Guest Posted January 17, 2006 Posted January 17, 2006 This sounds really crazy but what does everyone think? Are plants classed as alive or not alive? Of course they are living but i was told they are not alive as they cannot move (eg get up and move) and don't have senses. Thought i was going bit mad as seems such a simple question. Looked on the net and it seems to not answer the question of alive and not alive. HELP!!!!!!Hope ofsted don't come when i'm teaching that one!
Tigger Posted January 17, 2006 Posted January 17, 2006 If you class something being alive by whether it breathes or not then plants are alive! Cast your mind back to photosyntheseis lessons! Also my 9 year old son assures me to be considered alive you have to: Move, Reproduce, Sensitivity, Feed, Respire, Excrete and Grow and you can remember this with the words MRS FREG. Mike Dade (and Mrs Freg is courtesy of a year 5 science teacher!) He remembers all this because of the family debate we had over his homework...Dad said plants weren't alive. Mum said they were, he went with Dad and got his homework wrong... and Mike doesn't like to be wrong!
Guest tinkerbell Posted January 17, 2006 Posted January 17, 2006 Purplecat, plants are alive because they breathe,feed,reproduce etc and they do move...think of beans growing towards the light....put them in a shoebox with a tiny corner cut out and they will shoot up towards the light.
Guest Posted January 17, 2006 Posted January 17, 2006 (edited) if i remember rightly from doing biology at school they are classed as alive for the reasons given by sharon above. Edited January 17, 2006 by Guest
Guest Posted January 17, 2006 Posted January 17, 2006 Thans for that. I think they are alive but was told they are not because living and alive are different apparently. I searched the net for ages and got so frustrated that i thought i'd ask everyone instead. In QCA it is things alive defined as moving and having senses! Well plants definelty move but do they have senses??? Never asked a plant!!
Sue R Posted January 17, 2006 Posted January 17, 2006 Ooh!! Tricky one! - err -.......... My response is 'living' but is that cheating? I remember (vaguely, I am old ) 'living, dead, non-living' as being the categories we used. But maybe this is in a different sense?? (remember, I am old ) Sue
JacquieL Posted January 18, 2006 Posted January 18, 2006 Very much alive as they are living things. Plants do move - they move towards the light, there are some plants who react to touch by moving their leaves away or shrinking up. Carnivorous plants close-up over their prey so will 'feel' it arrive. Ask the opposite are plants not alive i.e. dead? If they are not dead then they must be alive - no? They are not mineral in terms of animal, vegetable and mineral. As I remember it they are alive if they move, breathe and grow. Many froms of animal life do not have all 5 senses. Many cannot see or hear or smell. Anyway that's what I think and remember from all those years ago at school.
JacquieL Posted January 18, 2006 Posted January 18, 2006 Unique characteristics that can allow us to distinguish them from non-living things. These characteristics are: (1). Organisms tend to be complex and highly organized. Chemicals found within their bodies are synthesized through metabolic processes into structures that have defined purposes. Cells and their various organelles are examples of such structures. Cells are also the basic functioning unit of life. Cells are often organized into organs to create higher levels of complexity and function. (2). Living things have the ability to take energy from their environment and change it from one form to another. This energy is usually used to facilitate their growth and reproduction. We call the process that allows for this facilitation metabolism. (3). Organisms tend to be homeostatic. In other words, they regulate their bodies and other internal structures to certain normal parameters. (4). Living creatures respond to stimuli. Cues in their environment cause them to react through behavior, metabolism, and physiological change. (5). Living things reproduce themselves by making copies of themselves. Reproduction can either be sexual or asexual. Sexual reproduction involves the fusing of haploid genetic material from two individuals. This process creates populations with much greater genetic diversity. (6). Organisms tend to grow and develop. Growth involves the conversion of consumed materials into biomass, new individuals, and waste. (7). Life adapts and evolves in step with external changes in the environment through mutation and natural selection. This process acts over relatively long periods of time. Plants are definitely alive. Ooh i enjoyed my homework - very interesting. you can tell i'm retired now and very bored. anything else you would like me to do anybody???
Steve Posted January 18, 2006 Posted January 18, 2006 Another vote for 'alive'! Websters dictionary includes the following: Having life, in opposition to dead; living; being in a state in which the organs perform their functions; as, an animal or a plant which is alive. Link Yes, it's more fun than working eh Jacquie? Harrumph - back to the grindstone!
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