Lesson Plan

(Macy Hall/3rd Grade Science)

I. TOPIC:
A. The goal of this lesson is to teach third graders the definitions of living and
non-living things and how to differentiate between them.

II. OBJECTIVES/STANDARDS:
A. This lesson satisfies the standards in 3.1.3.A.
B. Given the definitions of living and non-living, the students will be able to
complete a worksheet to separate different objects into living and non-living
categories to the best of their ability.
C. Given paper and a pencil, the students will be able to walk around outside and
write down 7 living and 7 non-living things they see in five minutes.

III. TEACHING PROCEDURES:

A. Anticipatory Set (3-5 minutes): I will have a slide show with pictures of living
and non-living things to show the class. The students will hold their thumbs up if
they think the picture on the screen represents a living thing, and they will hold
their thumbs down if they think the picture on the screen represents a non-living
thing. There will be 8 examples of both living and non-living things ordered
randomly.
If the student with ADHD is having a difficult time paying attention and
sitting still from doing thumbs up/thumbs down, have the students stand up
for living and sit down for nonliving.
B. Development A (7-10 minutes):
1. Ask the students to write down in their notebook what they think the
definitions of living and non-living are then ask for volunteers to share
their answers with the class. (Expected answers: living-something that is
breathing, non-living-something that doesnt move).
2. Have the students read the textbook definition to themselves of each term and
explain the definitions. (Living-having life, Non-Living-inanimate).
C. Guided Practice A (3-4 minutes):
3. Ask the students to share what they think humans and animals need to be
considered living. (Expected answers: water, food, shelter, heartbeat). Write
the examples they give on the board.
Have the students write their own answers on the board themselves.
4. Ask the students to share what they think plants need to be considered
living. (Expected answers: soil, water, sunlight). Write the examples they
give on the board.
Have the students write their own answers on the board themselves.

5. Ask the students to share what non-living things consist of. (Expected
answers: something that doesnt move, something that doesnt breathe). Write
the examples they give on the opposite side of the board.
 Have the students write their own answers on the board themselves.
6. Share more characteristics of living and non-living things from the textbook
and correct answers given as needed.
D. Independent Practice A (10-12 minutes):
1. Students will complete a worksheet to practice determining living vs. non-
living things using the definitions of each term and the characteristics of each
term as listed on the board. Scissors and glue will be needed for this activity.

2. Once each student has completed the worksheet, call students up to the board
to show the class which objects they put in the living and non-living
columns.
E. Development B (3-5 minutes):
 1. Explain to the students that our environment consists of all living and non-
living things and that were going outside to find examples of living and non-
living things in our environment. (Applying what they learned to real-life
experiences)
2. Tell the students to take a notebook and pencil outside. They will make two
columns, one will be living and the other will be non-living. Write down
7 living and 7 non-living things they see outside. They will have 5 minutes.
F. Independent Practice B (5-10 minutes):
1. Students will complete outside activity in five minutes.
2. When the students come back inside, ask for volunteers to share what they
saw outside and whether the things they saw are classified as living or non-
living.

Living Non-Living
1. 1.
2. 2.
3. 3.
4. 4.
5. 5.
6. 6.
7. 7.
3. Have the students break up into groups and share with each other what they
saw and why they classified it the way they did. Have the students refer back
to the book definitions in their explanations.
Oversee the student with ADHD during the group work. Make sure he is
cooperating and that he doesnt have a temper tantrum.
G. Closure (5-7 minutes):
1. Tell students to look at their original definitions of living and non-living
and compare them to the definitions from the textbook. Are they the same?
Does your original definition make sense compared to the textbook definition?
After practicing with real-life objects, does the textbook definition make sense
to you?
2. Show a different slide show containing pictures of living and non-living
things that is slightly more difficult than the slide show used for the
anticipatory set. This time, students will raise their right hand if they think the
object is living and their left hand if they think the object is non-living. While
playing the slideshow, call on students to justify their answers and provide
characteristics of the type of object they are describing.
3. As they ride the bus or walk home from school today, encourage them to look
out the window to pick out living and non-living things in their community.

IV. MATERIALS:
A. Computer
B. Projector
 C. Slide shows (on computer, Powerpoint)
D. Chalkboard
E. Chalk
F. Worksheets
G. Scissors
H. Glue
I. Textbook (for definitions)
J. Timer (for outside activity)

V. ADAPTATIONS/PLAN MODIFICATIONS:
A. Modifications for this lesson will accommodate a student with ADHD.
B. When I do the anticipatory set of thumbs up/thumbs down at the beginning
of the lesson, have the students stand up for living and sit down for
nonliving instead of thumbs up/thumbs down. This allows for more
interaction and movement that will help the student with ADHD stay
focused.
C. When the students give their own examples of living and nonliving things,
have the students write their examples on the board themselves. This will
allow for the student with ADHD, along with the other students, to get out of
their seat and move around in a productive manner.
D. When the students are working in groups, pay attention to the student with
ADHD. He has hypersensitivity to his peers in certain situations. This will
prevent a possible temper tantrum.
VI. EVALUATION:
A. Formative:
1. During the anticipatory set slide show, I will scan the room to see how many
students put their thumbs up for living things and thumbs down for non-living
things. I will also be watching who looks around the room at other students
answers before answering for themselves.
2. When I ask for volunteers to share their definitions for living and non-
living, I will be able to tell if they have the right understanding of the terms
based on their definitions.
3. When I ask the class to share characteristics of living and non-living things, I
will be able to tell if the students understand the textbook definitions of each
term and whether or not they are able to apply the definition into a more
complex understanding of the term.
4. Walk around the room while the students are completing the worksheet to see
if they are placing the pictures in the correct columns. Ask if they understand.
5. Observe the students walking around outside while they find real-life
examples of living and non-living things. Are they understanding the
difference? Are they easily finding examples of each type? Are they struggling
to determine the differences of living and non-living things?
6. When I ask the students to compare their original definitions of each term to
the textbook definitions, I will be able to tell if they understand the new
definitions versus their original definitions of the terms.
 7. During the more difficult slide show in the closure, I will be able to tell if the
students are able to apply their knowledge of the definitions to real-life objects
that are more difficult than the objects on the previous slide show.
8. When they come to class the next day, I will ask a few students to share living
and non-living objects they found at home to see if they have a solid
understanding of the concepts that they can apply to daily life.
B. Summative:
1. In class the next day, I could have a small quiz on living vs. non-living things.
It would consist of a word band containing 8 different things; 4 living and 4
non-living, that the students would place in the living or non-living
columns. The quiz would also have a short-answer section asking two
questions: What are 3 characteristics of living things? What are 3
characteristics of non-living things? This quiz would be worth 14 points; one
point for each example put in the correct column and one point for each
correct characteristic given.

VII. REFLECTION:
A. Student:
How well were the students able to complete the activities? Were they confused?
Did it make sense to them? Was the concept too easy? Were the activities too
easy? Did they show an understanding of the concept?
B. Teacher:
How well did I hold the attention of the students? Were the students engaged
throughout the lesson? Did I explain each term well enough? Did the activities
enhance the lesson? Was I attentive to the students? What changes could I have
made to teach a more effective lesson?