This slideshare gives the detailed description of the characteristics a living organism exhibits and detalied description of all these living characteristics.

2. LIVING:
An organism is said to be living if it exhibits
the following characteristics:
 Growth
 Reproduction
 Metabolism
 Ability to sense their surroundings
 Interaction

3. GROWTH:
 All living organisms grow.
 Twin characteristics: increase in mass and increase in
number.
 Plants and animals grow by cell division.
 Some non living things also grow.
Example: mountains , boulders and sand mounds
 In living things growth is from inside and
in non living things , growth is from outside
Not a defining feature of living

4. Reproduction:
 Production of progeny possessing features more or less
similar to those of their parents.
 Sexually or asexually
 There are even some living organisms which do not
reproduce.
example: mules ,sterile worker bees , infertile human
couples.
 Not a defining feature of living

5. Metabolism:
 Sum total of all the chemical reactions occurring in
the body of living organisms.
 No non living things exhibit metabolism.
 Metabolism is the definite feature of living
organisms.

6. Ability to sense the
surroundings:
 Most obvious and technically complicated feature of
all living organisms.
 Response may be physical , chemical and biological.
 Irritability :response to environmental stimuli.
 Consciousness : awareness of the surroundings.
 Objection : patients in coma.

7. Interactions:
 Living organisms are self replicating , evolving , and
self regulating interactive systems capable of
responding to external stimuli.