Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics | Class 6 Science Notes

What Sets the Living Apart from the Non-living?

This section explores the essential characteristics that differentiate living beings from non-living things. It begins by questioning whether movement alone can define life, noting that some non-living things like cars can move, while plants, which are living, do not move from place to place. The section encourages students to list tasks they can perform that a car cannot, such as growth and reproduction, to identify key life characteristics. It highlights that living beings show movement, but this movement is not always locomotion; plants exhibit movements like the opening of flowers and the trapping mechanism of insectivorous plants such as Drosera. Growth is another vital characteristic, demonstrated by comparing a child's growth over years. Nutrition is essential for growth and development, and breathing (respiration) is necessary for energy. The section explains respiration in animals and plants, noting stomata in leaves allow gas exchange. Excretion, the removal of waste, occurs in both animals and plants, exemplified by sweat in humans and water droplets on grass. Response to stimuli is discussed with examples like the touch-me-not plant folding its leaves and human reactions to pain. Reproduction is defined as the process of producing new individuals, necessary for continuity of life. The section concludes that living beings share characteristics such as movement, nutrition, growth, respiration, excretion, response to stimuli, reproduction, and eventually death. Absence of these indicates non-living status. Students are encouraged to fill the remaining columns of the earlier activity table with correct answers and reasons.

📊 Diagram: Drosera; Growth of a child; Water droplets on grass; Touch-me-not (chhui-mui) plant.

🧪 Activity: Students complete Table 10.1 by filling in correct answers and reasons for classifying objects as living or non-living.

🔗 Connection: This section leads to the next by raising the question of whether seeds are living or non-living and exploring conditions necessary for seed germination.