Curated OER
Being Alive
Young biologists use a activity to fill in the blanks of five sentences. Each one needs a word from a word band at the top of the resource. All of the sentences are about things that are alive, and how we know they are alive. The words...
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How Are We Alike and Different?
Students review an online database and look for similarities and differences among the plants, animals, and non-living things that were listed. They compose a narrative based on their conclusions.
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Field Trip to your Square
Students visit an outdoors area and mark out a square on the ground that they examine. They look for and record the plants, animals, and non-living things they find in the square and post their findings on the Internet for other classes...
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The Martian and the Car
In this living things activity, students determine 5 things about a car that makes it seem like its a living thing and 5 things that prove it is not a living thing. This activity has 10 short answer questions.
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Living vs. Nonliving
Students explore the characteristics that distinguish living things from nonliving things. Students examine video clips and still photographs to gather evidence and develop criteria to decide if something is living or nonliving.
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Living and Nonliving Things
First graders distinguish between living and nonliving objects, and compare living organisms and nonliving objects.
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Characteristics of Living Things
Student use the scientific method to experiment with worms. In this characteristics of living things lesson, students predict and examine the reactions of worms to dry and wet soil. Students share their findings.
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Renewable vs. Non-Renewable Resources
Fifth graders are introduced to the important topic of renewable, and non-renewable, resources. They are expected to be able to correctly categorize different types of resources as renewable or non-renewable. Another emphasis of this...
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Nuclear Fleas
Seventh graders distinguish characteristics of living things and identify the importance of careful observation. They identify five things that are not alive, but display characteristics of life and list five things that are alive, but...
National Wildlife Federation
Habitat Web
Young scientists weave together an understanding of ecosystems with this fun collaborative activity. Taking on the roles of different living and non-living elements of specific habitats, learners use a ball of yarn to create the web of...
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Getting nosy
A nose knows! Connect animals to their noses with a fun science activity. Animals include elephants, rats, pigs, and even humans. For a science exploration, kindergartners answer questions about what they can smell. A great addition to...
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Food chains at sea
Fifth graders interpret a table of data about food chains in the ocean. They create a food chain to represent the information on the table. Periwinkles eat seaweed, and crabs eat periwinkles - so who eats crabs? Extend the activity with...
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Munchtime for animals
Which animals eat meat to stay alive? Third graders group fish, hawks, and cats into carnivores and herbivores. An extended activity prompts kids to cut out magazine pictures of different animals according to the foods that they eat.
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Dinnertime for Animals
Is a deer an herbivore? What about a spider? Experiment with the food chain in an interactive science experiment. After listing the herbivores from a selection of animals, third and fourth graders compare the skulls and teeth of...
National Wildlife Federation
Habitat Web
It's all connected. Classes create a web to connect living things in a local ecosystem. They create cards with both living and nonliving things found in their areas while considering the characteristics of each. After they have a good...
Curated OER
Investigation 3 - Terrariums / Aquariums
Third graders create aquariums or terrariums to explain how creatures depend on living and nonliving things.
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Worming Your Way Through the Soil
Students study soil, living and non-living particles in the soil, and learn about composting. In this soil study lesson, students study soil samples and discuss the living and non-living components of the soil. Students classify the...
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Scavenging the Sandy Shore
Students explore oceanography by examining a beach. In this living things lesson, students define the terms abiotic and biotic and practice identifying living and non-living things that have been previously found on a beach. Students...
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What is a Living Thing?
In this living things worksheet, students complete a graphic organizer by filling in statements describing the characteristics of living things.
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What is Life?
Students investigate the characteristics of living things. In this life science lesson, students examine several living and non-living specimens. Students determine which things are living and non-living.
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Growing
Growing is part of being a living thing. Kindergartners decide which illustrations represent the life cycle of a living thing, then put a check mark next to the correct pictures. They then examine their own growth on a height chart.
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Is it alive?
Kids in grades K-2 increase their logical reasoning and visual discrimination skills by determining which things shown are alive. They use the criteria that all living things move on their own to mark each image as alive or not.
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Plants and Animals: Alike and Not Alike
After reading an informative paragraph that outlines some of the differences between plants and animals, fifth graders attempt to correctly categorize 12 words in a word bank. They must put them in the plant, or animal category. This...
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What is a Living Thing, and How Does a Living Thing Respond to Its Environment?
Students investigate how living things interact with their environment. In this living things lesson, students complete lessons for science investigations on what living things have in common. Students study cells, complete...