Living vs Non-Living Characteristics
Practice Paper 1 Grade 9

Name:

Date:

Living and non-living organisms illustration

🔬 Part 1: Identifying Life Characteristics

1. Which of these is NOT a characteristic of living things?

Movement

Respiration

Made of metal

Growth

2. A virus can reproduce but cannot carry out metabolism on its own. Based on the seven life processes, a virus is:

Definitely living

Definitely non-living

Borderline between living and non-living

Only living when inside a host cell

3. Which life processes can be observed in a dormant seed? (Select all that apply)

Respiration (very slow)

Active movement

Response to stimuli

Reproduction

Growth

4. A robot that can move, respond to its environment, and even 'learn' is still considered non-living because it lacks:

The ability to move

Cells, metabolism, and reproduction

Response to stimuli

Complex behaviour

📝 Part 2: Analysis and Application

5. Explain why fire appears to show characteristics of life (movement, growth, reproduction, response to stimuli) but is classified as non-living.

6. A scientist discovers an organism that can photosynthesise, but shows no visible movement and takes 50 years to reproduce. Explain how you would determine if this organism is living, and what characteristics you would test for.

7. Complete the comparison: A car and a horse both can move and respond to their environment. However, a horse is living because it has _____________, _____________, and _____________, whilst a car does not.

🎯 Part 3: Critical Thinking Challenge

8. Extension Activity: Research and describe one example of something that challenges the traditional living vs non-living classification (e.g., viruses, prions, or artificial life). Explain why it's difficult to classify and what criteria scientists use.

Success Criteria:

• I can identify all seven characteristics of living things
• I can explain why borderline cases are difficult to classify
• I can apply life characteristics to analyse unfamiliar examples
• I can distinguish between apparent and actual life processes

Living vs Non-Living Characteristics

Living vs Non-Living Characteristics
Practice Paper 1 Grade 9

🔬 Part 1: Identifying Life Characteristics

📝 Part 2: Analysis and Application

🎯 Part 3: Critical Thinking Challenge

About This Worksheet

Free Download

Print-Ready

AI-Generated

For Teachers & Parents

Need a custom version of this worksheet?

More General Worksheets

Healthy Living Introduction

Living Things Characteristics

Exploring Living Things