NCERT Book Class 6 Science Living Creatures Exploring their Characteristics PDF Download

Chapter 10: Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics

Avadhi and Aayush go for a morning walk with their parents. Avadhi notices some shells and tries to pick them up. Her mother advises her not to do so and explains that the shell could be home to a living snail and is actually a part of its body. Avadhi and Aayush wonder how the shell that is not even moving could have a living being inside! Later that day in school, Avadhi and Aayush share this incident with their friends. They approach the teacher to understand how a shell which is not even moving could be a body part of a living snail. The teacher initiates a discussion in the class on living and non-living.

Activity 10.1: Let us record

We are surrounded by numerous things. Just look around in your classroom and you may find many examples - the pencil that you are holding, the book that you are reading or the pigeon near the window.

• List them in Table 10.1 and identify each of them as living or non-living on the basis of your understanding in column II.
• Write a reason for grouping them as living or non living in column III.

10.1 What Sets the Living Apart from the Non-living?

Look at Table 10.1. Why do you think a pencil is non-living but a pigeon is living? What do you think are the differences between living beings and non-living things according to you? What similarities do the identified living beings share with each other?

You may have identified movement as one of the similarities among living beings. You have also seen cars moving on a road. Does it mean that a car is living? List the tasks that you can do but a car cannot. You are a wonderful example of a living being. Whenever you attempt to group things around you as living or non-living, you can compare them with yourself. Which characteristics help you in differentiating yourself from a car? For instance, a car does not grow. Does it mean it is non-living? Now, which characteristics have you used to classify a car as non-living? Continue your discussion in a similar way to identify the essential characteristics of living beings.

What are some common characteristics that make living beings very different from the non-living things? Let us learn about them.

Can we consider movement as one of the characteristics to differentiate between the living and the non-living? List five things around you that can move on their own. Do you think that all five things that you have listed can be considered as living just because they can move on their own? However, unlike animals, plants do not move from one place to another. Do you consider them as living?

Teacher's Note

Movement is a tricky characteristic because cars and winds move, but they are not alive. Instead, think of living things as those that move because they choose to - animals hunt and play, plants grow toward sunlight. Non-living things move only when pushed or blown by outside forces. That is the real difference.

Even though plants do not move from one place to another, they do show certain types of movements. Opening of flowers is one of the examples of movement in plants. Another example of movement in plants is seen in insectivorous plants. Insectivorous plants are dependent on insects for their nutrition. Drosera is one of the examples of an insectivorous plant. Drosera is featured with saucer-shaped leaves having many hair-like projections of unequal length with sticky ends. Whenever an insect enters the saucer, hairs move inward and trap the insect with their sticky ends. Try to observe the mechanism of movement in other insectivorous plants. Climbers also wind themselves around any object placed close to them. That means, even though plants do not move from one place to another, they do show some movements.

[Figure: Drosera, See in your textbook]

Compare yourself with the picture of your childhood. Can you

[Figure: Growth of a child, See in your textbook]

Teacher's Note

When you compare your photo from age 1 to age 12, you see clear growth - you got taller, your face changed shape, your teeth came in. Plants also grow, but you need patience to see it; a seed becomes a seedling, then a full-size tree. Growth is not just getting bigger; it is a permanent, organized change in a living thing's body.

Key Points

• Living things and non-living things are different; you can tell them apart by comparing them to yourself and seeing which characteristics they share with you.
• Movement alone does not show if something is alive, because cars and wind move too; living things move on their own for a reason, while non-living things move only when pushed.
• Plants do not walk around, but they grow, open their flowers, and some even trap insects - all signs that they are alive.
• Growth is a key characteristic of living beings; your body gets larger and changes over time, just like seeds grow into plants.

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