Unit 4: Maintaining life

Characteristics of living things — HIA International - Grade 8 Revision Notes & Topical Questions

5 min read 8 parts Lesson 2 of 10 2 quizzes

📚 HIA International - Grade 8 Hub / Topical Revision

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Lesson summary

Characteristics of living things — HIA INTERNATIONAL notes: Describe the seven characteristics of living organisms and use them to decide whether something is alive.Organism = a living thing.Seven characteristics — living organisms show movement, respiration, sensitivity, growth,…

Not just breathing
Never alive
Similarities
Differences
Borderline case
Classification

Part 1 of 6Living organisms

Living organisms

Organism

Organism a living thing.

Seven characteristics

Seven characteristics living organisms show movement, respiration, sensitivity, growth, reproduction, excretion and nutrition (MRS GREN).

Not just breathing

Not just breathing plants are alive although they do not breathe or have hearts.

All seven

All seven an organism must show all seven to be living.

Part 2 of 6The seven characteristics

Characteristic	Meaning	Example
Movement	Changing the position or shape of the body or parts of it	Plants move slowly, e.g. leaves turn towards light
Respiration	Breaking down food in cells to provide energy	Not the same as breathing
Sensitivity	Detecting and responding to changes around them	A polar bear senses meat by smell
Growth	A permanent increase in size	Young plants and animals get bigger
Reproduction	Producing young	Producing offspring of the same kind
Excretion	Getting rid of waste materials made in the body	Animals breathe out carbon dioxide
Nutrition	Taking in materials for energy, growth and repair	Plants photosynthesise; bears eat meat

Part 3 of 6Nutrition

Plants

Plants make their own food by photosynthesis.

Animals

Animals take in food by eating other organisms.

Repair

Repair nutrients are also used for growth and repair.

Part 4 of 6Living, dead and never alive

Living

Living shows all seven characteristics.

Dead

Dead was once alive, e.g. a fallen leaf.

Never alive

Never alive a rock was never alive.

Cells

Cells all living things are made of one or more cells.

Part 5 of 6Is a car alive?

Similarities

Similarities a car uses fuel and oxygen for energy, moves, gives off waste gases including carbon dioxide and can have sensors.

Differences

Differences a car does not grow, reproduce or respire in cells, and does not feed or excrete as organisms do.

Crystals

Crystals a crystal grows but shows only one or two characteristics, so it is not alive.

Part 6 of 6Viruses

Viruses

Borderline case

Borderline case viruses reproduce only inside living cells and do not respire, grow or feed.

Classification

Classification most scientists do not class them as living, though some do.

Key terms

Term	Meaning
Organism	A living thing.
Nutrition	Taking in materials for energy, growth and repair.
Respiration	Breaking down food in cells to release energy.
Sensitivity	Detecting and responding to changes in the surroundings.
Excretion	Getting rid of waste materials made in the body.
Reproduction	Producing young of the same kind.
Growth	A permanent increase in size.

Avoid these mistakes

A car is living because it moves — an organism must show all seven characteristics.

Respiration means breathing — respiration is the breaking down of food in cells to release energy.

Excretion includes getting rid of faeces — faeces were never part of the body, so it is not excretion.

Plants do not move — plants move slowly, e.g. leaves turn towards light.

Last updated: 12 October 2026