Lesson 1: Living and Nonliving Things

Length of Lesson: 50 minutes

Purpose:
1. Introduce the practice of observation as a scientific process skill
2. Connect students to the natural and material worlds at our school

Learning objectives: At the end of this lesson, students will be able to classify things as living or
nonliving based on observable characteristics

Indiana Academic Science Standard(s):

2.PS.1 Plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify different kinds of materials by their
observable properties.

Materials and resources:

SMART File—Living and Nonliving Things
Post-it notes
Observation pages
Clipboards

Strand Connections:
Strand
Collaborative group work
Nature of science
Culturally responsive practices
Placed-based practices
Lesson application
Students will share in small groups.
Scientists study the natural and material world.
Connecting home and school by observing living and nonliving
things at home
Engage in outside learning at home and at school

Procedure:
Attentional prompt:
Before lesson, place box of clipboards at the front of the classroom.

Recall previous learning/lesson:

Yesterday we brainstormed ideas to redesign our courtyard to make it a better place to learn! What
were some of those ideas? [Plant new things, build new benches etc.] Before we make any changes,
we need to do some research and make sure our plan is safe for the living things that are already
there.

Words used to tell the children the purpose of the lesson:

Today we will be scientists by making detailed observations about living and nonliving things.
(Refer to NOS Poster 1) Scientists study the natural and material world.

Words used to tell the children the objective of the lesson:

At the end of this lesson, you will be able classify the things you observe in the courtyard as either
living or nonliving.

Direct Instruction (10 minutes)

 Display SMART slide with question: What does it mean if something is living?
 o Have students discuss with table groups
o Share whole class and record student ideas on SMART slide
o Repeat for next slide: What does it mean if something is nonliving?
 Are there both living and nonliving things in the courtyard? How can we know for sure?
o [Go and look, etc.]
 Today we are going to practice observing things in the courtyard. You can observe
something by writing descriptions or drawing and labeling pictures of what you see and
hear.

Practice Together (10 minute)

 Distribute Post-its © Let’s practice observing before going out to the courtyard.
 Show live bird feeder video (see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N609loYkFJo) without
sound for about 2-3 minutes—have students draw/describe what they see
o Share observations with class
o Show same video with sound—have students draw/describe new observations on
post-it
o Did you notice any living things? Any nonliving things?
o Why would we watch the video twice? How was that helpful?
 Observations take time! We must try to take in the big and small details
including big and small sounds.
Independent Practice
 Now we are going to make observations outside in the courtyard.
 Pass out observation pages (see attached)
 Review clipboard procedures
 Walk to the courtyard
o Have students sit in one spot during observation time
o We will make observations for 5 minutes. Remember you can draw, label, and
describe what you see in different ways. Pay attention to both living and nonliving
things
o You may also draw/write on the back!
 Have students line up to return to the classroom.
 Share observations with other students at table group
o Whole class—make a list of things you observed on the SMART page
o Sort into living/nonlivingstudents must justify based on descriptions created earlier
on SMART page

Closure:
Based on our list and our definitions from earlier, what are living things? What are nonliving
things?

Continuing connections:

Tonight you and your family can make observations of the living and nonliving things in your yard
or neighborhood. You will get to share your observations under the document camera tomorrow.

Assessment:

FlipGrid Video prompt: What makes something a living thing? Give examples of three living things
in the courtyard we need to pay attention to as we make a plan for redesigning our courtyard?
[Plants, insects, birds, etc.]
 Rubric:
3 points 2 points 1 point 0 points
Definition of Explanation Includes at includes 1 does not
living things includes air, least 2 details detail explain what
are water, living things
growing, etc. are
Examples of student gives gives 2 gives 1 does not give
living things 3+ examples of example example examples of
living things living things
Clear Student Student is
presentation records on difficult to
topic video and hear/ or is
speaks with off topic
clarity

Supports for Diverse Learners:

Advanced Learners:
Encourage to describe using written observations

Academically Challenged Learners:

Focus on drawing observations

ELL Supports:
Pre-teach topic during Friday ELD Lesson
Share in small groups first—exposure to repeated language/familiarity
Watch video twice—more time to record observations
Pictorial observations—less language load