Living and Non-Living

Ollie L. Jamison               Delano Elementary School
9340 S. King Drive.            3937 W. Wilcox Street                  
Chicago IL 60619               Chicago IL 60624
(312) 785-0029                 (312) 534-6620
        
Objective:

  This lesson was designed for primary grades 1-3.  The main objective of this 
mini-teach is to generalize that all living things need air, water, food and 
shelter.      
                                                       

Materials Needed:
       
    Plant, wood, plastic, bird, hamster, turtle, crab.  

Strategy:       
                   
 1. Take the students for a walk around the school.  Have each student make a 
    list of all the living things they see.  
 2. Develop a game for the identification of living and non-living things.  
 3. Tell the pupils to bring a healthy plant to school.  Do not water the plant 
    for a week or two.  Have the students observe what happens to the un-watered 
    plant.  Keep a class journal of what happened.  
 4. Tell the students to hold their breath for as long as they can.  Record the 
    amount of time each student holds his or her breath.  How did you feel after 
    this activity?  
 5. Have students explain different kinds of shelter used by humans.  Ask them 
    if all people need shelter.  
 6. Have students think of things that might destroy the good air at home or 
    out-of-doors.  (Answers might include smoking, pollution, strong odors etc.)

Performance Assessment:
 
 1. How does something in the world qualify as a living thing?
 2. What two groups can everything in the world be divided into?
 3. What is an organism?
 4. What are two differences between living and non-living things?

Conclusion:

     At the conclusion of this mini-teach pupils will be able to tell that all 
living things need food, air, water and shelter in order to survive. 




OUTSIDE ACTIVITY:   
           
     Write the name of all living things under the appropriate category.

           Living Things                          Non-living Things

         1.                                  1.
         2.                                  2.
         3.                                  3.
         4.                                  4.
         5.                                  5.

     All living things have three general characteristics.  What are they?

     1.
     2.
     3.