How can you tell if something is living or nonliving? Introduce a set of criteria which can be used to determine which things are alive and which are not. The class discusses the basic needs of all living organisms, checks out an...

Classify living things with a set of worksheets that has pupils sorting and indentifying living and non-living things. Learners use the worksheets as a basis for finding their answers. 

Fourth graders describe the characteristics that determine if something is living, dead, or non-living. They determine the difference between living and non-living things. Students determine if an object is living or non-living and...

Students investigate living organisms and define the properties of a living species.  In this life characteristic lesson, students examine plants in their class and discuss whether or not they are alive.  Students create a...

Third graders sort and classify objects. For this sorting lesson, 3rd graders sort small objects such as cereal or candy. Then, students classify and sort objects that are living or nonliving.

Young scholars review the classification system for living organisms and apply it the classification of insects and flowers in the still life by Ambrosius Bosschaert. They create a chart classifying the animals and plants in the painting...

Students recognize similarities and differences in plants. For this plants and animals lesson, students begin to classify living things by observable characteristics. Students watch clips from the Internet and play online games. Students...

Find out the characteristics that makes a bug an insect with a workbook designed to inform scholars about the crawly creatures that live around us. Scholars complete an ant-themed word search, answer questions using a solution key,...

Students discover how to classify things based on their similarities and differences. Students give the characteristics of insects and create a classification list. Given examples of various types of insects, students classify them...

Fourth graders discuss different classification schemes for living organisms. They group common household items to discover many ways to classify organisms. Students compare/contrast characteristics of each classification.

Students discover what happens to their trash and garbage once it is collected off of the curb. In groups, they classify garbage and waste into seven different categories and estimate how much waste is created in each one. Using the...

Fifth graders analyze the necessity of classification. They distinguish between living and nonliving things in our world and recognize the six life functions of living things by identifying 15 classroom objects.

Students explore diverse forms of life by using modern biological classification systems to group animals that are related. Students then study basic scientific groupings like genus, species, mammals, fish, birds, amphibians, and...

Fourth graders explore the meaning of the prefixes "bi" and "uni." In groups, 4th graders observe pictures of shells and handle real shells. Students create a chart to classify each shell as a bivalve or univalve. They identify the...

Fourth graders learn how to classify animals. For this invertebrates lesson, 4th graders discuss how we classify thinks into groups and move into a discussion about classifying animals. Students learn about the differences between...

Explore the concept of scientific classification and the similarities and differences between plant and animal species. Your class will participate in hands-on activities by investigating dichotomous keys and classifying their shoes. To...

Young scholars classify various hardware items using the attributes of the objects. In this classification lesson, students group objects based on their attributes and explain their classification key.

Students explore biology by creating a poster presentation. In this animal classification lesson, students utilize a SMART board and practice organizing a group of animal shapes by placing them with similar animal families. Students...

Students explore the classification system of organisms: taxonomy. They examine prepared slides of Protozoans and record information on a Taxonomy Recording Sheet. Two additional classifying activities are also included in this lesson...

Students discover the characteristics of living and non living objects without the use of sight.  In this sense of touch lesson, students touch items put in a shoe box and must identify whether the item was once living or not by...

Students identify the difference between eukaryote and prokaryotes and examine the structure of bacteria.  In this bacteria lesson students examine the different ways that bacteria are classified through an activity. 

Young scholars compare and contrast characteristics of conifer and hardwood trees. After collecting samples of branches around the school, they classify the branch as hardwood or conifer. Groups of students identify given twigs. They...

Second graders practice writing. In this five senses writing lesson, 2nd graders describe their experience on the field trip they took to the zoo. They work as a class and independently to come up with different things they saw, smelled,...

Fifth graders, in groups, make a list of at least three animals that would survive well in a particular environment. After an allotted time, they pass their list to another group, where they will add to it. They discuss adaptations each...