Characteristics of LifeName:_______________________________________________

Period:______________

When you encounter something, how do you know its alive? Can you explain it or is it something you instinctively know? Have you ever been fooled before? Sometimes its easy to tell that something is alive but hard to explain why?

To avoid confusion and to help us figure out is something is really alive, scientist have come up with characteristics that all life shares.

For todays activity, you and your group members will:

1) Take a group of images from an envelope with your group number.

2) Group them together based upon them having something in common,

3) Each card has a letter written in the lower right-hand corner, when you have finished grouping, write down the letters for each group.

4) Then write down the characteristic that each group represents; that is, what the images in each group have in common. Group 1:________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Group 2:________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Group 3:________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Group 4:________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Group 5:________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Group E

Key:

A: Living things are made up of cellsB: Living things use energy

C: Living things grow and develop

D: Living things come from other (but similar) living things (reproduction)

E: Living things respond to their surroundings