Week 1: Living and Non-Living Things
What's Alive?

Concepts:

Objects in the environment can be living or non-living. Living things are alike in some ways -- they need water, food and air. They grow and move.

Goals:

Children will begin to sort living and non-living things by their characteristics.

Vocabulary:

Living, non-living, alive, reproduce, move, eat, grow, drink, plant, animal, habitat, food pyramid

Materials:

3 to 4 magazine pictures per child of animals, plants and non-living things, paper, glue, markers, real plants, classroom pet -- such as a goldfish or hamster

Read and Talk About:

What's Alive by Kathleen Zoehfeld

Reflect and Ask:

What does it mean to be alive? How can you tell if something is alive? Look at plants and pets. Have children tell whether or not they are alive and give reasons.

Plan and Predict:

Discuss pets and other animals, trees and other plants. Ask if they are alive -- how do you know? Write down their responses. Search the room for non-living things -- how are these things different from plants and animals?

Act and Observe:

Make a chart with 2 columns -- living and non-living. Give each child a photo and invite them to come up and place it in one of the categories. Repeat activity in a small group by allowing the children to glue 4-5 pictures on their own graph.

Report and Reflect:

Discuss finished chart. Talk about what other tings could be added to the chart. Display the charts in the classroom.

Discovery Questions:

1. What does "alive" mean?
2. Are you alive?
3. What can living things do?
4. How can you tell a plant from an animal?
5. Do cars move? Grow? Have babies? Are they alive?
6. What does "dead" mean? How do things die?

Receptive Language:

From a collection of item, select one that is not alive.

Expressive Language:

Name a living thing.