Biology · Unit 1
What Is Life?
Living things and the signs of life
Asking what makes something alive sounds like a question with an easy answer until you try to write the answer down. A candle flame uses energy, gives off heat and grows. A crystal grows too. Neither is alive, and saying exactly why forces you to be precise in a way everyday language never is.
This unit works through the properties biologists actually use - movement, respiration, sensitivity, growth, reproduction, excretion, nutrition - and then applies them to the awkward cases. Seeds, viruses and dried-out tardigrades are all more interesting than the textbook examples, because they are where the definition strains.
This unit breaks down into 14 short steps and 83 questions, starting at difficulty 1 and building to 2. Below you can see exactly what it covers, how the path is structured, and worked examples with explanations.
- Steps
- 14
- Questions
- 83
- Difficulty
- 1-2
What this unit covers
- Living and Non-living Things
- Groups of Living Things
- Habitats and Homes
- The Seven Signs of Life
- Eating and Life Cycles
Where this fits
The natural first unit in Biology, and worth doing even if the material feels familiar - the rest of the subject assumes this vocabulary.
Where people slip
Something does not need to show every sign of life at every moment. A hibernating animal is barely respiring and a seed is not growing at all, but neither has stopped being alive.
How the unit is structured
What Is Life? runs as 14 short steps that unlock in order. 10 are practice rounds and 4 are challenge rounds that pull together everything before them. Questions start at difficulty 1 and climb to 2 as you progress.
Challenge rounds
Example questions
30 real questions from this unit, with the answer and the reason behind it, grouped by what they practise. There are 83 in the unit altogether.
Eating and Life Cycles
- Build the sentenceLevel 1
1. Put the words in order to make a true sentence about what a rabbit eats.
Answer: A rabbit eats grass
A rabbit is a plant-eater, so a rabbit eats grass.
- Fill the blankLevel 1
2. A rabbit eats only carrots, grass, and leaves. An animal that eats only plants is a ____.
- herbivorecorrect
- carnivore
- omnivore
- dinosaur
A herbivore is an animal that eats only plants, like a rabbit or a cow.
- Multiple choiceLevel 1
3. A lion hunts and eats other animals. An animal that eats only meat is called a...?
- Carnivorecorrect
- Herbivore
- Omnivore
- Plant
A carnivore is an animal that eats only meat, like a lion or a wolf.
- Put in orderLevel 1
4. Put the butterfly's life cycle in the right order, from start to finish.
Answer: Egg -> Caterpillar -> Chrysalis -> Butterfly
A butterfly starts as an egg, hatches into a caterpillar, forms a chrysalis, and then becomes a butterfly.
- Spell itLevel 1
5. Spell the word for a baby frog that lives in water and has a tail.
Answer: tadpole
A baby frog with a tail that lives in water is called a tadpole.
- Fill the blankLevel 1
6. In a food chain, the animal that gets hunted and eaten is called the ____.
- preycorrect
- predator
- producer
- plant
Prey are the animals that get caught and eaten by predators.
Groups of Living Things
- Guess the numberLevel 1
7. How many legs does an insect have?
Answer: 6 legs
All insects, like ants and bees, have exactly six legs.
- Match the pairsLevel 1
8. Match each living thing to its group.
Answer: Mushroom = Fungi; Grass = Plants; Lion = Animals; Germ = Bacteria
Mushrooms are fungi, grass is a plant, lions are animals, and germs are tiny bacteria.
- Multiple choiceLevel 1
9. A dog, a cat, and a fish all belong to which group of living things?
- Animalscorrect
- Plants
- Rocks
- Clouds
Dogs, cats, and fish are all animals, which is one of the main groups of living things.
- Odd one outLevel 1
10. Three of these are insects. Which one is NOT an insect?
- Dogcorrect
- Ant
- Bee
- Butterfly
A dog is a mammal, while ants, bees, and butterflies are all insects.
- Picture questionLevel 1
11. 🌷 Which part of a plant is colorful and can smell nice?
- The flowercorrect
- The roots
- The stem
- The soil
The flower is the colorful part of a plant, and it often smells nice.
- Sort into groupsLevel 1
12. Sort each living thing into the right group.
Answer: Oak tree = Plant; Rabbit = Animal; Rose = Plant; Shark = Animal
Trees and roses are plants that grow in the ground, while rabbits and sharks are animals that move around.
Habitats and Homes
- Build the sentenceLevel 1
13. Put the words in order to make a true sentence.
Answer: Fish live in water
Water is the habitat where fish swim, breathe, and find their food.
- Fill the blankLevel 1
14. A very cold, treeless place in the far north where reindeer and arctic foxes live is called the ____.
- tundracorrect
- desert
- jungle
- coral reef
The tundra is a cold, treeless habitat found in the far north of the world.
- Multiple choiceLevel 1
15. A polar bear lives in a very cold, snowy place. What is this habitat called?
- The Arcticcorrect
- The desert
- A pond
- A rainforest
The cold, snowy home of a polar bear is called the Arctic.
- Picture questionLevel 1
16. 🌳 A place with lots of trees where deer and birds live is called a ____?
- Forestcorrect
- Desert
- Ocean
- Cave
A forest is a habitat full of trees where many animals find food and shelter.
- Tap the pairsLevel 1
17. Match each animal to the place where it lives.
Answer: Fish = Pond; Camel = Desert; Polar bear = Ice; Monkey = Jungle
Each animal lives in a habitat that gives it what it needs, like fish in a pond and camels in the desert.
- True or falseLevel 1
18. An owl sleeps during the day and hunts at night, so we call it a nocturnal animal.
Answer: True
Nocturnal animals like owls are awake and active at night.
Living and Non-living Things
- Choose all that applyLevel 1
19. Which of these are non-living things? Pick two.
- A rockcorrect
- A bicyclecorrect
- A tree
- A butterfly
A rock and a bicycle do not eat, grow, or breathe, so they are non-living.
- Fact or fibLevel 1
20. A rock is a living thing.
Answer: False
A rock does not eat, grow, or breathe, so it is non-living, not living.
- Multiple choiceLevel 1
21. Which of these is a living thing?
- A puppycorrect
- A rock
- A spoon
- A cloud
A puppy is alive because it grows, eats, and can have babies, while rocks, spoons, and clouds are non-living.
- Odd one outLevel 1
22. Three of these are alive. Which one is NOT a living thing?
- A bird
- A tree
- A toy carcorrect
- A ladybug
A toy car is not alive because it cannot grow, eat, or have babies on its own.
- Picture questionLevel 1
23. 🚗 Can this car eat, grow, and have babies like a living thing?
- No, a car is non-living
- Yes, cars eat food
- Yes, cars grow bigger
- Yes, cars have baby cars
A car is a non-living machine, so it cannot eat, grow, or have babies.
- Sort into groupsLevel 1
24. Sort each thing into living or non-living.
Answer: Butterfly = Living; Oak tree = Living; Rock = Non-living; Bicycle = Non-living
A butterfly and an oak tree are alive, while a rock and a bicycle are non-living.
The Seven Signs of Life
- Choose all that applyLevel 1
25. Which of these things do all living things do? Pick two.
- They grow biggercorrect
- They can have babiescorrect
- They turn into rocks
- They stay the same size forever
All living things grow bigger over time and can reproduce, which means make more of their own kind.
- Fact or fibLevel 1
26. Living things can sense the world around them, like a cat turning its ears toward a sound.
Answer: True
Sensitivity is a sign of life, which means living things notice and react to things like light, sound, and touch.
- Fill the blankLevel 1
27. Living things take in food to stay alive. Taking in food is called ____.
- nutritioncorrect
- sleeping
- painting
- hiding
Nutrition means taking in food, which gives living things the energy they need to live.
- Guess the numberLevel 1
28. Scientists list the signs that show something is alive, like growing and breathing. How many signs of life are there?
Answer: 7 signs
There are 7 signs of life: movement, breathing, sensing, growing, having babies, getting rid of waste, and feeding.
- Match the pairsLevel 1
29. Match each of your five senses to the body part you use for it.
Answer: Seeing = Eyes; Hearing = Ears; Smelling = Nose; Tasting = Tongue
We see with our eyes, hear with our ears, smell with our nose, and taste with our tongue.
- Multiple choiceLevel 2
30. Fish live underwater. What body part do they use to breathe?
- Gillscorrect
- Legs
- Ears
- Wings
Fish breathe using gills, which take in air from the water.
Where these questions come from. Each unit starts as a plan of the concepts it should cover and the difficulty it should span. Questions are written against that plan with AI assistance, then checked by a validator that rejects anything without a single defensible answer, an explanation, or plausible wrong options. How we write questions sets out the whole process, and corrections are fixed in the bank and reach the site and the app the same day.
How you practise
This unit mixes 16 different question formats, so you are recalling and applying rather than recognising the same layout every time.
- Build the sentence
- Choose all that apply
- Fact or fib
- Fill the blank
- Guess the number
- Listen and choose
- Match the pairs
- Multiple choice
- Odd one out
- Picture question
- Put in order
- Sort into groups
- Spell it
- Tap the pairs
- True or false
- Type the answer
Practise What Is Life?
83 questions across 14 steps. Start with step one and crawl at your own pace.
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