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Science

Living or Not Living?

Overview

Children look at a collection of objects and decide which are alive and which are not, beginning to think about what makes something living.

Learning Objective
Children sort objects into living and non-living categories using simple criteria.

Resources needed

  • A selection of natural objects — leaf, stone, stick, feather, seed, soil

Lesson stages

0 / 7 done
  1. 1 Show two objects: a stone and a plant. Ask: is this alive?
  2. 2 Ask: how do you know something is alive? Collect ideas.
  3. 3 Introduce simple criteria: living things grow, eat, move, and reproduce.
  4. 4 Children sort a collection of objects into two groups: living and non-living.
  5. 5 Discuss tricky cases: a seed (alive but dormant), a dead leaf (was living, now not).
  6. 6 Ask: what about fire? Does it grow, move, and need fuel? Is it alive?
  7. 7 Take a walk and look for living things in the environment.

Tap a step to mark it as done.

Variations

  • Add a third category: was once living (dead leaf, piece of wood).
  • Sort pictures instead of objects.
  • Go outside and do a living/non-living tally in different areas.
More information

Teach: living, non-living, grow, move, eat, reproduce, alive. The four criteria can be shown with simple gestures for each.

Reduce to two criteria (grow and move) for children who find four too many to remember.

Can children correctly sort familiar objects into living and non-living? Can they give a reason for their decision?

Use objects found immediately outside the classroom — soil, stones, leaves, insects, twigs. No prepared materials needed.

Children often say fire or clouds are alive because they move and change. The reproduce criterion is the most useful — fire does not have offspring.

The living/non-living distinction is foundational for biology. The edge cases — seeds, viruses, fire — show that even fundamental scientific categories can be genuinely complex.

Activity details
Early Years Easy 15 minutes no prep Whole Class, Small Group Indoor & Outdoor
Topics
Living Things Classification Observation