Characteristics of Living Things: How Scientists Determine What Is Alive Reading Comprehension Passage and Questions

This reading explores how scientists determine whether something is alive by examining the shared characteristics of living organisms. Students learn why displaying a single life-like feature—such as growing, moving, using energy, or responding to the environment—is not enough to classify something as living. Instead, scientists look for a connected system involving cellular organization, genetic information, metabolism, homeostasis, response to stimuli, growth and development, reproduction, and evolution.

Students examine important biological concepts such as cells, DNA, RNA, proteins, metabolism, negative feedback, heredity, natural selection, dormancy, and biosignatures. Engaging examples involving bacteria, plants, animals, viruses, dormant seeds, fire, crystals, and robots help students apply the characteristics of life to familiar and challenging cases. The reading also explores how scientists search for possible life beyond Earth and why several independent pieces of evidence are needed before something can be classified as living.

This resource covers the following topics:

✅ Grade 8 and Up Reading on the Characteristics of Living Things: Explains the connected biological processes scientists use to identify living organisms.

✅ No-Prep, Editable Resource: Easy to assign as print or digital scientific literacy practice.

✅ Living and Life-Like Systems Comparison: Students compare bacteria, dormant seeds, viruses, fire, and crystals using scientific evidence.

✅ Includes Reading Comprehension and Extension Questions: Comes with 10 comprehension questions, 5 extension questions, and complete answer keys.

✅ Designed for Grade 8 and Up Students: Appropriate for biology, life science, astrobiology, and general science classrooms.

How this product will help your students:

• Improve their scientific and disciplinary literacy skills
• Strengthen their reading comprehension and scientific knowledge
• Understand the major characteristics shared by living organisms
• Distinguish between living, nonliving, dormant, and life-like systems
• Apply scientific criteria to difficult examples such as viruses, fire, and crystals
• Understand the difference between individual responses and population-level adaptations
• Explore how scientists search for evidence of life beyond Earth
• Provide an extension activity for faster-moving or more gifted students

How this product will help you:

• Give you a ready-to-use science reading for independent work, homework, class discussion, sub plans, enrichment, or cross-curricular literacy practice
• Make assigning and assessing student work easier with included questions and complete answer keys
• Provide a clear introduction to the characteristics of living things
• Encourage evidence-based discussion about what should and should not be classified as living
• Provide an engaging and easy-to-leave substitute plan that keeps students focused and on task
• Give you a meaningful way to measure students’ scientific literacy and comprehension skills

This resource covers the following topics:

• Scientific Definitions of Life
• Cellular Organization
• DNA, RNA, and Genetic Information
• Proteins and Cellular Functions
• Metabolism and Energy Processing
• Homeostasis and Negative Feedback
• Responses to Internal and External Stimuli
• Growth and Development
• Sexual and Asexual Reproduction
• Heredity, Adaptation, and Evolution
• Dormancy in Seeds and Microorganisms
• Why Viruses Are Usually Considered Nonliving
• Living, Nonliving, and Life-Like Systems
• Biosignatures and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life

Google Classroom and Distance Learning Ready

• This resource is perfect for in-class or distance learning and integrates seamlessly with Google Classroom.
• Automatically creates a copy of the reading and puts it directly into your Google Drive with a single click.
• Purchase --> Open --> Click --> Assign to your students
• The reading also includes a Microsoft Word and PDF version.

No prep, no formatting, no issues. Simply download, print (or upload to your class site) and you're all set.

The Problem You Face - Not having the time to properly teach scientific literacy (disciplinary literacy) or improve your student's reading comprehension and analysis skills.

The Solution

This fully editable, NO PREP reading comprehension article is composed of relevant, applicable, and engaging reading activities which can be used to:

• introduce your topic

• improve your student's reading comprehension and scientific literacy skills

• improve your students' analysis skills

• provide an extension activity to students who move at a faster pace

• provide extra credit to students in need

• measure your student's literacy skills

This resource will take your students between 60-90 minutes to complete and includes some open-ended questions. An answer key is also included for your reference.

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You might also be interested in my other individual reading comprehension articles. Each one can be found inside my Grade 8 and Up Reading Mega Bundle.

I have over 200 readings that cover a variety of topics found in:

• Chemistry
• Energy
• Biology
• Health
• Earth and Space
• Physics
• Ecology and the Environment
• Natural Disasters
• General Science