[Music] foreign [Music] welcome to the crash course today we're going to be discussing the characteristics of living and non-living things as well as the parts of animal and plant cells this video is meant mostly for secondary one and secondary two students and we divided it into two videos the first part is going to be where we discuss the characteristics of living things and then we talk about the differences between living and non-living things and in the second part of the video we're going to be talking about animal and plant cells and the differences between them as well as their different organelles or parts so living things which are also called living organisms are incredibly diverse so if we want to look at an example we have an oak tree and an oak tree is obviously very different than mushrooms and if we look at a lion it is very very different than itty bitty bacteria but no matter the living organism they all have seven characteristics that they have in common so let's explore that so the first characteristic that we're going to explore is that all living things are made of cells so what is a cell well the cell is the smallest unit of life so in other words it's the smallest living organism on the planet and when we cut open a cell like for example we have this animal cell right here um when we cut it open it has all these parts inside that can't function on their own so like this guy right here this round part in the middle of the cell it can't function solo and if we look over at our plant cell here that's been cut in half for us this blue part right here it can't function on its own so everything is connected within the cell so when we're talking about organisms we can actually divide them into two categories the first category being unicellular organisms these organisms are so tiny that we need a microscope to see them and what's cool about them is they're composed of one cell only so we have some really cool examples that you probably have heard of like for example bacteria and protists one cell very simple and then we also have algae and yeast certain types of them that we need a microscope to see because they're super duper small and then we have the other category this category are multicellular organisms they are composed of many cells they're also more complex than unicellular organisms and the best example that I can think of is the human so our human bodies are composed of trillions of cells we have skin cells we have brain cells we have muscle cells they all accomplish different things so because they accomplish different things they're different so our brain cells are different than our muscle cells our skin cells are different than our hair cells so bottom line is all living things are made of cells and if you want to know more about the particulars about cells then I would hang around for the second part of this crash course the second characteristic of living things is that all living things need energy so all organisms on the planet need energy to survive so for example plants get their energy from the Sun and animals will either get their energy from plants or they'll get energy from consuming other animals and then we also have an example with yeast so baker's yeast feeds off of the sugar when you make bread or cake and it allows the dough to rise so it feeds off that Sugar which is actually kind of cool so that will lead us into our third characteristic of living things so our third characteristic is that all living things exchange substances with their environment so if we look at the previous example with the baker's yeast it's consuming sugar and producing gas so that the dough is going to rise so simply put sugar in gas out and then when we talk about humans we consume food and we consume water and then as a result we will produce feces urine Sweat and Tears we also will breathe in oxygen and we will expel or breathe out CO2 carbon dioxide and what's kind of cool about that is that the plants do the opposite and so when we have our plant here our plant will take in the CO2 and it will expel the oxygen so gas in gas out so we're always doing that exchange with our environment as living things plants or humans and so big or small doesn't matter the living organism there will always be that exchange with the environment so our fourth characteristic is that all living things will react to stimuli so a stimulus which is basically in plural form stimuli is a an event and then we respond to that event so it's a reaction to an event and so for example if I hear someone call my name I'm turning to wherever that that voice is coming from or if I hear a loud bang I want to know where it comes from and so that stimuli is the sound and I'm responding to it I'm reacting to it and so whether we're talking about sound or we're talking about touch or we're talking about light these are all examples of different stimuli we also have smell and temperature hot or cold and then we also have pain so these are all different types of stimuli within our environment so giving some examples like a dog a dog smells a tree it's going to go right to the owner to get that treat or if I stick my hand on a hot stove or a burner I'm I'm going to be pulling back from that because that is I'm I'm responding to that extreme heat another example would be sunflowers sunflowers or any type of flower really points towards the sun because it wants that energy it's responding to that stimuli a venus fly trap a venus fly trap will feel its prey if its prey lands within its on its petals or on its branches it's going to snap it's going to react so these are all examples of that interchange that reaction to stimuli within an environment that's in a characteristic of living things so our fifth characteristic is that all living things grow and develop so for example we have a walnut and that Walnut will eventually grow into a tall walnut tree then we have eggs laid by a frog and they will eventually grow into tadpoles and develop into full adult frogs humans will also have grow and develop throughout their lifespan from the uterus throughout their lives throughout their development so no matter where or what or who all living things will continue to grow and develop the sixth characteristic is that all living things reproduce now some organisms reproduce asexually so here I have this plant and if I were to cut off a branch of this plant and say repot it in a new pot with some soil it would grow into a new adult plant that's identical to its parent another example of an organism that reproduces asexually is a unicellular organism so for example if I draw this unicellular organism here and I decide to split it in two it will turn into to identically new bacteria then we also have another example which would be sexual reproduction so this is another type of reproduction in organisms and it is a lot more complex so here we have an example where obviously it's humans we have we require two gametes so this gamete and this gamete are going to combine to create what is called the zygote and so that is an example of sexual reproduction which is a lot more complex and so when we're talking humans or animals or fungi they will reproduce sexually and then if we're talking about unicellular organisms or some plants they will reproduce asexually but bottom line is that all organisms reproduce so our final characteristic is that all living things adapt and evolve so all organisms are able to change and adapt within their environment based on climate or the food and water that's available to them so for example there are organisms that will hibernate or they will migrate based on the food sources that are available to them or not available to them and whether or not the weather is too cold and so we call these behavioral adaptations and actually some of these organisms can even switch between asexual and sexual reproduction depending on the situation which is also behavioral and then we move to the other side of my screen here and we're going to talk about birds and birds have feet and beaks that are very different depending on their needs so for example the duck has webbed feet and those feet will be able to get them through the water and steer Etc and their beaks are a different shape so that they can catch whatever they need for a food source whereas if we have the owl the owl at the bottom of my screen here they have talons on their feet which help them them catch their prey and their beaks are actually a different shape than those of the duck which help them tear apart their their the animals that they kill so we have that as an example of a physical adaptation and so both of these are ways that help animals survive and evolve so any of these traits that work in these environments will actually be passed down throughout the generations allowing these um animals to evolve and to survive and there you have it our seven characteristics of living things and in order for something to be considered living it has to have all seven of those characteristics respected so let's practice this drones are living things true or false the answer is false so let's take a look at the seven characteristics to see if a drone is a living thing so the first thing is that a drone needs energy so we're going to look at the things that are give us our check marks so drone needs energy it needs a power source so whether that be a battery or electricity or gas it needs a power source so it does need energy and if it's a gas powered drone it will exchange substances with its environment because it releases exhaust into the environment drones are also very Intel and intelligent and they can be programmed to respond to certain stimuli they can be programmed to accomplish certain commands so that one's a check mark But then on the other side drones can't grow or develop they can't reproduce and they can't adapt or evolve they are stagnant they are stuck in the way that they're built and also they are not made of cells they are made of metal and other in industrial type of material so they are not made of cells so if you remember at the beginning of this video we said that in order for something to be considered a living organism it needs to all of these have to have check marks all seven characteristics so as you can see here a drone is not living water lilies are living things true or false the answer is true once again we will look at the seven characteristics to see if this is in fact a living thing so the first thing we're going to look at is that is a made of cells and it actually is we can see if we take cross-section of any part of a lily we can put it under the microscope we will see cells it also needs energy from the Sun so there you go and in order for that and once it absorbs that energy it will exchange substances with its environment in the form of photosynthesis so what's going to happen is that it's going to absorb CO2 from the atmosphere and then it's going to release oxygen into the atmosphere um lilies will also react to stimuli around them including the sun they'll move towards the warmth we will see their flowers turn towards the Sun and another cool thing about plants they always continue to grow and develop so obviously a little Lily will start with no flour and then eventually Bloom with a flower the lilies are also able to reproduce they can reproduce sexually with pollinators or asexually so if a piece breaks off and is planted somewhere else so we know that they are able to reproduce and Lilies can also adapt and evolve so obviously we see that lilies have a flat surface underneath so that they can float on the surface of the water and continue to survive so as we can see here we have all seven characteristics they are respected so a lily is a living thing so now that you know what makes a living thing a living thing you can now hop over to the second video and take a look at what is the difference between plant and animal cells thanks for tuning in [Music]