Which of the following is NOT one of the seven characteristics of living organisms?
Launching your learning experience…
Exam Season Offer 🎯 Sign up today & get 15% OFF on Yearly Plan
Practise IGCSE 0610 questions in the style of recent Extended past papers, organised by syllabus subtopic. Each set comes with an examiner-style mark scheme and a downloadable worksheet.
Everything students ask about Cambridge IGCSE 0610 Characteristics of living organisms Topical Past Papers.
Top questions students ask on this sub-topic
All rights reserved
©2026 Tutopiya
All resources on this platform are independently created by Tutopiya and have no endorsement from the International Baccalaureate Organization.
These Characteristics of living organisms Topical Past Paper Questions are written in the style of recent Cambridge IGCSE Biology 0610 Extended papers and grouped by the Characteristics and classification of living organisms (B1.1) section of the 2025–2027 syllabus. Use them to revise the exact skills examiners test in this part of the course.
Each question is graded Easy → Medium → Hard, plus an A★ Challenge for top-grade preparation. Tap a question to mark your own answer, then unlock the examiner-style mark scheme with model solutions and examiner tips. A printable Topical Past Papers worksheet is included so you can practise offline.
State and define the seven characteristics of living organisms: movement, respiration, sensitivity, growth, reproduction, excretion and nutrition (MRS GREN).
Which of the following is NOT one of the seven characteristics of living organisms?
Name the characteristic of living organisms defined as 'the chemical reactions in cells that break down nutrient molecules and release energy for metabolism'.
[1 mark]Name the characteristic defined as 'the ability of organisms to detect and respond to changes in the internal or external environment'.
[1 mark]Which characteristic is defined as 'a permanent increase in size and dry mass'?
A student observes a small organism that moves towards a food source, takes in the food, and later releases waste carbon dioxide.
Name THREE of the seven characteristics of living organisms shown by this observation.
[3 marks]Excretion is best defined as the removal of:
The diagram below (not shown) represents a Venus flytrap closing its leaves around an insect that has landed on it.
Identify TWO characteristics of living organisms demonstrated by the Venus flytrap closing its leaves around the insect.
[2 marks]Once the insect is captured, the plant digests it. State which other characteristic of living organisms this digestion contributes to.
[1 mark]Suggest why a Venus flytrap supplements photosynthesis by capturing insects.
[1 mark]Explain why a car is NOT classified as a living organism, even though it moves, uses fuel and releases waste gases. Give THREE reasons by referring to specific characteristics of living organisms.
[3 marks]A virus invades a host cell, hijacks its machinery and produces hundreds of copies of itself. Outside a host cell the virus does nothing. Which statement best explains why viruses are usually not classified as living organisms?