Living and Non-Living Things

Scientists sort everything around us into two big groups: living things and non-living things.

A living thing does special things that non-living things cannot do on their own. Living things:

• feed — they take in food to get energy;
• grow — they get bigger over time;
• move on their own — a springbok runs, a plant turns its leaves to the light;
• sense their surroundings — they react to light, sound, touch and danger;
• reproduce — they make young ones of their own kind.

Non-living things, like a stone or a spoon, do none of these by themselves. Some things, like a wooden chair, are once-living — the wood came from a living tree, but the chair itself is not alive.

Worked example. Is a taxi a living thing?

A taxi moves — but only when a driver steers it and puts in petrol. It does not grow, it cannot feel, and it never makes baby taxis. So a taxi is non-living.

Now think of a dog: it moves by itself, grows from a puppy, eats food, feels touch and sound, and has puppies of its own. A dog is living.