Student+Activities

=Is it alive?=

This weeks lessons are going to be focused around learning the differences between things that are living and those that are not living. We will also discover what living things need to survive.

Day 1
Today we will be figuring out how to tell if something is alive or not. What are some things that you think are alive? How about some things that are nonliving? Write down 3 things for each of these on your worksheet. ==

We will read the book __What's Alive?__ by Kathleen Zoehfeld as a class.

Finish working on your worksheet and as we learn more throughout the week to see if you were correct.

(I'm not necessarily looking for right answers today as much as just introducing the topic to the students and get their minds in gear for the rest of the week's assignments.

If you finish early, play this game. You will learn some of the different categories of living things.

Day 2
Today we will learn about what living things need to survive. Begin by watching this short video. After you have done that look over this website to answer the questions on today's worksheets(pages 4 and 5).

Day 3
Today we will be putting together our knowledge of what is living and nonliving and what living things need to survive to decided if some less clear things are alive or not. Watch this video, write down the name of the item and then if it is alive or not on your paper. Next you be creating a miniature garden so you can see how living things use the things they need to grow. Follow these instructions to create your garden then we will keep the gardens in the classroom to watch them begin to grow before sending them home for you and your families to enjoy.



Day 4
Today you will be going out onto the playground and surrounding areas to take pictures of living and nonliving organisms with the class's digital cameras. Once they have gathered no less than 8 pictures you will return to the classroom to organize the pictures into webs using Inspiration. Think of ways you can use your five senses (sight, touch, hearing, smell, and taste) to decide if the item is living or nonliving. Separate your pictures into living and nonliving webs. You can further separate from there if you'd like (such as plants and animals). Be prepared to share with the class why you think each item is living or nonliving from the lessons we've had earlier in the week.

Day 5
On the final day of this lesson for the week we will be taking a field trip to the zoo! We will look at the different things there and use what we learned during the week to categorize if these things are living or nonliving. While there you will fill out this worksheet.

Follow this link to the Teacher Resource page I created to go with this lesson plan.