Despite technological advances that have produced machines with lifelike qualities, most people can easily
distinguish between what is living and nonliving. Or can they? This video includes some "fuzzy" examples that will
make students question the meaning of life.
http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.colt.alive/
Background Essay: Is It Alive?
It is pretty clear to most people, even very small children, that icicles are not alive. They are cold
to the touch; they don't move, except to drip or to fall to the ground when they break; they don't
reproduce. At the opposite end of the spectrum, it is also clear that household pets and human
friends are alive, especially when you see them run, jump, or respond to you. Those are fairly
easy examples. But what about a clock or a seed? Are these things living or nonliving, and how
can you tell?
You know that a clock is nonliving, right? But its hands move, it makes noise, and it responds
when you turn its dials or press its buttons. That's more lifelike than an icicle, isn't it? And what
about a seed? Even though we're told that it holds the potential for life, it looks about as lively as
a stone. As you can see, the distinction between living and nonliving is not always clear-cut.
Some inanimate objects have characteristics of living organisms, while many living organisms,
on the face of it, seem utterly lifeless.
So how does one distinguish between living and nonliving things? First of all, the scientific
definition of living includes those things that are alive or have ever been alive -- including what's
left of a tree that died years before. Likewise, the seed, which appears lifeless and can remain
dormant for years before finally germinating under the right environmental conditions, qualifies
as living. In contrast, nonliving things are not alive, nor have they ever been.
But what does it mean to be alive? According to biologists living organisms are characterized by
seven "signs of life": 1) living things have highly organized, complex structures; 2) living things
maintain a chemical composition that is quite different from their surroundings; 3) living things
have the capacity to take in, transform, and use energy from the environment; 4) living things
can respond to stimuli; 5) living things have the capacity to reproduce themselves; 6) living
things grow and develop; and 7) living things are well-suited to their environment.
Discussion Questions: Is It Alive?



What are some characteristics of living things?
What are some characteristics of nonliving things?
How are living things different from nonliving things?
http://www.teachersdomain.org/browse/?fq_hierarchy=k12.sci.life.oate.alive
Is it Alive?
Photo
http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.colt.lp_living/
Living vs. Nonliving
Resources for this Lesson:
Animals Making a Living
(Video)
Animals on the Go
(Video)
Is It Alive?
(Video)
Living and Nonliving
(Image)
What Do Animals Eat?
(Video)
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Standards
Overview
In this lesson, students learn about the characteristics that distinguish living things from nonliving things. By
examining video clips and still photographs of a variety of objects and organisms, students gather evidence and
develop criteria to decide if something is living or nonliving.
Objectives

Develop criteria to decide if something is living or nonliving

Classify things as living or nonliving, based on those criteria

Recognize that living things grow, reproduce, and need food, air, and water
Grade Level: K-2, 3-5
This lesson is appropriate for students in all elementary grades.
Suggested Time

Two 40-minute blocks
Multimedia Resources

Is It Alive? QuickTime Video

Living and Nonliving JPEG Image

Animals on the Go QuickTime Video

Animals Making a Living QuickTime Video

What Do Animals Eat? QuickTime Video
Materials

Handout: Exploring the Characteristics of Living Things PDF Document handout
Before the Lesson

Make an overhead transparency of the handout.

Make a copy of the handout for each student.
Background Information
Young children often have difficulty characterizing things as living or nonliving. For example, they tend to describe
anything that moves as alive. They also do not yet understand the cycle of life (birth, growth, death), and therefore
classify as nonliving anything that has died. In science, living is used to describe anything that is or has ever been
alive (dog, flower, seed, road kill, log); nonliving is used to describe anything that is not now nor has ever been alive
(rock, mountain, glass, wristwatch). Over time, students will begin to understand that all living things grow, breathe,
reproduce, excrete, respond to stimuli, and have similar basic needs like nourishment. Older students may even
realize that all living things are made up of cells.
The Lesson
Part I
1. Ask each student to name one living thing and one nonliving thing. Write all their contributions on easel paper or on
the chalkboard, under the column headings "Living" and "Nonliving".
2. Tell students that they will be studying living things, or organisms. Have students reflect on the list of organisms
they generated and think about all the features that make organisms "alive." Have them brainstorm answers to these
questions:

What are some characteristics of living things?

What are some characteristics of nonliving things?

What makes living things different from nonliving things?
If your students are not reading or writing yet, use pictures or symbols to represent written text.
Write all ideas down. This student-generated list can be used as a reflection tool throughout the unit. Avoid telling
students the correct answers.
3. Explain to students the scientific definition of living (anything that is or has ever been alive) and nonliving (anything
that is not now nor has ever been alive). Remember that the difference between nonliving and dead can be confusing
to youngsters. Give an example of something that is dead but still classified as living, such as a log.
4. Distribute copies of the handout Handout: Exploring the Characteristics of Living Things (PDF). Use an overhead
transparency of the handout to show students how to fill in the Characteristics of Life column headings based on the
list the class generated in Step 2.
5. Working in pairs, have students view examples of living and nonliving things from the Is It Alive? video and the
Living and Nonliving stills collage. Have them classify each example as living or nonliving and record the name of the
object or organism under the appropriate heading on the handout. Then have students indicate which characteristics
of life each example exhibits by putting a check in the appropriate column. (For very young children, you can explore
examples of living and nonliving things by displaying the stills on a large screen. To simplify the task of recording their
observations, young students can draw pictures or use symbols to represent the things they examine.)
You might want to choose one example and model the process of scientific inquiry for students. Ask questions (Does
this example reproduce? Does it grow?), make observations (The river is definitely moving.), and carefully record the
results. Point out the importance of thinking like a scientist.
As students explore the examples, they may discover other characteristics of life they hadn't thought of earlier.
Encourage them to add these characteristics to the chart.
6. Have students reflect on their findings by discussing the following questions:

What characteristics did ALL of the living things have in common?

Did any nonliving things possess some of the same characteristics as living things? Which ones?

How were the living things different from the nonliving things?
7. Assess students' understanding (and identify possible misconceptions) by asking:

Are all things that move "alive"? Have them defend their opinions by referring to the results of their
explorations.

What kinds of nonliving things move?
Again, show them the clip of the moving cars, the running river, or the dripping icicle in the Is It Alive? video and ask:

How is the movement of living things different from the movement of nonliving things?
Next, ask:

Do all living things move?
If students say yes or are unsure, again show them the picture of the grass or plant or the clip of the coral. Then show
them the video Animals on the Go and ask:

What kinds of living things move? What kinds don't move?

Do plants move?

Why do living things move?
Show them the Animals Making a Living video to help them answer this last question.
8. Show students the What Do Animals Eat? video. Ask:

Do all living things eat?

Plants don't eat but they need energy. Where do they get it?
9. Anticipate questions about growth. For example, icicles "grow," yet they aren't alive. Explain that all living things
grow some time in their lives, but that some nonliving things seem to get bigger too. For this reason, growth cannot
by itself be used to classify something as living.
10. End the lesson by asking students whether they want to make any changes to the original list they made of the
characteristics of living things.