Life Processes

Animals move in different ways- run, walk, skip, swim, glide or fly. They can do this because they have muscles controlled by our nerves and brains.

Plants some plants (like sunflowers) can move their stems to face the sunlight. Unlike animals, they do not have muscles so move much more slowly.

Plants take in oxygen from the air through their leaves to release the energy in their food. This gives off carbon dioxide. Respiration happens all the time in a plant.

Humans and other animals need to breathe for respiration to take place. This happens when animals move air into and out of their lungs or by flapping their gills if living in the water. When animals breathe out, carbon dioxide is removed from the body.

Plants are sensitive to their surroundings. They have shoots growing upwards and roots growing downwards. Plants also respond to light by bending towards the Sun and other light sources.

Animals have sense organs, such as eyes, that tell them what is going on outside their bodies. These sense organs are connected to the animal's nervous system, which carries signals to their brains triggering a response such as movement. Most animals have many senses, such as sight, taste, touch, smell and hearing.

Plants- Most plants begin life beneath the ground. They grow from seeds, which fall in the soil. When a seed gets water , oxygen and air it begins to grow a root and shoot that develop into a plant.

Animals- an animal grows from a baby through to an adult, when it can have babies of its own. This is called a life cycle. Some animals completely change, (like a frog) or just partly as they grow bigger.

Plants/seeds- most plants reproduce by forming seeds (like the dandelion). Each seed can form a new plant. Some plants use spores (such as a fern) Flowering plants form seeds when pollen from one plant moves to another plant. This is called pollination.

Animals- all birds, most fish, reptiles and amphibians lay eggs. The egg protects the young growing inside until it is ready to hatch.

Plants release waste gas such as carbon dioxide through pores in their leaves called stomata.

Animals waste products include the gas carbon dioxide, which is excreted (removed) from the body using the lungs. Another waste product is the nitrogen, which is excreted in the urine (wee). Faeces (poo) is not part of excretion because this for not come from a chemical reaction in the cells- instead poo are the parts of food that didn't get digested.

Animals- herbivores eat plants, while carnivores eat other animals. Humans are omnivores, which are animals that eat both plants and animals

Most plants make their own food using sunlight, carbon dioxide and water from the soil through the process of photosynthesis.