# Lesson 121: What is living?

🌱 SCIENCE (40 Lessons) • 🟢 A. Living and Nonliving

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## Objective

I can tell if something is living or not by checking if it needs food and water, breathes air, grows and changes, and can have babies.

## Materials

- Pictures or toys of animals, people, plants, and nonliving objects (for example: cat, tree, rock, ball, robot toy)
- Paper and crayons or coloured pencils
- Pencil and notebook or scrap paper

## Mini-lesson — How do we know something is living?

A living thing is something that is alive. It is not a toy or a picture.

Living things usually:

- Need food and water
- Need air to stay alive
- Grow and change over time
- Move by themselves (plants move slowly)
- Can have babies or make new living things

Nonliving things:

- Do not need food, water, or air.
- Do not grow or have babies.
- Only move when someone or something pushes them.

Quick thinking trick:

- Ask yourself: Does it eat or drink?
- Ask: Does it grow and change?
- If the answer is yes, it is probably living.

In this lesson, we will look at pictures, decide if each one is living or nonliving, and explain how we know.

Picture strip: Sorting living and nonliving things

Living things

Nonliving things

## Guided Practice — Sort living and nonliving things

You will look at real objects or pictures and decide if each one is living or nonliving. Then you will use the tracing pad to practise the key science words.

1. Gather a mix: Put out pictures or toys of people, pets, plants, rocks, toys, and furniture.
2. Ask the questions: For each item, ask "Does it need food and water?" "Does it grow?" and "Can it have babies?"
3. Sort into groups: Make two space labels on the table: Living and Nonliving. Place each object in the right space.
4. Explain out loud: For each living thing, say one reason such as "The cat is living because it eats and grows."
5. Draw quick pictures: In your notebook, draw one living thing and one nonliving thing. Write living or nonliving under each.
6. Use the tracing pad: Choose words like living, nonliving, grow, and needs water from the dropdown and trace them slowly.
7. Add a sentence: Under your tracing, write a short science sentence such as "Living things need food and water."

Tracing Pad
Lines
Trace
Pen

## Practice 1 — Circle the living things

[PLACEHOLDER PRACTICE 1 — A worksheet or on-screen activity where students circle or tap pictures of living things and cross out nonliving things.]

## Practice 2 — Match reasons to living things

[PLACEHOLDER PRACTICE 2 — Students match animals and plants to reasons such as "needs food", "grows", or "has babies".]

## Practice 3 — Explain your choice

[PLACEHOLDER PRACTICE 3 — Students choose one object around them and write or say whether it is living or nonliving and why.]

## Quick Check — What is living?

Answer each question about living and nonliving things. Use what you learned in the mini-lesson.

1) Which is a living thing?

A plastic ball A real cat A toy car
A real cat is alive. Toys are not living.

2) What do all living things need?

New clothes Video games Food and water
All living things need food and water to stay alive.

3) Which question helps you decide if something is living?

Does it grow and change? Is it my favourite colour? Is it big or small?
Living things grow and change over time.

4) Which one is nonliving?

A baby tree A wooden chair A puppy
The chair does not need food or water and does not grow.

5) Plants are living because they…

Are always green Are very quiet Need water, air, and sunlight
Plants need water, air, and sunlight to grow.

6) Which sentence is true?

Living things can have babies. Only toys can move. Rocks need breakfast.
Living things make new living things like babies or seeds.

7) A robot toy can move when it is turned on. It is still…

living nonliving a plant
The robot only moves when someone turns it on. It does not grow or have babies.

8) Which pair shows two living things?

Rock and ball Chair and pencil Bird and flower
Both a bird and a flower are living things.

9) Which of these needs air to live?

A fish A book A crayon
Fish breathe air in the water. Books and crayons do not breathe.

10) A baby puppy grows into a big dog. This shows that the puppy is…

nonliving living a toy
Growing and changing is a sign of living things.

11) Which group has only nonliving things?

Bird, tree, flower Cat, rock, plant Table, pencil, ball
Table, pencil, and ball are all nonliving objects.

12) Why is a tree a living thing?

It grows and needs water. It is always outside. It is very tall.
The tree is living because it grows and needs water and air.

13) Which sentence describes a nonliving thing?

"It eats and drinks." "It does not grow or have babies." "It needs food and water."
Nonliving things do not grow or have babies.

14) Which is the best reason to say a dog is living?

It is cute. It can be in a picture book. It needs food, water, and air.
The dog needs food, water, and air, which are signs of a living thing.

15) When you look around your home, you can use science ideas to…

sort things into living and nonliving groups. throw all toys away. turn nonliving things into pets.
Science ideas help you notice which things are living and which are not.

## Assessment (parent/teacher)

Student can explain that living things need food, water, and air. Student can say that living things grow and can have babies. Student can correctly sort common examples into living and nonliving groups. Student can give at least one clear reason for each choice. Student uses science words like living, nonliving, grow, and needs.

## Exit ticket (student)

😀 I can tell quickly if something is living or nonliving. 🙂 I can sort many things but still need more practice. 😅 Living and nonliving still feels tricky for me.

#### Next time I will practise…

Sorting pictures of living and nonliving things Saying reasons like "It grows" or "It does not grow" Finding living things in my home or classroom
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