Students in Room 508 are learning about living systems in science. Our lesson began with a discussion defining the meaning of the word ‘alive.’ With some brainstorming, the students shared that the word ‘alive’ means things that are living, things that breathe, things that grow and things that need food. They were asked to provide examples of living things and they came up with many different kinds of animals, plants, trees and flowers.
Students were encouraged to expand their thought process in order to name different examples than those of their peers. Visuals were provided to assist those students who needed it and students were encouraged to use complete sentences as they shared. As they took turns providing examples and answering questions, the activity required them to listen intently to what their peer had shared in order to not repeat the same thing. Their information was noted in their science journals.
With more brainstorming, the students were also able to name things that were non-living like a couch, a table, the sun, a car and shoes. Again, they added this information to their science journals. The class watched a video from Generation Genius, Living vs Non-Living Things, which helped to define the word ‘alive’ and added the vocabulary word and definition of ‘reproduce’ to our discussion.
Following the video, the class had a great group discussion, answered ‘wh’ questions and recalled some facts about how to tell if something is living or non-living. For example, does it grow, does it need nutrients and can it reproduce after its own kind? Students recorded their responses in their science journals.
Afterwards, they had fun sorting a variety of living and non-living items in a game on the SMART Board which spurred conversation about examples they did not think of.
