The topic 'Characteristics of living organisms' is a short part of 'The Living World' of NCERT Class 11 Biology. This PPT will help you to understand the topic well.

2. 1. Growth
3. Reproduction
2. Metabolism
4. Cellular Organisation 5. Consciousness

3. 1. Growth
• Twin characteristics; Increase in mass and increase in number of individuals
• A multicellular organism grows by cell division
• In plants, growth by cell division occurs
continuously throughout their life span
• in animals, growth is seen only up
to a certain age

4. 2. Reproduction
Organisms reproduce by - Sexual and Asexual means
In multicellular organisms,
reproduction is production of progeny
possessing features more or less
similar to their parents
In multicellular organisms,
reproduction is synonymous with
growth, i.e., increase in number of
cells

5. 2. Reproduction
Organisms reproduce by - Sexual and Asexual means
Some methods of asexual reproduction
Planaria reproduce through True
regeneration

6. 2. Reproduction
Organisms reproduce by - Sexual and Asexual means
Some methods of asexual reproduction
Fungi reproduce through Asexual spores

7. 2. Reproduction
Organisms reproduce by - Sexual and Asexual means
Some methods of asexual reproduction
Fungi, filamentous algae reproduce through
Fragmentation

8. 2. Reproduction
Organisms reproduce by - Sexual and Asexual means
Some methods of asexual reproduction
Hydra reproduce through Budding

9. 3. Metabolism
• Metabolism: The sum total of all the chemical reactions occurring in our body
• All plants, animals, fungi and microbes exhibit metabolism
• Metabolic reactions can be demonstrated outside the body in cell-free systems
• An isolated metabolic reaction(s) outside the body of an organism, performed
in a test tube is neither living nor non-living

10. 4. Cellular Organization
Defining feature of all life forms as body of all living being consist of cell(s)
Cell is smallest independent possible unit of life which can sustain itself

11. 5. Conciousness
- defining property of living organisms
• Living organisms have ability to sense their surroundings or environment and respond
to these environmental stimuli which could be physical, chemical or biological
• Plants respond to external factors like light, water, temperature, other organisms,
pollutants, etc.
• Human being is the only organism that is aware of him, i.e., has self-consciousness
• Living organisms are self-replicating, evolving and self-regulating interactive systems
capable of responding to external stimuli