Download Unit A: Chapter 1: Comparing Living Things Lesson 1: Is It Living or

Unit A: Chapter 1: Comparing Living Things
Lesson 1: Is It Living or Nonliving?
All living things carry out each of the six basic life processes
1.
Getting energy
2.
Using energy
3.
Getting rid of waste
4.
Reproducing
5.
Growing
6.
Responding to change
In many living things, life processes are carried out at a very small level, usually by cells.
In the human body, for example, cells use energy, get rid of waste, reproduce, grow, and help
people respond to change.
Viruses are not living things and therefore cannot carry out life processes
Bacteria are microscopic, one-celled organisms. Some bacteria cause disease, but many bacteria
are quite beneficial.

Some break down waste products

Other live inside the intestines of termites and cows

Some change milk into yogurt or cheese
All living things are made up of cells, which are the smallest units of life.
A cell membrane keeps cell contents contained and acts as a protective barrier between the cell’s
external environment and its interior.
The nucleus controls the functions of other cell parts and is surrounded by cytoplasm.
Plant cells have a cell wall in addition to a cell membrane. Many plant cells contain chloroplasts
that capture solar energy and use it to make sugar from water and carbon dioxide.
Different cells carry out different functions in the body.

Nerve cells carry messages

Red blood cells transport oxygen

Skin cells cover the surface of the body and protect cells beneath them from damage
Tissues are groups of similar cells that work together to do the same job.
Organs are composed of different kinds of tissues that work together
Organs working together make up an organ system.
Lesson 2: How Are Living Things Classified?
Scientific classification is an orderly way of grouping living things.
Scientist classify living things into five major kingdoms:
1.
Mondrian- one-celled, no nucleus (bacteria)
2.
Protist- most one-celled, have nucleus (algae, ameba)
3.
Fungus- mostly many celled, cannot move, absorb nutrients from other organisms
(mushrooms, yeast, mold, mildew)
4.
Plant- many-celled, cannot move, get energy by consuming other organisms (trees, flowers,
ferns)
5.
Animal- many-celled, most can move, get energy by consuming other organisms
(invertebrates, fish, birds, mammals)
Scientist classify organisms by:

Cell structure

How they get nutrients and energy

How they reproduce
An organism’s scientific name consists of genus name and a species name. Species is the smallest
group and contains only one kind of organism. Some protists have a green pigment like the one in
the chloroplast of plants.
Lesson 3: How Are Animals Classified?
Sponges, jellyfish, hydras, and worms are all invertebrates – many-celled animals that lack
backbones.
Like the sponges, hydras, jellyfish and other relatives have hollow bodies in which they trap and
consume in and out of their bodies.
Hydras have snakelike tentacles around their mouths that they use to capture prey.
Vertebrates are animals with backbones.
Invertebrates are animals without backbones.
Amphibians usually lay their eggs in the water and begin their lives taking in oxygen through gills
like fish. When they are adults they can live on land.
A mammal is an animal that has some hair or fur on its body. Mammals have lungs and breathe air.
They are the only animals that feed their young with milk produced by the mother.
Lesson 4: How Are Plants Classified?
Scientist classify plants as being vascular or nonvascular. Vascular have tube like cells that carry
nutrients, water, and provide support.
Plants are also grouped by how they reproduce and if they do or do not produce flowers.
Mosses are not vascular. They are low-growing and do not have seeds or flowers. They reproduce
by spores.
Ferns also reproduce by spores. Ferns get their green leaves by using the energy from the
sunlight to make sugar.
Grass is a plant that is vascular and produces both seeds and flowers.
Conifers are vascular plants and do not have flowers. They produce seeds in cones. A pollen grain
carried by the wind lands on a seed cone, which has eggs cells inside of it. A tube grows from the
pollen down the cone into an egg cell. A sperm cell in the tube joins with the egg cell, and a seed
develops.