Month: August 2017

All animals and plants are living organisms. 

Even though all plants look different and all animals look different, they all have certain things in common.

All plants and animals….

…Grow
…Feed
…Move – even just a little bit!
…Reproduce

Growth
Clearly, seeds grow into plants which go on getting bigger and animals’ babies grow up.

Nutrition
All plants and animals need energy to go about their daily business. Animals eat plants or other animals to nourish themselves. Plants make their own food from sunlight.. neat trick!

Movement
Obviously, animals move almost every part of their bodies, but even plants do move. Flowers and leaves move almost imperceptibly to face the light. Some plants even more fast enough to catch insects.

Reproduction
To keep their species in existence, plants and animals make other plants and animals: animals have babies or lay eggs, plants produce seeds.

Living things are made up of cells
Living organisms like plants or animals are each made up of literally billions of really tiny things called cells. They are so small that you need a microscope to see them. Animal cells and plant cells are slightly different to look at, but they are all cells

Dead things are also made of cells
When animals or plants die we sometimes use them to make useful objects. Wood in tables and chairs, leather in shoes and belts, cotton in shirts and handkerchiefs and wool in socks and jumpers were once all alive and so they are also made of cells.

Never lived
Things that have never been alive are not made of cells. Materials such as plastic, glass, metal and stone have never been alive. They are made from particles.