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Life Science · Living Things

Living vs. Nonliving Things

Compare familiar examples and use patterns of needs, growth, and reproduction to tell living things from nonliving things without relying on movement alone.

Lesson plan

Living vs. Nonliving Things

A step-by-step guide to help you teach this lesson.

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Lesson overview

What students will learn

  • Sort familiar examples as living or nonliving using observable evidence.
  • Use more than one clue, such as needs, growth, and making young, to explain why something is living.

Key science ideas

  • Plants and animals need resources to live.
  • Living things grow and change over time.
  • Living things come from other living things.

Lesson at a glance

  • Grade 1
  • 35 min
  • ~8 min prep
  • K-LS1-1
  • 5 materials

What’s included

  • Lesson Plan
  • Investigation
  • Teacher Slides
  • Printable Worksheet
  • Teacher Answer Key
  • Interactive Activity
  • Vocabulary