Answer:
Irritability
Step-by-step explanation:
Living things have been said to contain or possess certain characteristics that qualifies them to be "LIVING". These characteristics include; movement, respiration, growth, irritability, reproduction etc. The characteristics described in this question is IRRITABILITY.
IRRITABILITY is the ability of a living thing to respond to external or internal stimulus. In this case where Jamie drops a small amount of alcohol nearby a sample of pond water he collected, he notices that the small objects move towards the opposite side. This means that the objects are RESPONDING to a stimuli, which is the ALCOHOL in this case. Hence, irritability is the characteristics being tested.