Living or Nonliving

It's alive! Or is it? Through a series of shared readings, whole class activities, and independent exercises children explore the difference between living and non-living things, creating a pair of printable books to demonstrate their...

Is a rock living? How about lima beans? You'll find everything you need for an interactive sorting activity exploring living and non-living things. 

Exploring the backyard, the school yard, the gardens, and the Internet, small children discover the world around them. The bugs, animals, and plants are alive, but is the lawn mower? An engaging activity that will help them understand...

What do an ice cream cone, bicycle, and alarm clock all have in common? That's exactly what young scientists will find out as sort these pictures and learn about the differences between living and non-living things.

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

Explore the five senses with a kindergarten lesson on gardening. After taking a walk through the class garden, kids note what they see, hear, feel, taste, and smell, and then decide what is living in the garden versus what is not living....

What better way to learn about ecosystems than by getting outside and observing them first hand? Accompanying a field trip to a local park or outdoor space, this series of collaborative activities engages children in learning about the...

Students photograph five objects from a bag and five objects from the outdoors. Students categorize things by living and non-living and by properties such as color, size, structure and needs. Students draw conclusions about the basic...

Take a walk and observe living and non-living things on the way. Young scientists practice making valuable observations and draw the details.  You could require that your students complete a T chart of living and non-living things and...

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...