Choose a living organism, and explain how it illustrates each ofthe characteristics of life.
Research and describe an organism or cell in which all 8characteristics are not obvious. For example, coral looks like itdoes not move, red blood cells do not reproduce and have no DNA,frogs freeze in the winter and it therefore seems as if they do notmaintain homeostasis, and so on.
Describe the missing feature, and explain how this organismstill meets the criteria of a living thing.
Compare a living thing with a nonliving thing of your choicethat has some of the characteristics that define life. For example,a car exhibits metabolism (burning gas and producing heat), acharacteristic of life, but is not alive because it cannotreproduce.
Compare and contrast the following pairs based on the 8characteristics that define life:
A rock and a snail
A lamp and a tree
Discuss some of the characteristics that fire shares with livingthings (it can grow, it metabolizes, and so on).
