Day 7Yesterday we observed small objects moving around in a Petri dish.

How can you tell whether something is living?

Answers will vary, but just because something moves doesn't prove it is living. Nonliving things can move.

2-Dimensional vs. 3-Dimensional

Visualization Exercise 1.2

What is this?

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Living or Nonliving

Revised 08/25/09

Contrasting Case Activity 1Investigation 1 – What is Life?

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Is it Living?• In this activity, your task is to discover what makes something LIVING.

• Sort the seven cards you have been given into two piles: living and nonliving.

Made up of cells (multiple cells)

Grows and develops, considered mature after 4 years

Eats grass and plants for energy

Reproduces: births foals

Eliminates waste

Requires oxygen (gas exchange)

Requires water

Moves with legs, can walk, trot, canter or gallop

Made up of atoms and molecules

Horse

Made up of cells (multiple cells)

Can grow as large as 15 meters high

Requires sunlight for energy (photosynthesis)

Reproduces: requires pollination and generates seeds

Eliminates cellular waste

Requires carbon dioxide and oxygen (gas exchange)

Requires water; can conserve it for long periods of time

Has sharp spines for protection

Made up of atoms and molecules

Living

Cactus

Living

Made up of cells (multiple cells)

Many mushrooms grow rapidly over a few days

Feeds on nutrients from its environment for energy

Reproduces: generates spores

Eliminates cellular waste

Requires oxygen (gas exchange)

Requires water

Some mushrooms are poisonous

Made up of atoms and molecules

Mushroom

Single-celled

Paramecium Made up of a single cell

Grows to size that is barely visible

Feeds on particles in its environment for energy

Reproduces: usually splits into two “daughter” cells

Eliminates cellular waste

Requires oxygen (gas exchange)

Requires water

Moves by waving rows of cilia

Made up of atoms and molecules

Non-living

Has a steering wheel

Composed of steel, plastic, and rubber

Requires gasoline and oil for energy

Provides transportation

Eliminates waste through exhaust

Gives off carbon monoxide (gas exchange)

Requires water to cool engine

Can move at fast speeds

Made of atoms and molecules

Car

Non-living

Cloud

Composed of water vapor (very small water droplets)

Grows as vapor condenses around tiny air particles

Requires energy to form

Appears white because it reflects light

Requires warm air to lift vapor

Moved by the wind

Made up of atoms and molecules

Non-living

Rock Composed of minerals

Formed and transformed by temperature and pressure

Considered important tool for early humans

Sometimes mined for its metal ore

Can provide evidence of ancient environments

Along with minerals, forms the whole earth

Made up of atoms and molecules

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Compare Living and Nonliving

Think about the following questions as you fill out your worksheet.

What characteristics are shared by the horse, the cactus, the mushroom and the paramecium?

Does a car have anything in common with any of the living things? What about a cloud? A rock?

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Concluding Discussion• Based on these cards, what are some characteristics of life?

• Can a living thing have some, but not all, of these characteristics?

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Characteristics of Life• Made of cells

• Grows and develops

• Requires energy

• Reproduces

• Eliminates waste

• Exchanges gases

• Requires water