Characteristics of Living Things

Lab Brief #1

🎯 Your mission

Learn the rule. Then catch nature using it.

⚡ The twist

What the body does in one minute is wilder than any cartoon.

What you'll learn

All living things share basic characteristics: they grow, reproduce, respond to their environment, and need energy to survive. Plants make their own food through photosynthesis, while animals must eat other organisms.

Key words

food web
How plants and animals are linked by what they eat.
photosynthesis
How plants use sunlight, water, and air to make their own food.
organism
Any living thing, such as a plant, animal, or tiny microbe.

Make a hypothesis first

Guess: how does the body solve this problem?

Say your guess out loud — then find out if you were right.

Step 1 of 4 · Read

Look at the vocabulary words and write a definition for each in your own words.

Step 2 of 4 · Do

Create a detailed food web for a local ecosystem. Include at least 8 organisms and use arrows to show energy flow from producers to top predators.

Step 3 of 4 · Observe

Observe what happens and describe it in detail.

Step 4 of 4 · Record

Record your observations in your science journal with measurements and descriptions.

Question 1 of 3

What do plants need to make food through photosynthesis?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 2 of 3

Which is NOT a characteristic of all living things?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 3 of 3

What organism produces food at the base of most food chains?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Mind = blown

🦠 You have more bacterial cells in your body than human cells.

Nice work!

You got 0 of 3 right.

Next: Adaptations for Survival All lessons

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✨ More to explore

🌍 Where you see this in real life: Your own body is doing this thousands of times every second.

🏆 Stretch challenge (try it this week): Find one thing about your body that's different from a friend's. Wonder why.

👨‍👩‍👧 For the dinner table: “Tell me something you noticed about your own body today.”

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