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MATERIALS LIST:
Once Alive:
1. Bird nest
2. Egg carton
3. Animal fur
4. Deer antler
5. Deer’s antler
6. Abalone shell
7. Pine cone
8. Strip of wood
Never Alive:
10. Tin or aluminum can
11. Bottle
12. Item of clothing (sock/tie)
13. Rock
14. Metal pipe
15. Coffee mug
16. Plastic item
9. Rib bone, other bones
Word Cards:
Environment, Share, Do Not Share
Living, Not Living, Once Living
Living Things Need for Survival: Air, Sun, Soil, Water
Living Things Do: Breath, Drink, Eat, Grow, Move, Reproduce, See Hear Touch, Taste, Smell
Photos:
Animals that share our environment: Robin, raccoon, bee, squirrel, frog, dog, butterfly (at least 4
of these.)
Plants that share our environment: Tree, leaf, seed, flowers, pickleweed, rushes, saltgrass (at least
4 of these.)
Animals that DO NOT share our environment: Elephant, koala bear, penguin, tiger, sea star,
bear, kangaroo, jelly fish, turtle (at least 4 of these)
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OBJECTIVES:
Through this activity the participant will:
• identify the limits (boundaries) of his neighborhood environment.
• identify objects which share his neighborhood environment with him.
• be introduced to the concept that earth, air, sun and water are the basic elements of the natural
environment, all living things must move, eat food, breathe, drink water, grow and reproduce
to stay alive.
SCIENCE THEMES:
Systems and interactions
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PROCESS SKILLS:
Observing, relating
GRADE LEVELS:
K–3
FOCUS WORDS:
Note: this NN activity was originally compiled under a 1980’s grant that specified that key words would
be given in Spanish in order to facilitate dialogue with Spanish speaking children. Because of the
conditions of the grant, focus words will continue to given in English and Spanish.
— environment/ambiente: El ambiente es todo lo que rodea algo viviente. Este ambiente
contiene cosas vivientes y no vivientes.
environment: The environment is surroundings, both living and non-living, of any living
thing.
— investigate/investigar: Mirar atentamente con la intención de descubrir algo espec~fico
acerca del objeto o lugar o tópico.
investigate: To investigate is to observe very closely with the intention of discovering
something specific about an object, place or topic.
— sun/sol
— air/aire
— soil/tierra
— water/agua
— living/con vida
— non-living/sin vida
— eat food/alimentar
— drink water/ tomar agua
— breathe/respirar
— have babies/tener bebes
— tongue/lengua
— see/ver
— hear/oír
— smell/oler
— touch/tocar
— taste/probar
— eyes/ojos
— grow/crecer
— move/mover
— ears/orejas
— fingers/dedos
—nose/naríz
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—
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Children of early elementary school age are often not familiar with the word, "environment." To
teach about the natural and cultural components of an environment, we must first help the child to
see his environment as a familiar space, a space in which he spends most of his time. After
establishing the boundaries of his environment, we can begin to talk about the things that share that
environment with him. We talk about telephone poles, ants, stop signs and robins, those things that
commonly share the urban space with the urban child.
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In the BAG OF JUNK activity, we show the child many items that do share his environment with
him and some objects which do not. He is asked to categorize these objects so we can begin to talk
specifically about the things that share his urban environment. We can establish what a living thing
does to stay alive and what a living thing needs in its environment to stay alive. With these basic
concepts established, we can go on to investigate the environment and discover those living
elements that co-exist with us. We stress the point that we are not living separately from these living
things, but must function with them. We cannot meet our needs for survival without also meeting
theirs simultaneously.
ACTIVITY:
GROUP SIZE: whole class, TIME: 20-30 minutes
PREPARATION:
• Put up card reading ENVIRONMENT where it can be easily seen by all participants.
• Arrange participants so whole group can see the leader.
• Have all sets of word cards available.
CONCEPTS:
ENVIRONMENT IS THE SURROUNDINGS, BOTH LIVING AND NONLIVING, OF ANY LIVING THING.
A NEIGHBORHOOD IS A SMALL SPECIFIC ENVIRONMENT, THE SPACE OF
WHICH IS SHARED BY BOTH LIVING AND NON-LIVING THINGS.
MANY THINGS THAT COEXIST IN A NEIGHBORHOOD ENVIRONMENT
ARE LIVING.
ALL LIVING THINGS NEED SUN, AIR, WATER AND SOIL IN THEIR
ENVIRONMENT TO STAY ALIVE.
ALL LIVING THINGS NEED TO EAT, DRINK WATER, MOVE, GROW,
BREATHE AND REPRODUCE TO STAY ALIVE.
WE USE OUR FIVE PHYSICAL SENSES TO INVESTIGATE OUR
ENVIRONMENT.
SUGGESTED INTRODUCTION:
An environment is the surroundings, both living and non-living, of any living thing. A
neighborhood is a small, specific environment, the space of which is shared by both living and nonliving. All living things need to eat food, drink water, move, grow, breathe and reproduce to stay
alive. Many things that coexist in a neighborhood environment are living. All living things need the
resources sun, air, water and soil in the environment to stay alive.
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DO:
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Point to the word "ENVIRONMENT." (either use a pre-made sign, or write this on
the chalk board)
We are going to talk about a word that you may not have heard before. Close your
eyes. Imagine your kitchen. Think about the things you see, feel, taste, smell and hear
in that room.
Allow participants to close their eyes and take 1 minute to "imagine" their kitchen.
Who can tell us what you imagined in your kitchen?
Encourage a variety of responses which name living and non-living things found in a
kitchen.
Your kitchen is an ENVIRONMENT. Many things share space with you in your
kitchen environment.
Point to word card "ENVIRONMENT."
Allow participants to say "environment" aloud with the leader.
Your kitchen is a small environment.
Who can tell us the name of the bigger environment that your kitchen is a part of?
Allow; house, apartment. (Leader may have to give more clues.)
Your house is a larger environment. Many things share space together in your house.
Who can tell us the name of something which shares space with you in your house?
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Environment
RESPONSE:
SAY:
RESPONSE:
Encourage a variety of responses which name both living and nonliving objects.
Around your house there are many other houses, trees, streets, sidewalks, maybe some
apartments and your school.
Who can tell me what his larger environment is called?
Allow "neighborhood."
Discuss street names that border the neighborhood of the participants to set
boundaries of the environment you will talk about.
Allow responses that name street names in the neighborhood.
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RESPONSE:
Discuss buildings that are in the neighborhood environment.
Encourage a variety of responses.
ASK:
RESPONSE:
DO:
What other things share space in your neighborhood environment?
Encourage a variety of responses.
Introduce the BAG OF JUNK as "full of things that may or may not share space with
us in our neighborhood environment."
ASK:
RESPONSE:
DO:
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SAY:
I am going to put the things in my bag into TWO PILES. One pile will be those things
we COULD find in our neighborhood environment. One pile will be those things we
COULD NOT find in our neighborhood environment.
DO:
ASK:
Take each object and animal picture out of the BAG.
Could this (name of object or living animal) SHARE your neighborhood environment
with you?
Have one participant place the object in the appropriate SHARE or NOT SHARE
pile.
Put those items in the NOT SHARE pile back in the BAG.
We are going to talk about those things that SHARE our neighborhood environment
with us.
RESPONSE:
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CO L A
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RESPONSE:
Some things in our environment are ALIVE. Some things in our environment are
NOT ALIVE.
Have available the set of six word cards entitled, "WHAT ALL LIVING THINGS DO
TO STAY ALIVE."
Who can name one thing that a living thing DOES to stay alive? (Continue to ask for
all six words as stated on the word cards.)
Eat, drink water, breathe, move, grow, have babies (reproduce).
Ask each respondent to come to the front of the group and hold the word card
showing the response he gave.
CITY
BIRD
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Have available word cards reading ALIVE, NOT ALIVE.
Show each object and picture from the appropriate SHARE pile.
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RESPONSE:
NOTE:
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Is this ALIVE or NOT ALIVE?
Ask respondent to place object in the appropriate pile beside the word card naming
that pile.
Use animals' pictures as ALIVE.
Remove NOT ALIVE pile.
All of these things in our environment which are ALIVE need four very important
things in their environment to stay healthy and alive.
Have available the set of four word cards entitled "WHAT ALL LIVING THINGS
NEED TO STAY ALIVE."
Who can name one thing all living things need in their environment to stay alive?
Soil, air, sun, water. (If "food" is a response, lead from food to what is needed for
food to grow and allow responses above.) Allow each respondent to hold word card
showing the response word. Each respondent should say the word aloud to the group.
Now that we know what our environment is, we will want to know more about it.
Write the word "investigate" (investigar) on the board. Say the word.
Who knows what this word means?
Have a brief discussion of the word "investigation.”
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investigar
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Have available five word cards with the "sense" words on them.
Have available a leaf from a green plant.
I would like to "investigate" this leaf.
What part of my body could I use to tell me more about this leaf?
What can I find out with this?
Eyes (ojos)/see (ver): color, shape, texture.
Ears (orejas) , hear (oir), sound if stepped on.
nose(nariz), smell (oder)
fingers (dedos): touch (tocar) texture
tongue (lengue)/taste (taste (probar): sour, sweet, bitter
Continue to ask for each of the five senses. As each body part and sense is named,
give the respondent the appropriate card to hold in front of the group.
Each respondent will hold the word card which names his response, in front of the
group.
What do I do with this part of my body to tell me about the leaf?
(eyes [ojos]/see [ver]): color, shape, texture
(ears [orejas]/hear oir]): hear if stepped on.
(nose [nariz]/smell [oler]): odor
(fingers [didos]/touch [tocar]): texture
(tongue [lengue]/taste [probar]): sweet, sour, bitter,
Each respondent will hold the word card, which names his response, in front of the
group.
We call these five things that our body uses to investigate, our SENSES.
We are going to use our senses to investigate at each learning station.
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sniff
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Bang!!
sniff
sniff
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