Tag: characteristics of life

• Non-living things do not grow through internal metabolic functions but by adding on from the outside. Non-living things do not need the energy to continue to exist. Some nonliving things such as crystals grow by accumulating more of the same material of which they are made.
• Living things exhibit growth, movement, reproduction, respiration and metabolism. Living things use energy, respond to stimuli and adapt to their environment.
• So, the correct answer is 'Growth occurs from outside'.

Non-living beings are made up of a single or combination of molecules repeated in a sequence or randomly arranged. A molecule is a group of two or more atoms bound by chemical bonds. A few examples of non- living being is water, table, ground.

The bacteria is a unicellular living organism which has been included in the group of prokaryotes. The earthworm is an example of segmented worm which belongs to the phylum Annelida. These are the living organisms which can perform the different biological processes like respiration, digestion, reproduction, etc. The plant roots cannot perform the functions without the other parts of the plants like leaves which produce food. 

Fungi feed by saprophytic mode of nutrition on dead and decaying plants and animals. In this, the fungi release enzymes on the dead organism and break down complex substances into simpler substances. They absorb the required amount of released nutrients and release the rest in the soil hence increase its nutrient content.

Electron is a stable sub-atomic particle with a charge of negative electricity, found in all atoms and acting as the primary carrier of electricity in solids. 

The odd one out is the pen. The pen is generally made up of plastic. Plastic or polyvinyl chloride is a synthetic material. The material is non-biodegradable and cannot be degraded due to the activity of the microbes. The other examples are cotton shirt, shoe made up of leather and paper are biodegradable.

The crystals are the non-living forms which show an external form of growth. The atoms form the nuclei and then the other molecules in the solution when cooled come together forming an aggregated structure. The new atoms and molecules are added from the outside and so, the growth in the non-living forms is always external. There are no cells which divide and show internal growth as in the living forms.