"Living things" is a first-science question: in kindergarten and grade 1 children sort pictures into living and non-living, in grade 3 to 5 they learn the list of characteristics, and in middle school and CBSE Class 6 the list becomes the definition of life itself, with the trick cases that test whether the list has been understood. This page gives the seven characteristics with what each looks like in a plant and an animal, fifty examples sorted three ways (living, once-living, non-living), the trick cases with the reasoning, and the distinction between non-living and dead that young children find hardest. The printable has the characteristics and a sorting activity on two pages.
Download the living and non-living things sheet (PDF) (MRS GREN with examples, the three-way sorting chart of 50 things, the tricky cases explained, a cut-and-sort activity of 24 items with answers, and ten questions; two pages, free).
The seven characteristics: MRS GREN
A living thing shows all seven. The letters spell MRS GREN.
| Letter | Characteristic | Means | In an animal | In a plant |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M | Movement | changing position or moving parts | walking, swimming, flying, a heartbeat | leaves turn to the light, roots grow down, flowers open and close, a sunflower follows the sun |
| R | Respiration | releasing energy from food inside every cell (not just breathing) | breathing takes in the oxygen; respiration happens in the cells | plants respire too, day and night, using oxygen |
| S | Sensitivity | sensing changes and responding | eyes, ears, nose, skin; a cat jumps at a noise | shoots grow towards light, roots towards water, a mimosa folds when touched |
| G | Growth | getting bigger and developing by making more cells | a puppy becomes a dog | a seed becomes a tree, adding cells all its life |
| R | Reproduction | making new individuals of the same kind | eggs, live young | seeds, spores, runners, bulbs, cuttings |
| E | Excretion | getting rid of waste made inside the body | urine, carbon dioxide breathed out, sweat | oxygen in the day and carbon dioxide at night through the stomata, waste stored in leaves that drop |
| N | Nutrition | taking in food, or making it | eating plants or animals | making sugar from carbon dioxide and water by photosynthesis |
US textbooks give a slightly different list of eight: made of cells, respond to the environment, grow and develop, reproduce, obtain and use energy, maintain homeostasis (a steady inside), adapt and evolve over generations, and have DNA. The two lists overlap almost completely; "made of cells" is the one worth adding to MRS GREN, because it settles fire and crystals at once.
Fifty things, sorted
| Living | Once-living (dead) | Non-living (never alive) |
|---|---|---|
| a dog | a wooden table | a rock |
| a tree | paper | water |
| grass | a dead leaf | air |
| a mushroom | a fossil | the Sun |
| mould on bread | leather | a cloud |
| yeast | cotton cloth | fire |
| a bacterium | a bone on the beach | a car |
| a worm | a shell on the beach | a robot |
| a seed (dormant, but alive) | a log | a computer |
| an egg (fertilised) | a feather | a crystal |
| coral (the polyps) | a pearl | sand |
| a sponge (the animal) | wool | a mountain |
| a jellyfish | a dried flower | a river |
| a cactus | coal (ancient plants) | a plastic toy |
| moss and lichen | honeycomb wax | glass |
| an elephant | silk | a magnet |
| a baby | a pressed herbarium sample | a battery |
| an oak sapling | a soap bubble | |
| plankton | a volcano | |
| a tardigrade | the Moon |
The middle column is the one children most often get wrong. A wooden table is not alive, but it was once part of a living tree, so it is dead (once-living), not non-living. The test: was it ever made of living cells? Wood, paper, cotton, wool, leather, bone, shell, coal and a dead leaf were; a rock, water and a car never were.
The tricky cases
| Thing | Why it seems alive | Why it is not (or is) |
|---|---|---|
| Fire | moves, grows, spreads, consumes fuel, uses oxygen, gives off waste gases | no cells, no reproduction (spreading is the same reaction continuing), no sensing or response, no life cycle; a chemical reaction, not an organism |
| A virus | has genes, reproduces, evolves | reproduces only inside a living cell; alone it does not respire, grow, move or respond; most biologists call it non-living, "on the border of life" |
| A seed | looks dry and dead; nothing happens | alive: a dormant embryo of living cells that respires slowly and grows when watered |
| A crystal (salt, sugar, ice) | grows, has a regular shape | grows by adding layers from outside, not by making cells; no respiration, nutrition or reproduction |
| A robot | moves, senses, responds, uses energy, can even build another robot | no cells, no respiration or growth; made, not born; it does what it is programmed to do |
| A car | moves, "feeds" on fuel, gives off exhaust | no cells, growth, reproduction or sensing |
| A cloud, a river, a wave | moves, grows, changes shape | no cells; moved by wind, gravity and heat, not by itself |
| A dead leaf, a log | looks like part of a plant | once-living: its cells are dead; it no longer shows any characteristic |
| Coral | looks like rock | the reef is built by tiny living animals (polyps); the hard part they leave is once-living |
| A sponge | does not move, looks like a plant or a rock | an animal: it feeds, respires, grows and reproduces |
| Water | essential to all life | not alive; a substance living things need |
| The Sun | gives all the energy for life on Earth | a ball of gas and nuclear reactions; no cells, no life |
| A tardigrade dried out for ten years | shows nothing for a decade | alive: it revives with water (cryptobiosis), like the seed |
The rule that settles all of them: a living thing is made of cells and shows all the characteristics at some stage of its life, even if some are paused.
Non-living and dead are different
Young children are often taught three groups rather than two: living, dead (was alive once) and never alive. England's Year 2 curriculum uses exactly those words. A dead bird, a fallen leaf and a wooden spoon were alive; a stone and a spoon made of steel never were. The question to ask is not "does it move?" (a river moves, a sleeping dog does not) but "is it, or was it, made of living cells?"
Where it sits in school
Sorting living and non-living things is kindergarten and grade 1 in the United States (K-LS1-1, what plants and animals need to survive) with the characteristics in grade 3 to 5; England's Year 2 ("living, dead and never been alive") and Year 4; Australia's Foundation and Year 3 ("living things can be grouped"); CBSE Class 3 and the full MRS GREN treatment in Class 6 (The Living Organisms and Their Surroundings), where fire, a bus and a seed are the textbook questions. The marks go on "all seven, not some", on the once-living group, and on the honest answer about viruses.
Practice: ten questions
- List the seven characteristics of living things.
- A car moves and uses fuel. Why is it not alive?
- Is a wooden chair living, dead or non-living? Why?
- Give one way a plant shows movement and one way it shows sensitivity.
- Is a seed alive? Explain.
- Why is fire not a living thing, even though it grows and spreads?
- Which characteristic do plants show by making their own food, and what is the process called?
- Sort: a cloud, a mushroom, a fossil, a jellyfish, paper, a crystal.
- Why do some scientists say viruses are not alive?
- Is breathing the same as respiration?
Answers: 1) Movement, respiration, sensitivity, growth, reproduction, excretion, nutrition. 2) It does not grow, reproduce, respire in cells or sense and respond; it has no cells. 3) Dead (once-living): it was part of a living tree. 4) Leaves turn to the light or flowers open; shoots grow towards light or a mimosa folds when touched. 5) Yes: a dormant living embryo that respires slowly and grows when it has water and warmth. 6) It has no cells, does not reproduce (spreading is the same reaction), does not sense or respond. 7) Nutrition; photosynthesis. 8) Non-living: cloud, crystal; living: mushroom, jellyfish; once-living: fossil, paper. 9) They reproduce only inside a host cell and on their own show no other characteristic. 10) No: breathing moves air in and out; respiration releases energy from food inside every cell, and plants do it too.
Download the living and non-living things sheet (PDF)
Where to get help
A 1-on-1 online science class with a tutor who holds a master's degree in science, for children from kindergarten to grade 6, Key Stage 1 and 2, the Australian years and CBSE Class 3 to 6: sorting real objects on the shared screen, MRS GREN learned through a plant and a pet rather than a list, and the trick cases argued out. The recording and notes after every class, the same tutor every week, US$10 to $13 an hour. The biology page has the courses; the free 30-minute first class is a real lesson, usually on the homework the child brings.
Questions parents ask
1What are the 7 characteristics of living things?
2What is the difference between living and non-living things?
3Is fire a living thing?
4Is a virus living or non-living?
5Is a seed alive?
See how we teach this, 1-on-1 online →
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