Living And Non-Living Activity Guide
National Park ServiceU.S. Department of the InteriorZion National ParkLiving and Non-LivingNPS/ADRIENNE FITZGERALD
ContentsIntroduction 2Core Connections 2Background 2ActivitiesLiving or Non-Living? 3Everything is Connected 4Living and Non-Living Lapsit 6Glossary 7References 8
IntroductionNPS/RENDALL SEELYThis guide contains background information about the differences androles of living and non-living things, and directions for three activities thatwill help students better understand how living and non-living things bothhave important roles in places such as Zion National park. This guide isspecifically designed for third grade classrooms, but the activities can bemodified for students at other levels.ThemeLiving and non-living things may have verydifferent characteristics, but they rely on eachother and both are important to habitats.FocusThe relationship between living and nonliving things in a habitat.NPS/MARC NEIDIGActivitiesLiving or Non-Living?By classifying things found in a classroom,students will learn to identify living versusnon-living things.Everything Is ConnectedNPS/MARC NEIDIGLiving and non-living things coexist together to create healthyhabitats.By taking on the roles of producers,herbivores, carnivores, omnivores and nonliving things in a habitat, students will createa food web to see the role of living and nonliving things in a habitat.Living or Non-living LapsitCore ConnectionsStudents form an interconnected circle todemonstrate habitat components and theimpacts of change to the habitat by non-livingthings.BackgroundLife thrives on Earth as plants, animals, andother living things such as bacteria and fungiin a variety of natural habitats on land and inwater.The natural world supplies habitats, orhomes, for living things. A natural habitat isthe place where a population (e.g., human,animal, plant, microorganism) lives and itssurroundings, both living and non-living.Non-living things are inanimate objects orforces with the ability to influence, shape,alter a habitat, and impact its life. Someexamples of non-living things include rocks,water, weather, climate, and natural eventssuch as rockfalls or earthquakes.Living things are defined by a set ofcharacteristics including the ability toreproduce, grow, move, breathe, adapt orrespond to their environment. Living thingsalso all need food and water and have one ormore cells.Utah Core CurriculumThird Grade ScienceStandard 2: Students willunderstand that organismsdepend on living andnonliving things within theirenvironment.Objective 1: Classify livingand nonliving things in anenvironment.Objective 2: Describe theinteractions between livingand nonliving things in a smallenvironment.Zion National Park, 2015Living and Non-living 2
Living or Non-Living?Duration45 minutesLocationIndoorsKey Vocabularyliving, non-livingObjectivesAfter this activity, students will be able toclassify living and non-living things.MethodBy classifying things found in a classroom,students will learn to identify living versusnon-living things.BackgroundLiving things have very specific characteristics.All living things need FOOD, water,reproduce, grow, move, breathe, adapt orrespond to their environment, and producewaste, though they do these things in verydifferent ways. Living things also include deadorganisms that used to be alive such as deadtrees and fossils.Materials paper and pencils for each studentThe Zion shooting star is a livingthing, one of more than 900species of plants in ZionNational Park.Zion National Park, 2015Suggested Procedures1. Divide students into four groups. Send eachgroup to one quadrant of the classroom.Have the kids fold the paper in thirds, thenin half.2. Ask the students to pick three things intheir section of the classroom that illustrateor represent a living or non-living thing.It could be a person, picture, object, ora word. Then have them draw one itemin each of the top sections of the foldedpaper. One thing should be smaller thana penny, one larger than a dog and one inbetween. Have them write what it is andwhether it is living or non-living.3. Have students share what they drew ordescribed. Have students help group all theitems as either living or non-living and listthe items on the board4. Have students help brainstorm thecharacteristics of each group and whatmakes a living thing living. All plants andanimals are living because they can growand reproduce, need food, water, andair, move and respond or adapt to theirenvironment.EvaluationAsk students whether they think a river isliving or not and discuss why it is non-living.NPS/CAITLIN CECILiving and Non-living 3
Everything is ConnectedDuration45 minutesLocationIndoors or outdoors in an area with enoughspace for the students to stand in a semi-circleNPS/BRYANNA PLOGKey Vocabularycarnivore, food chain, habitat, herbivore,living, non-living, omnivore, producerObjectivesNPS/JACQUELINE DRAKEAfter this activity, students will be able toa) describe a simple food chain, b) name atleast one producer, one herbivore, oneomnivore, and one carnivore, and c) nameone non–living thing and discuss how itaffects its habitat.MethodBy taking on the roles of producers,herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, and nonliving things in a habitat, students will createa food chain to better understand habitatconnections.BackgroundNPS/MARC NEIDIGSun and water are twoimportant non-livingcomponents to any habitat,while plants are an integralliving component.Everything in the natural world is connectedin a web of life.Our sun is the initial source of heat andenergy for our planet and the life that thriveson it. Solar energy is used to support the life ofproducers, species such as plants that producetheir own food from sunlight through theprocess of photosynthesis. In turn, producersmay be consumed by herbivores (plant eaters).Carnivores (meat eaters), in turn, may eatherbivores. Omnivores consume both plantsand animals.Non-living things, such as rocks, rivers,waterfalls, rockfalls, weather, fire, andpollution influence a habitat positively ornegatively. The web of life is created byrelationships not only between living things,but also between living and non-living things.Zion National Park, 2015Materials Everything is Connected Imagesyellow ballstringpaper and pencils for each studentSuggested Procedures1. Print and cut out the image cards. Informstudents they are going to make a foodchain. The class will be adding differentcomponents to make up the food chain.After each, ask if that component is livingor non-living.2. Attach the string to the ball and place theyellow ball, which represents the sun, in atree or have a volunteer hold it. The stringfrom the ball represents the energy fromsun to Earth.3. Pass out one image to each student. Askthose who think they are producers, whoget energy directly from the sun, to standup. Briefly discuss each of their images, andhave the group confirm that each organismis a producer. As each is confirmed, havethem line up next to the sun, hold onto thestring (energy) from the sun, and hold uptheir images.4. Repeat the exercise with herbivores,omnivores, and carnivores, and discuss thedifferences. Have students make ahalf circle for best group viewing.5. The students left sitting should beholding cards for non-living things.Have this group stand up across from theothers and discuss why these things arenon-living and why they don’t rely onenergy to exist (whether from the sun oranother food source further along the foodweb).6. Have students go back to their desks. Tellthe students that non-living things andevents can change a habitat. As an example,ask the students to think of something thatmight affect everything in a desert habitat(drought, flood, pollution, etc.). Explainhow a flash flood can occur when a largeamount of rainfall occurs in an area.Living and Non-living 4
7. Have students use their carnivore,herbivore, omnivore, producer, or nonliving object cards to see how their partof the habitat might be affected by a flashflood. They should discuss their predictionswith their group. Remind them to think ofthe food web they created earlier.8. Ask students to predict how flood effectscould be carried up the food chain. Startby having the group of non-living thingsshare their thoughts on what would happento them in a flood. Have the producers,herbivores, omnivores, and carnivoresshare their thoughts. Have each grouppresent their questions and predictions.Discuss how they could confirm theirpredictions.Flash floods, caused by heavyrains and/or snow melt, are botha destructive and importantpart of how Zion’s habitats areshaped.NPS/BRYANNA PLOGZion National Park, 2015Living and Non-living 5
Living or Non-LivingLapsitDuration25 minutesLocationClassroom with a cleared space or outdoorsKey Vocabularydrought, food, habitat, interdependence,shelter, space, suitable arrangement, pollution,waterObjectivesAfter completing this activity, students will beable to: a) identify habitat components,b) recognize how humans and other animalsdepend on habitats, and c) understand thatloss or change in habitat may impact peopleand wildlife.MethodStudents form an interconnected circle todemonstrate habitat components and theimpacts of change to the habitat.BackgroundPeople and other animals share basic needs.Every animal needs a place to live and thisplace is called a habitat. A habitat includesfood, water, shelter, and space combined ina suitable arrangement to meet the animal’sneeds. An animal will be affected if any oftheir habitat components are missing oradversely affected by an arrangement ofcomponents unsuitable for the animal.Natural events like disease, drought, or flashfloods cause changes to habitats. Humanactions create changes as well, for example,pollution, construction, and use of pesticidesand herbicides. Changes to one part of thehabitat can impact other parts becauseeverything is interconnected and related.Interrelations between plants, animals,non-living things and their surroundings areimportant to the survival of all life forms.MaterialsNoneZion National Park, 2015Suggested Procedure1. Have students form a circle, standingshoulder to shoulder. Ask each student toname one of the four habitat components(food, water, shelter, and space), continuearound the circle until every student hassaid one component. These componentswill be their roles in the rest of the activity.2. Ask students to turn right so that theyface the back of the student in front ofthem. Then have everyone take one stepin towards the center of the circle. Theyshould all be standing quite close together.3. Ask everyone to place their hands on theshoulders of the person in front of them.On the count of three, have the students sitdown slowly on the knees of the studentbehind them, keeping their own kneestogether to support the person in frontof them. Point out to them that all thecomponents of a habitat, represented bythe students, have now been put together ina proper arrangement where everything isinterconnected, i.e., the linked lapsit circlein which they are now sitting. Discuss howeach component is important to habitatstability and whether it is living or nonliving.4. Repeat the activity. Once everyone is inthe lapsit position, call on all the studentsthat represent water. Explain that this is adrought year. Say “water is reduced in thehabitat by drought conditions.” Now havestudents representing water removethemselves from the lapsit circle. At thispoint, the circle will either collapse orsuffer disruption. The balance is lost.5. Now have the remaining students reformthe lapsit circle. After the circle has beenreformed have water students play the roleof a flash flood. Have them try, as a group,to create an opening and work their wayback into the circle. This should not beeasy, but the stability of the lap sit circleshould be lost again.6. Discuss with the students other ways thathabitat stability might be disrupted. Whatnatural events in addition to droughts orflash floods may impact survival? Talk aboutrockfalls, road construction, development,water pollution, storms, and weather.Living and Non-living 6
Glossarycarnivore: any animal that consumes otheranimals.components: an element or ingredient .drought: a long period of dry weather; lackof rain.elevation: height above a surface, such as theearth.mountain: a natural raised part of the earth’ssurface, generally has steep sides and is largerthan a hill.non-living: something that cannot move,reproduce, or grow and is inanimate.nourishing: food or other substancesnecessary for life or growth.environment: the surroundings or conditionsin which a person, animal or plant lives.observe: to watch closely.food: any substance taken in by a plant oranimal to keep it alive and help it grow.omnivore: an animal or person that eats bothplants and animals.food chain: a sequence of organisms in whicheach member feeds on the one below it, forexample: grass, rabbit, fox.organism: an individual form of life, such as aplant, animal or bacterium.food web: all the individual food chains in acommunity.photosynthesis: process by which greenplants use sunlight to make food using carbondioxide and water.habitat: the region where a plant or animalnaturally grows or lives.pollution: a poisonous or harmful substancein the air, soil or water.herbivore: an animal that feeds on grass andother plants.population: all the individuals of a particulartown, area or country.inanimate: non-moving; lifeless.interaction: action on each other; the processof interacting.producer: an organism that is able to produceits own food using photosynthesis; that isusing the energy of the sun, carbon dioxideand water to produce sugars.interdependence: depending on each othershelter: something that covers or protects.interrelations: mutual relationship;interconnection.small-scale: limited or small size.living: a plant, animal, or other organism thatcan move, reproduce, grow, and respond to itsenvironment. Living things also need air andfood and water to survive.metabolized: substances are broken down tomake energy necessary for life.microhabitat: a habitat which is small anddifferent from its surrounding habitat, such asa seep or spring.Zion National Park, 2015microorganism: an organism so small itcan only be seen with a microscope, such asbacteria or algae.space: a continuous area that is free, availableor unoccupied; an area provided for aparticular purpose.species: a kind, variety or type, for example, atype or species of bear is a black bear.suitable arrangement: good amounts offood, water, shelter and space so an animalcan survive.survive: to remain alive; outlive.Living and Non-living 7
ReferencesArches National Park. Living and Non-livingInteractions, ade Living.pdf. Last modified 2010Everglades National Park. The South FloridaNational Parks Activity Guide For Teachers(S. Dayhoff, Coordinator), ide.htm. Last modified 2010.Project WILD: K-12 Activity Guide. Houston,TX: Council for EnvironmentalEducation, 2001.Van Matre, S., Johnson, B., Soloway, E., &Bires, F. Conceptual Encounters I.Warrenville, IL: The Institute for EarthEducation, 1987.Zion National Park, 2015Living and Non-living 8
Living and Non-Living Lapsit 6. Glossary 7 References 8. Zion National Park, 2015 Living and Non-living . 2. . The natural world supplies habitats, or homes, for living things. A natural habitat is . The class will
UNIT 1 The pupils will be able to: LIVING AND NON-LIVING THINGS 1.1.1 group materials into living and non -living things . Note 1.1.2 state the characteristics of living things. 1.1.3 group living things into plants and an imals . 1.1.4 describe some external appearance of plants . Living and Non -living things
by telling students they will be exploring living and non-living things by classifying pictures into non-living or living. EXPLORE Steps 7SHJL[ VO\SHOVVWZVU[OLÅVVYUL_[[VLHJOV[OLY 3HILSVUL SP]PUN¹HUK[OLV[OLY P[O UVU SP]PUN ¹ 3) Give each student in your class a picture of one of the living or non-
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ÍNDICE Inglés Español PRESENTACIÓN WELCOME DESARROLLO Activity 1: English Backpack Activity 2: Time to learn Activity 3: My Schedule Activity 4: About me Activity 5: Treasure Hunt Activity 6: Staying Safe part 1 Activity 7: Staying Safe part 2 Activity 8: Staying Safe part 3 Activity 9: Staying Safe part 4
Unit 2A 1.3 Living and growing 1Bp1 Know animals or plants are living things. pages 33–36 pages 34–38 pages 21–25 3.1 Living and non-living 3.2 Living and non-living 3.5 Living things around me 6.2 Parts of a plant 6.7 What plants need 6.4 Where do plants come from? 1Bp2 Know that there are living things
Living and Non-Living Things: Island Adventure What Is Alive? Let's Label It Which Ones Are Non-Living? Time for a Nature Walk Time to Trace What Do Living Things Need? Delicious and Nutritious Living Things Grow Memory Match Growing Up: Then and Now Let's Keep Track Move Like Me Let'
discussion about the characteristics of living things. Living v. Non-Living Sort: Students will cut pictures of living and non-living images from magazines and sort on labeled chart paper. *Assessment Take students on a living and non-living hunt. Walk around the forest and ask students to find one l
with significant cognitive disabilities that are clearly linked to grade-level academic content standards, promote access to the general curriculum and reflect professional judgment of the highest expectation possible. This document is a guide for parents, educators, school personnel, and other community members to support their work in teaching students with significant cognitive disabilities .
