JSS 1: Living things (I)
Living things are things that have life in them.
Non-living things are things that have no life in them. Eg. Book, chair, laptop, pen, etc
Classification of living things
The two major classifications of living things are:
1. Plants
2. Animals
Plants
Plants can be further grouped into two parts which are:
1. Flowering plants e.g. Hibiscus, maize etc
2. Non-flowering plants e.g. Ferns, moss, etc
Animals
Animals can be grouped into two parts which are:
1. Vertebrates
2. Invertebrates
Vertebrates
Vertebrates are animals with a backbone.
The vertebrates are grouped into five:
1. Pisces e.g fish
2. Amphibian e.g. frog, toad, etc
3. Reptiles e.g. snakes, lizards etc
4. Aves e.g. Birds
5. Mammals e.g. human beings, lions, monkeys, etc
Invertebrates
Invertebrates are animals without a backbone. The invertebrates are:
1. Platyhelminthes e.g. liver fluke
2. Nematodes e.g. tapeworm
3. Molluscs e.g. snail
4. Annelid e.g. earthworm
5. Echinoderms e.g. starfish
Characteristics of living things
The ten major characteristics of living things are:
1. Movement
2. Respiration
3. Nutrition
4. Irritability
5. Growth
6. Excretion
7. Reproduction
8. Death
9. Adaptation
10. Competition
Movement
Movement is the ability of living things to change position from one location to another. The different types of movement in living things are: walking, running, flying, swimming, crawling, rolling, sliding, jumping, and bending.
Reasons why organisms move
1. Search for food
2. Search for safety
3. Search for pleasure and comfort
4. Search for partners or company
5. Response to stimuli and touch in the environment
Respiration
This is the ability of living things to breathe in oxygen to break down food materials to get energy and also breathe out carbon(IV)oxide, (CO2) as a waste product.
Nutrition
This is the ability of living things to take in food materials into the body.
Different animals feed on different substances. This includes:
1. Carnivorous animals (Carnivores): Animals that feed on flesh only e.g. Lion, tigers, hyenas, etc
2. Herbivorous animals(Herbivores): Animals that feed on plants only e.g. Goat, sheep, cow, etc
3. Omnivorous animals (Omnivores): Animals that feed on both plants and flesh.e.g human beings, monkeys, chickens etc
Reasons for feeding
1. To obtain energy for body activities
2. To obtain nutrients for growth and good health.
Irritability(Sensitivity)
This is the ability of living things to respond to stimuli or touch
Growth
This is the ability of living things to increase in size from childhood to adulthood. Growth is an irreversible increase in size.
Excretion
This is the ability of living things to remove waste products of metabolism from the body.
Reproduction
This is the ability of living things to give birth to young ones that look like their parents. We have two types of reproduction:
1. Sexual reproduction
2. Asexual reproduction
Death
All living things must die because they have a definite and limited period of existence.
Adaptation
This is the ability of living things to get used to the environment in such a way as to be comfortable.
Competition
This is the ability of living things to struggle for all the necessities of life to survive in their various environments.
Assignment
1. In a tabular form state five (5) differences between plants and animals
2. Explain the following:
(I) Sexual reproduction
(II) Asexual reproduction
3. State four (4) importance of the following to man
(I) plants
(II) Animals
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