Living Things - Grade 5 Science and Technology Revision Notes

• Plants
  • Classification of plants
  • Safety precautions when handling harmful plants
  • Importance of flowering plants
• Fungi
  • Safety precautions when handling fungi.
  • Importance of fungi to human beings
  • Economic importance of fungi to the environment.
• Animals
  
  • Vertebrates
    • Characteristics of mammals
    • Characteristics of birds
    • Characteristics of fish
    • Characteristics of reptiles
    • Characteristics of Amphibians

Plants

Classification of plants

• Plants are living things
• Classifications - is the act or the process of dividing plants in groups, according to the given features.
• In grade 5 plants are groups into two categories which include
  1. Flowering plants – these are plants that produce flowers for examples maize, pawpaw and beans.
  2. Non – flowering plants - these are plants that do not produce flowers for examples mosses, fern and algae.

Safety precautions when handling harmful plants

Precautions – are measures taken in advance to prevent harm to the learners when carrying out different
activities. They include

• Wearing protective cloths
• Washing hands after handling plants
• Not eating or tasting or smelling poisonous plants

Importance of flowering plants

• Flowering plants are very useful
  1. They give food
  2. They give shelter
  3. They give medicine
  4. They add beauty to the environment

Fungi

• They are neither plants nor animals
•  They grow on dead and decaying plants and obtain their food from them
•  They include bread mould, yeast and mushroom
• The black or green patches on the slice of bread are called mould
• Fungi grow on soil and water. They also grow on decaying food or rotting plants,

Safety precautions when handling fungi.

• Precautions – these are measures taken in advance to prevent harm to the learners when carrying out
  different activities. They include;
  1. Wearing protective gears
  2. Washing hands after handling plants
  3. No eating or tasting or smelling poisonous plants

Importance of fungi to human beings

• Fungi are useful.
  1. Some fungi are used as food e.g. Mushrooms
  2. Some fungi are used in the process of cooking e.g yeast. It is used in the baking industries .
  3. Some fungi are used in making medicines
  4. Some are use in the processing some beverages e.g in fermenting milk

Economic importance of fungi to the environment.

1. It’s a source of food
2. Yeast used in baking
3. Pesticides used in controlling insect and pest
4. Mushrooms farming is both for food and for export

Animals

Vertebrates

• Animals are divided into two groups, vertebrates and invertebrates
• Vertebrates have vertebral column also called backbone. The backbone runs from the skull, joining the upper limbs and the ribcage to the lower limbs
• There are 5 classes of animals in the vertebrates groups
  1. Mammals
  2.  Birds
  3. Fish
  4. Reptiles
  5. Amphibians
• Mammals and birds are warm blooded, meaning their body temperatures are constant
• Fish and reptiles and amphibians are cold blooded meaning their body temperature changes according to the surrounding

Characteristics of mammals

1. They have memory glands
2. They range in different sizes
3. They have backbones
4. They give birth to young on while other lay eggs e. the duck bill platypus and spiny ant eater.
5. They live in land
6. Body covered with far or hairs
7. They are warm blooded

Characteristics of birds

• These are animals with have feathers and can fly, however some do not fly e.g ostrich which can just run fast.
• They have the following characteristics
  1. They are warm blooded
  2. They have backbone
  3. Body covered with feathers
  4. Birds lay eggs
  5. They have wings

Characteristics of fish

1. These are animals which live in water
2. They have backbones
3. They live in water
4. They are cold blooded
5. They breathe through gills
6. Move by swimming
7. Their bodies are covered with scales

Characteristics of reptiles

1. They have backbones
2. They are cold blooded
3. Their bodies are covered with scales
4. They breathe through lungs
5. Most reptiles lay eggs

Characteristics of Amphibians

• These are animals that spend their lives in water and on land
• They have the following characteristics;
  1. They have backbones
  2. They have moist skins
  3. Live partly in water and partly on land
  4. They breathe through gills when young and through lungs when mature
  5. They are cold blooded
  6. Most amphibians lay eggs