Living and non-living things

Humans rely on a wide variety of living and non-living things. But we have to

take care of living things differently than non-living things. Plants need water,

light, and air to grow. We need plants to use for food, clothing, and much

more. Animals require food, water, air, and shelter. We use animals for food,

clothing, labor, companionship, and much more. As humans, we have the

ability and responsibility to care for ourselves and other living things so that

our own needs are met and to ensure that the world will always be full of

diverse living things.

The spark is designed to get students thinking about the unit's topics and to

generate curiosity and discussion.

Materials:

chalkboard or interactive whiteboard

¢ variety of familiar living and non-living items, including a live plant

¢ (optional) magazines with pictures of living things

Activity

Display a variety of familiar objects in front of the class. Ask students to think

about which ones are living and which ones are non-living. Don't elicit

responses or reasons at this time.

Draw a large T-chart on the board with the headings Living and Non- Living. Be

sure students understand the meaning of the prefix "non-" in the word non-

living. Ask volunteers to choose one of the displayed objects and have them

tell you where on the chart they think you should list it.

Don't open their selections to discussion at this time; simply gather students'

first impressions and record them. To supplement the objects on display, you

might also hold up pictures from magazines and have students evaluate them.

Once the chart has a good number of items listed, ask the class to review the

chart and discuss any items they feel might belong on the other side of the

chart. Whenever there is a consensus, erase an item from one side and move it

to the other. Try to refrain from providing "correct" answers, as this activity is

intended solely to get students thinking about unit concepts, not to provide

final explanations.

1. Ask each student to name one living thing and one nonliving thing. Write all

their contributions on paper or on the chalkboard, under the column headings

"Living" and "Nonliving".

2. Tell students that they will be studying living things, or organisms. Have

students reflect on the list of organisms they generated and think about all the

features that make organisms "alive." Have them brainstorm answers to these

questions:

What are some characteristics of living things?

What are some characteristics of nonliving things?

What makes living things different from nonliving things?

If your students are not reading or writing yet, use pictures or symbols to

represent written text.

Write all ideas down. This student-generated list can be used as a reflection

tool throughout the unit. Avoid telling students the correct answers.

3. Explain to students the scientific definition of living (anything that is or has

ever been alive) and nonliving (anything that is not now nor has ever been

alive). Remember that the difference between nonliving and dead can be

confusing to youngsters. Give an example of something that is dead but still

classified as living, such as a log.

5. Working in pairs, have students view examples of living and nonliving things

from the Is It Alive? video and theLiving and Nonliving stills collage. Have them

classify each example as living or nonliving and record the name of the object

or organism under the appropriate heading on the handout. Then have

students indicate which characteristics of life each example exhibits by putting

a check in the appropriate column. (For very young children, you can explore

examples of living and nonliving things by displaying the stills on a large screen.

To simplify the task of recording their observations, young students can draw

pictures or use symbols to represent the things they examine.)

You might want to choose one example and model the process of scientific

inquiry for students. Ask questions (Does this example reproduce? Does it

grow?), make observations (The river is definitely moving.), and carefully

record the results. Point out the importance of thinking like a scientist.

As students explore the examples, they may discover other characteristics of

life they hadn't thought of earlier. Encourage them to add these characteristics

to the chart.

6. Have students reflect on their findings by discussing the following questions:

What characteristics did ALL of the living things have in common?

Did any nonliving things possess some of the same characteristics as living

things? Which ones?

How were the living things different from the nonliving things?

7. Assess students' understanding (and identify possible misconceptions) by

asking:

Are all things that move "alive"? Have them defend their opinions by

referring to the results of their explorations.

What kinds of nonliving things move?

Again, show them the clip of the moving cars, the running river, or the dripping

icicle in the Is It Alive? video and ask:

How is the movement of living things different from the movement of

nonliving things?

Next, ask:

Do all living things move?

If students say yes or are unsure, again show them the picture of the grass or

plant or the clip of the coral. Then show them the video Animals on the Go and

ask:

What kinds of living things move? What kinds don't move?

Do plants move?

Why do living things move?

Show them the Animals Making a Living video to help them answer this last

question.

8. Show students the What Do Animals Eat? video. Ask:

Do all living things eat?

Plants don't eat but they need energy. Where do they get it?

9. End the lesson by asking students whether they want to make any changes

to the original list they made of the characteristics of living things

Part 2:

Guide your students around the school playground to find some different examples of places where things grow. You might have a school vegetable garden or a natural space, even the grass of the oval!

Encourage them to look closely and pay real attention, but depending on what kinds of things live in your area perhaps don’t let them turn over any rocks! Perhaps you could take a little trowel and try to show them some worms living in the soil, but otherwise if you are quiet and careful you should be able to see a few different types of insects at least and perhaps you can hear birds or even see them.

Below is a list of common characteristics student usually come up with. Remember, its OK if they come up with characteristics that are not the actual characteristics of life.

need air

breaths

exhales

moves

reacts to stimuli/environment

needs food/eats

needs water/drinks

has cells & atoms

it can die

thinks

has babies/offspring

What should happen in this experiment, and why?

Your students should be able to observe and understand that living and non-living things work together to form an ecosystem, and that there are many kinds of different ecosystems.