What Are Life Processes?
Life processes are the series of actions that are essential to determine if an animal is alive. Living things have seven essential processes in common: movement, respiration, sensitivity, growth, reproduction, excretion and nutrition. All things fall into one of three categories: living, used to be living or not living; the presence of all seven life processes indicates a living thing.
Movement is simply the ability to get from one place to another. Reproduction is the ability to create offspring. Sensitivity refers to the ability to react to the world around them using the five senses, hearing, sight, smell, touch and taste. Growth means the ability to grow from birth into adulthood. It is how cells grow and multiply. Respiration, not to be confused with breathing, is a chemical reaction that takes place in our cells. It is the creation of energy to keep you active. Excretion refers to the ability to rid the body of waste. It is how energy is produced from glucose and oxygen and the process of removing water, carbon dioxide and other substances from your body. Nutrition means eating, which is important to sustain life. These processes make it easy to determine if something is living, and a good way to remember them are the names “MRS GREN” or “MRS NERG.”
