What are the characteristics of a living organism?

Answer 1

There are 9 characteristics: ~having respiration(exchange of gasses)

~metabolism (The breaking down of substance and convert to energy

Has two kinds: anabolism(to construct components of a cell) & catabolism(breaks down organic matter)

~Reaction(to counter an/a event/phenomena)

~has homeostasis(maintain a system stable)

~high degree of organization (this causes their outward appearance, different than the previous characteristic, i assure you)

~Identity

~grow and develop at some point in their lives

~create/reproduce organisms similar to themselves

Also has two kinds: Asexual & Sexual Reproduction

~communicate with organisms similar to themselves

~move under their own power.

the five characteristics are:

1. need to excrete waste

2. need to interact with their environment(breathing)

3. need to grow

4. need to react to stimuli

5. need to reproduce

Answer 2

The acronym MRS GREN might help;

M for movement - every living thing moves, including plants - think how they move to the light.
R for reproduction - every living thing is capable of producing offspring whether it's through sexual or asexual reproduction
S for senses - all living things can sense things, from a seed sensing gravity to know which way the roots and shoots should go, to you sensing the light from your computer screen reading this answer.
G is for growth - all living things grow. Even your parents who have reached full size will need to grow new nail and hair cells, not to mention the cell growth needed to repair cuts and stuff.
R for respiration. All living things respire. That means that all living things use glucose and oxygen to make energy. We eat to absorb glucose, breathe to get oxygen into our cells and our cells respond by performing respiration which is a handy chemical reaction that gives us energy. And plants do the the same thing too.
E for excretion. We excrete waste. In animals we think of poo and wee, but even breathing out carbon dioxide is excreting. Excretion means getting rid of things we don't need. So let's all be grateful to the plants who don't need as much oxygen as they make. Their excretions make our life possible!
N for nutrition. All living things need nutrition. We eat food and take all our essential vitamins and minerals from that, but plants take their nutrition from the soil. It's still nutrition though!

There you go. MRS GREN to the rescue!