Question

1. which characteristics of living things does soil have? 4. is soil alive (living)? why or why not? 5. use the following word bank to complete the descriptions of the characteristics of life: stimuli, homeostasis, development, adaptation, energy, reproduce, dna, cells, growth, response

Explanation:

1. Soil has some characteristics of living things like containing organisms (cells - microorganisms), and has a response to stimuli (e.g., reaction to moisture changes). However, it doesn't reproduce in the way living organisms do, doesn't have a unified growth pattern like living things, and lacks DNA as a defining genetic code for the whole soil mass.
2. Soil is not alive in the traditional sense of a living organism. While it contains living organisms (microbes, insects etc.), the soil itself as a whole does not meet all the criteria for life such as reproduction, growth as a single entity, and having a single - organism - like homeostatic system.
3. Without the word - bank content provided, this cannot be fully answered. But characteristics of life include cells (soil has microbial cells), growth (not in a unified way for soil), reproduction (not applicable to soil as a whole), response to stimuli (can be seen in soil reactions), use of energy (by soil organisms), homeostasis (not typical for soil), adaptation (by soil - dwelling organisms), development (not for soil as a whole), and presence of DNA (in soil organisms but not for soil itself).

Answer:

1. Soil has some characteristics like containing cells (micro - organisms) and response to stimuli, but lacks others like reproduction and unified growth.
2. Soil is not alive as it doesn't meet all life criteria like reproduction and unified growth.
3. Incomplete information to answer.