What Living Things Need to Stay Alive
≈ 15 minEvery living thing needs certain things to stay alive:
- food — for energy to move and grow;
- water — clean water to drink;
- air — to breathe;
- a place to live — shelter and space that is safe.
If even one of these is missing for too long, a living thing cannot survive.
Plants and animals need slightly different things. A mielie plant needs sunlight, water, air and soil to grow. A goat needs food (like grass), water, air and shelter from cold and rain. Notice that both a plant and an animal need water and air.
Worked example. A bean seed is planted in a dark cupboard and never watered. Will it grow?
No — it is missing two things it needs: water and sunlight. Move it to a sunny windowsill and water it, and now it has water, light, air and soil, so it can sprout and grow.
Which list shows things a plant needs to grow?
Name the gas that both plants and animals need, and that we breathe.
Plants can do something animals cannot — they make their own ___ using sunlight, water and air. Fill in the missing word.
A bean seed is kept in a dark cupboard and never watered. Why will it not grow?