Organisms on earth are considered alive if they possess five major characteristics. Yet, although the mule is considered a living organism, it actually doesn’t meet the strict biological definition of life because it is unable to:Question 12Answera.obtain and use energy.b.grow.c.sense and respond to stimuli.d.maintain homeostasis.e.reproduce.

When we try to define ‘living’, we conventionally look for distinctivecharacteristics exhibited by living organisms. Growth, reproduction, abilityto sense environment and mount a suitable response come to our mindimmediately as unique features of living organisms. One can add a fewmore features like metabolism, ability to self-replicate, self-organise,interact and emergence to this list. Let us try to understand each of these

Viruses are not considered living organisms because theyGroup of answer choicesare ubiquitous in nature.are structurally very simple.cannot reproduce by themselves.typically associated with disease.can only be visualized using an electron microscope.

When you look around, you see both living and non-living things. Youmust have wondered and asked yourself – ‘what is it that makes anorganism living, or what is it that an inanimate thing does not have whicha living thing has’ ? The answer to this is the presence of the basic unit oflife – the cell in all living organisms.All organisms are composed of cells. Some are composed of a singlecell and are called unicellular organisms while others, like us, composedof many cells, are called multicellular organisms

Why aren’t viruses considered living organisms?Multiple Choicebecause they do not replicatebecause they do not possess genetic materialbecause they are composed of only one cellbecause they lack the metabolic machinery to acquire and use nutrients

3.   a. Name one organisms that exhibits both plant and animal features      (1 mark)b. State three (3) animal features and two (2) plant features possessed by thenamed organism in 3(b) above                          (5 marks)c. Differentiate between a living and non-living thing in four ways.       (4 marks)d. Explain the complexity of organization of life forms in    higher organisms.    (10 marks)