes after collecting, &illing, and pinning. Large animals * stuffed and preserved Also have collection of s&eletons of animals +oological parks

+rotected environments for wild animals +rovide condition similar to natural habitat )nable us to learn about their food habits and behaviour

,ey =eys are analytical in nature( hence used in identification of plants and animals based on contrasting characters in a pair called couplet. /ut of two proposed characters, only one which is relevant is accepted while the other is reCected. )ach statement in a &ey is called a lead. Bni4ue for each category such as family, genus, order, etc. -ther )a onomical Aids !lora, manuals, monographs, and catalogues are other taxonomical aids.

<elp in correct identification Contain actual account of habitat and distribution +rovide index to plant species found in a particular area

>onographs contain information on any one taxon.