Section 1: The Nature and Variety of Living Organisms Specification

a) Characteristics of living organisms

1.1 Understand that living organisms share the following characteristics:
– they require nutrition
– they respire
– they excrete their waste
– they respond to their surroundings
– they move
– they control their internal conditions
– they reproduce
– they grow and develop.

b) Variety of living organisms

1.2 describe the common features shared by organisms within the following main
groups: plants, animals, fungi, bacteria, protoctists and viruses, and for each
group describe examples and their features

1.3 recall the term ‘pathogen’ and know that pathogens may be fungi, bacteria,
protoctists or viruses.