You are on page 1of 6

Plants and Animals - K

Stephanie Dye, collaboration with Jessica Terranova and Rosaria Matina



S.IP.00.13 Plan and conduct simple investigations.

S.IA.00.13 Communicate and present findings of observations.

S.RS.00.11 Demonstrate scientific concepts through various illustrations,
performances, models, exhibits, and activities.

L.OL.00.11 Identify that living things have basic needs.

L.OL.00.12 Identify and compare living and nonliving things

No. Activity Label Activity Description Activity Functions*
(Why this activity in this sequence?)
1



Introductory
discussion and
Living/Non
Living sort

How do you know if something is alive? This
question is comprehensible, relevant to our unit,
and motivating. This question will lead the
students into our science unit. The living/non
living sort was to get students thinking about this,
and they will have their minds full of ideas.
As part of a pre-assessment, I will have students
complete a living/nonliving sort. Students will cut
and paste pictures to either the living side or non-
living side based on what they previously know.
This is a way of me asking my students what is
living and not living. It is also seeing how they
know what is living and nonliving.
Establish A Question:
This question has students think about what
they actually know about living and nonliving
things. This also creates a situation where
students can relate what they know to their daily
lives to help them answer the question.
Elicit Students Initial Ideas:
When students have completed this activity, I
want to go through it to see why students have
placed the items where, which will lead to the
introductory discussion.

3 Chart Making
and Editing
I will make a list about what students think is
living, or what it takes for them to believe
something is living. Afterwards, something will be
chosen that everyone has agreed on that is living,
Elicit Students Initial Ideas
Students will have an opportunity to share how
they understand what is living and nonliving.
This will be recorded so we can return back to
such as a dog, and go through the chart and
make a check mark next to what it has in
common. Cross off if it does not fit. After going
through the list with a dog, go through it with
something else that is for sure living. After a few
items, the commonalities will start arising.

While making our chart, I can also ask the
students if they have ever cared for an animal or
a plant, and how did they take care of it to make
sure that it stayed alive.

this chart at a later time.
4


Seed
Investigation

I will pass out seeds to my students. I will ask
students if they have ever seen these before/what
they think it is. From here, I will ask students if
they believe the seed is living or nonliving. We
can go over the chart that we have made to see if
it meets our expectations needed for what is alive.


Explore Phenomena For Patterns
Students will be able to look at the seed and
compare that to our chart to test their ideas.
Their observations will see if it matches with the
patterns from our chart to see whether the seed
is living or non living.
5 Seed
investigation
(growing a plant)
Students will place different seeds in a bag with a
wet paper towel and hang them up on the
window. We will talk about what they believe will
happen to the plant.

Students will place other seeds in a bag with a dry
paper towel and hang it up on the window.
Students will hypothesize what will happen to the
seeds with the dry paper towel vs. what will
happen to the seed with the wet paper towel.
Explore Phenomena For Patterns
Students will be given the opportunity to test
whether or not the seed is living or nonliving.
Because living things need water to grow, it is
important for them to see seeds in bags with
and without water so there is a difference. This
will also help students uncover patterns for
living items.
6 Seed
investigation
observations
Daily, students will observe the plants on the
window. Students will have a plant journal where
they record what they see from both the dry
Explore Ideas About Patterns
Students will be given a chance to share what
they are observing, and draw what they are
ziplocks and ziplocks with water. These
observations are important to help students see
patterns in living things.
observing to help them make the connections.
This will help students remember what
happened on day 1 vs. day 6. By recording what
they have observed, this will also allow students
to make correct pattern observations with their
seeds.

7 Compare
nonliving vs
living items.


In this activity, we will compare a live puppy to a
stuffed animal puppy. We will talk about the
similarities and the differences, having the
students determine what is living and nonliving.
Students can use anchor charts to help them
determine whether or not the puppy and stuffed
animal is living or nonliving.


After the puppy and the stuffed animal puppy is
compared, we will compare a bike and a tree.
Students can be explaining patterns from here
still, being able to use what they already know,
and being able to explain their answers.


Students Explain Patterns
This is an opportunity for students to share their
ideas about what they think is living/nonliving.
Based on previous conversations, student will
be able to relate back to that, sharing their own
ideas about what is living or nonliving.
Students will also be able to explain their
answer to me and other students.
8 Whats Alive? By
Kathleen
Weidner
Zoehfeld
I will introduce this story as an educational book
about what is living. As this story is being read,
we will relate it to what our chart says. We will be
able to edit our chart (if there is any editing to be
done) to have it line up with the book. We can go
back through a living item to make sure it meets
what is on our chart.

If we have to add/delete anything from our chart,
we can use their experiences as to why.
Introduce scientific ideas
By reading the story, scientific ideas will
emerge. We will be able to go back and edit our
chart on the attributes something needed to be
living or nonliving. This will make our chart
accurate, and reliable.
9 Living or Non
Living
Powerpoint

Go through a powerpoint of pictures of items that
are living/nonliving. Have students talk about
whether or not they have decided it is living or
non living and why. This activity has students
sharing their initial ideas about the difference
between living and non living things. As they are
making their decision, I will have students explain
why they said it is living or non living.
Compare Student & Scientific Ideas
Help students compare their own explanations
with the scientific explanation provided by the
teacher. Students can compare, test & revise
their own explanations. Students use the
scientific explanation to answer the question.
By reading Whats Alive, students can compare
what we learned from that, and look at our
chart, to help them answer whether the items in
the power point are alive or not.

10 Carrot Seed
investigation
Read The Carrot Seed by Ruth Kruass. As I am
reading this, I will ask the students if this reminds
them of anything. This book is very closely related
to what they are doing in the classroom they are
caring for seeds just as the boy in the story is
doing. They are observing their plants just like the
boy in the story is doing. How does this boy
compare to what they are observing in their
plants?
Introduce Scientific Ideas
This provides students to make the connection
between what they know takes to be living, to what a
plant needs to survive, showing students that it is
alive.
Compare Student & Scientific Ideas

Students will also be given an opportunity to make
the connection to what they are growing in the
classroom to the book. Were the patterns there? Did
the same thing happen in the book happen with our
seeds? Did we provide water? Sunlight?

11 Carnation
experiment
A few white carnations will be placed in colored
water. The colored water will be dark water, such
as dark red, and dark green. We will talk about
what the students think will happen when we put
the carnation in the colored water. Students will
observe how changing the color of the water
affects the plant. Colored water moving through
flower will prove plants need and use water.

Elicit Students Ideas
By thinking about what will happen to the flower,
I am eliciting their ideas. This is also a way for
me to see what my students know about plants,
as well.

Explore Phenomena For Patterns
Students are given an opportunity to see what
will happen after their initial ideas are elicited.
After they see what happens with the carnation,
they will have a better understanding on how
the plant transports water to different parts,
allowing them to make a deeper connection with
parts of a plant.
12 Parts of a Plant
Activity
Students will have an opportunity to look at plants
that have been brought into the classroom (or our
own plants if they are grown enough yet). I will
ask students what they know about what is on the
plant, and have students point out the different
parts, and what they believe the parts do for the
plant. Other questions asked will include how
does the plant use this part to grow?

Explore Ideas About Patterns
Students will have already seen the carnation
experiment, so they will be able to take their
experiences about the carnation taking the
water to the different parts of the plant to
survive.
Students will also see the roots that are in the
dirt, along with the leaves on the plant, which
will lead into our discussion about plants.
13 Plant part
discussion
This discussion will focus on how the different
parts of a plant help the plant survive. We will talk
about the seed of the plant, which is what the
plants grow from. There is food inside the seed
that the roots and stem use to help them sprout
and grow. Plants make their own food using their
leaves and sunlight. They also breathe through
their leaves. Roots bring in water from the soil
and keep the plant in place. The stem carries
water and food through the plant so it reaches all
of the parts. The flower attracts animals and
insects to the plant for them to eat.

Students explain patterns
Students at this time have seen their plant
growing/the plant that has been brought in.
They will be able to use their knowledge about
what the plant needs in order to survive. From
this, the conclusion that plants are living should
arise.
14 Plant
investigation

Based on students knowledge about what is living
and what is nonliving, was our seed alive? Is our
growing plant alive? Use questions based on our
charts to answer whether or not our seed/plant is
alive or not.
Students Explain Patterns
This will allow students to share their ideas,
based on our patterns, to know whether or not
the seed was living or nonliving.
Compare Student & Scientific Ideas
If students are having a hard time deciding
whether or not the seed was living or not living,
we can look at our charts made about what it
needs to be living or not, and then compare it to
what we know about the seed.
15 Going to outer
space
We will imagine that we are traveling into outer
space. In outer space, we have landed on a
different planet and we have found this object. It
has certain qualities. How do we know if it is living
or non living?
Apply To Near & Distant Contexts With Support
The pictures of living/nonliving items will be
items they have never seen before, so we are
applying their knowledge in new contexts to see
if they have made the connection of what is
living/nonliving.
.
16 Living/Non
Living sort
This sort will be similar to their pre-assessment
sort. The concept will be the same, but the
pictures will be new. This will see if students have
gained the knowledge about what is living or non
living.
Apply With Fading Support
Students will use what they know to apply it to
this sort to decide whether their pictures are
living or nonliving.

You might also like