Final answer:
Living organisms are defined by six essential characteristics including, response to the environment, growth and development, reproduction, homeostasis, complex chemistry, and cellular structure.
Step-by-step explanation:
To be classified as a living thing, an entity must display certain characteristics. Scientists have identified key traits that all living organisms share. The six essential characteristics that you should know are:
- Response to the environment: Living things can detect and react to stimuli from their surroundings.
- Growth and development: Organisms grow and change over time as part of their life cycle.
- Reproduction: All living organisms have the ability to produce offspring, ensuring the continuation of their species.
- Homeostasis: The maintenance of a stable internal environment despite external changes is a vital function for all living beings.
- Complex chemistry: Life exhibits complex biochemical processes, including metabolism.
- Cellular structure: All living organisms are composed of cells, which are the basic units of life.
Understanding these characteristics helps us differentiate living things from non-living things. For example, a stick insect, which might initially seem like a twig, can be identified as alive if it exhibits movements in response to its environment, growth over time, or other characteristics of life.