Characteristics of living things (50 points)

living things share 8 characteristics (listed in chapter 1 of your textbook on page 19). a living thing grows, undergoes metabolism, responds to its environment, reproduces, passes dna to the next generation, maintains homeostasis, changes over time, and is made up of cells. a non-living thing may seem to do one or more of these things, but to be classified as living; all eight characteristics must be present. sometimes, you may see something that seems alive but is not. though you can’t see it, you have likely experienced it; one of those things is a virus.

answer both of the following questions:

using all 8 of the characteristics that define life, indicate which one(s) viruses have and which one(s) they do not, and explain each difference.
with these results, present an argument that a virus is a living thing. then, present the opposite argument that viruses are not alive.