Plants and Animals
Plants and animals are living things because they have life, and living things possess some characteristics.
Characteristics of Living Things
Living things are distinguished from non-living things by a number of characteristics which are:
1. Movement: It is ability of an organism to move its whole body from one place to another in search of food, shelter, mating, etc.
2. Respiration: It is the exchange of gases between organisms and their environments i.e. living organisms take in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide.
3. Nutrition: It is the ability of organisms to feed in order to carryout life processes like growth, respiration and reproduction.
Modes of Nutrition
i. Autotrophic: It is the process whereby green plants can manufacture their own food through a process called photosynthesis.
ii. Heterotrophic: It is the process whereby animals cannot manufacture their own food but depend on plants directly or indirectly for their food.
4. Irritability Sensitivity: It is the ability of organisms to respond to stimuli. They exhibit irritability in order to survive in their environment.
5. Growth: It is the permanent increase in size and mass of an organism. The purpose of growth is to enable organisms repair old tissues in their bodies.
6. Excretion: It is the removal of metabolic waste products from the body. The purpose is to remove waste product of metabolism which are poisonous to the body.
7. Reproduction: It is the ability of an organism to give birth to their young ones alive for the continuality of life. Reproduction could be asexual and sexual reproduction.
8. Death: It means that all living things must die because they have definite and unlimited period of existence.
Note:
1. Adaptation: It is the way an organism get used to their various environment in such a way a manner that they could be older
2. Competition: It is the ability of living things to struggle for all the necessities of life in order to survive environment
Differences between Plants and Animals
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Plants |
Animals |
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1. Possess no special sense organ |
Specialized sense organ |
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2. It is autotrophic |
Heterotrophic |
|
3. Gaseous exchange is through the entire body |
Gaseous exchange is through special organs |
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4. Plants have slow response to external stimuli |
Animals have fasts response to external stimuli |
Animal Characteristics of Euglena
These include;
i. Possession of flagellum used for movement.
ii. Possession of gullet for passage of food and reservoir.
iii. Possessions of eyes spot to enable it respond to light.
iv. Possession of contractile value used for excretion.
Plant Characteristics of Euglena
i. Possession of chloroplast which enables it to carry out photosynthesis.
ii. Possession of pyramid where starch is stored
iii. Presence of paramylum granules forms in which starch is stored.
iv. It has an autotrophic mode of nutrition.
Classification of Living Things
Classification of living things consists placing together in categories, the living things that resemble each other.
The system of classification of living things used today is based on that introduced by a Swiss scientist called Carvonlinne (1707-1778). His name was Latinized to Carolus Linnaeus. He published the classification of plants in 1753 and that of the animal in 1758.
Table Showing the Classification of Human and Lion
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Human |
Lion |
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Kingdom |
Animalia |
Animalia |
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Phylum |
Chordata |
Chordate |
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Class |
Mammalia |
Mammalian |
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Order |
Primates |
Carnivore |
|
Family |
Homnidae |
Felidac |
|
Genus |
Homo |
Panthera |
|
Species |
Sapien |
Leo |
Classification of Plants
The major 5 plant classifications are;
1. Scizophyta
2. Bryophyte
3. Spermatophyte
4. Thallophyta
5. Pteridophyta
Spermatophyte
The spermatophyte is sub divided into two;
1. Gymnosperms
2. Angiosperms.
Angiosperm is also sub-divided into 2 groups namely;
1. Monocotyledonous: They bear only one seed leaf
2. Dicotyledonous: They bear two seed leaves
Classification of Animals
Animals can be sub-divided into 2 main classes namely;
a. Invertebrate: Animals without backbones
b. Vertebrate: Animals with backbone
Invertebrates can further be sub-divided into;
1. Protozoa e.g. Amoeba
2. Coelenterate e.g. Hydra, jelly fish
3. Platy helminthic. (Flatworms) e.g. Tape worm, Liver fluke.
4. Nematode (Round worm) e.g. earth worm, leeches, etc
5. Annelids (Earth worm)
6. Mollusca e.g. Squid, Periwinkle,
7. Arthropod: It is a sub-divided into 4 groups;
i. Insects
ii. Crustacean
iii. Arachnids
iv. Myriads.
8. Echinodermata e.g. Star fish, Sea cucumbers while the vertebrate is sub-divided into;
- Pisces (fishes)
- Amphibian (Amphibians)
- Reptile (reptiles)
- Aves (Birds)
- Mammalian
Tests and Exercises
1. Which of the following is an example of Aves?(a) Bird (b) Fish (c) Dog (d) Lion. Answer: Bird
2. Living things can be classified into (a) Invertebrate and Vertebrate (b) Invertebrate and Taxonomy (c) Taxonomy and Vertebrate. Answer: Invertebrate and Vertebrate
3. Plant can be sub-divided into …………. kingdoms (a)5 (b) 7 (c) 4 (d) 8. Answer: 5
4. The family classification for human being is …………. (a) Homo sapiens (b) Homo habilis (c) Homo erectus. Answer: Homo sapiens
5. The general name for living things is (a) Mr. Niger B (b) Mr. Niger I (C) Mr Niger D. Answer: Mr Niger D
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