Living and Non-Living Things

Our Earth, which was formed billions and trillions of years ago, has many things. For Example - The trees, the river, the mountains, the plants, the land, the rock, the birds, the animals, etc. These are all part of our surroundings. We come in contact with them in our day-to-day lives. These things around us are differentiated into two types namely living things and non-living things.

Everything that has life is called a living thing and everything that does not possess life is called a non-living thing. There are many factors that differentiate living things from nonliving things. This differentiating factor is not necessarily activities like moving, running, eating but much more. As we know, there are many things on earth that do not move, run or eat but are living things. Plants, for example, are not mobile. They do not eat, but plants have a life. Bacteria that are not even visible to naked eyes is believed to be the first kind of living thing on Earth.

So, what is living and nonliving things and how do we differentiate between them? The article focuses on the discussion of the differentiation of living and non-living things. 

Living Things

Living creatures are made up of small units called cells. Cells are the fundamental structural and functional unit of any living thing. One of the important features of living things is that they undergo metabolic processes that include anabolic and catabolic reactions. Through the act of reproduction, living beings are capable of generating new life that is of their own species. Cellular respiration is the process through which living creatures get energy, which is then used by cells to carry out their duties. They use food to get energy and expel waste from their bodies. Animals, birds, insects, and humans are examples of living things. Some of the major defining features of living things are mentioned below: 

• All living things have life. They eat, breathe, feel, grow, and reproduce. 

• They carry out chemical reactions within their body, which generates energy. This energy within the body is then used to carry out various activities. 

• Imagine, what would happen without energy being generated inside the body of a living thing. The living thing’s capability to perform various tasks will end and the living being will cease to exist. 

• Most often, living things also show the capability to move which is called locomotion. 

• Every living thing that has life, shows the presence of the cell. Inside the cells, there are chemicals that carry out various chemical reactions. These chemical reactions lead to a number of processes. 

• There are unicellular organisms- living organisms with single cells and multicellular organisms- living organisms with multiple cells living on earth. 

• Multicellular organisms also possess tissues, organs, and organ systems, and thus, such organisms have various cells to carry out various functions.

Characteristics of Living Things

The characteristics listed below are shown by all living organisms. These characteristics make up a living thing. These factors show the presence of life in these things. All living organisms take birth, grow, reproduce, and ultimately die. This is the life cycle of every living thing on Earth.

Cellular Organization- As stated above, all living things must possess a cellular organization. A living thing can be unicellular or multicellular but without the presence of cells, living things cannot exist. And, inside the cell, various activities function as operating systems of various tasks. The generation of energy for instance mostly takes place by cellular respiration. It is the process of absorbing nutrients from food and then turning them into energy.

Respiration- Respiration is the second basic process that ensures continuity of life. Respiration is the process of exchanging gases. The goal of respiration is to generate energy. This process also leaves living organisms with waste products that should be eliminated from the body.

Nutrition- Proteins, carbohydrates, fats are the building blocks of our body. Living organisms derive these nutrients from food. Thus, the process of nutrition is the absorption of nutrients from raw materials or food.

Growth- Various stages of development are included in the life cycle of living things. This is called growth. All living things grow. Thus, growth is a very important characteristic of living organisms.

Locomotion- Most of the living things can move. Animals can move on their own. Example- Leopards, cats, dogs can run. In the case of plants, they move towards the sun, as sunlight is essential for growth.

Response to stimulus- All living things respond to stimuli from their surrounding. They show sensitivity to touch and respond according to their surroundings.

Excretion- Various chemical processes taking place in the body of living things generate a bi-product that is not useful. This is waste and it has to be eliminated from the body. The process of elimination of waste generated in the body is called excretion. Excretion is also a characteristic only possessed by living things.

Reproduction- Only living things have the capability to produce offspring, which carry forward their generation. They have a fragment of genetic material from the parent and also show genetic variation due to the mixing of the genes. Thus, another important characteristic of living things is reproduction. 

Non-living things

Non-living things do not live. They exist on Earth, right from the time, Earth has formed. They can’t eat, breathe, live, grow, reproduce, or die. They remain in nature as it is. Although, over the course of evolution, they get degraded from their original form. But they can’t die and cease to exist on Earth. Unlike living things, whose continuity depends on a number of factors. Non-Living things are not dependent on such processes. 

Characteristics of Non-Living Things

Some of the characteristics of non-living things are summarised below. 

• Non-living things are lifeless. They do not have life. Hence, they do not need cells to carry out different processes. So, non-living things do not have cells, which is the basic unit of life.

• Due to the absence of cells, tissues, organs, there are no metabolic activities going inside them. No metabolic activity means no production of energy.

• Non-living things do not show locomotion. They cannot move on their own. An external force has to be applied to move non-living things from one place to another.

• They do not require nutrition, as they do not show any life processes. They do not need food to produce energy. They do not grow. They do not produce offspring. So, there is no process of reproduction involved in their life cycle.

• Non-living things do not die. They cannot vanish on their own. They do not age. An external force can only destroy them. Example- Mountain, car, ship, water, house, etc.

Difference Between Living and Non-Living Things

A comparative description of the difference between living things and non-living is given below in the table.             

In conclusion of the article, we have learned about the differences between living and non-living things, we have also defined the parameters based on which an organism can be categorized as a living thing.