Characteristics of
Living Things

Characteristics of Living Things

Living things & Non-Living things

Duration of ActivityActivitiesInteraction Pattern
5 minWelcome Students

  • Greet students, set up classroom management system
  • Introduce classroom rules
  • Have students ask and answer each other, “How are you?”

(Activity can be replaced for Circle Time)
S-S
10 minEngage

  • For this game, the teacher will need Flashcards - Living things memory game.
  • There are 16 cards consisting of 8 adult living things and corresponding 8 young living things.
  • Shuffle the cards and arrange them in a 4 x 4 arrangement facing up.
  • Have the students memorize the position of as many of the pictures as possible in 2 minutes.
  • Turn the cards over such that they are all facing down.
  • Students take turns to try and find correct pairs of the adult and young living things.
  • Prompt the students to notice that they are the same type of plants/animals but with different ages so that they realize that living things grow.
T-S
15 minExplain I

  • Play the Learning Story
  • Throughout the video, get the students to observe that the young bird and the young plant grew. Pause the video if necessary.

      “The bird and the plant became bigger”
      “Is the bird/plant a living thing?” (yes)
      “Living things can grow.”


  • Tell the students that non-living things cannot grow.

      “Non-living things cannot grow.”

  • Show Presentation - Characteristics of living things slide 1. Explain each example of humans, animals and plants growing.

      “Are people/plants/animals living things?” (yes)
      “Can you/animals/plants grow?” (yes)
      “Living things can grow.”

T-S
10 minExplore

  • Teacher needs to prepare some seeds, such as red beans, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and others.
  • Ask the students what the seeds are but it is alright if they do not know the answer at this point.

      “Do you know what this is?”
      (seeds)
      “What will it grow into?”
      (a plant)
      “Where did it come from? Have you ever seen it in your food?”
      (it comes from a fruit)

T-S
10 minExplain II

  • Show Presentation - Characteristics of living things slide 2. Explain that plants, such as apple plants, bear fruits. Seeds are contained inside the fruits, and this is how plants reproduce.

      “Plants can reproduce.” “Are plants living things?” (yes)


  • Play this Learning story to show that animals also reproduce. The teacher may choose to show only 1 animal to see its reproduction (bird or fish), or show both if there is time.

      “All animals, including humans, can have babies or lay eggs. They can reproduce.”
      “Animals can reproduce.”
      “Are animals living things?” (yes)


  • Show Presentation - Characteristics of living things slide 3. Reiterate that people, animals, and plants can reproduce.

      “Living things can reproduce.”

T-S
5 minBreak
5 minRecap

  • Show Presentation - Characteristics of living things slide 4-6. Recap what they have learned from the previous lesson.

      “What do living things need to breathe?”
      Ans: “Air”
      “What do living things need to drink?”
      Ans: “Water”
      “What do living things need to eat?”
      Ans: “Food”
      “What do living things need?”
      Ans: “Air, water and food”

  • Show Presentation - Characteristics of living things slide 7-9 to prompt them to say the action of living things instead. Get the students to say out the blank.

      “Living things can (breathe/drink/eat)”

T-S
20 minElaborate

  • Get the students prepare for the hands-on activity. Tell them that they will experience growing a plant.

    Watch the video as a guide.

      Step 1: Pour some water on the “head” of the flower pot.
      Step 2: Tell students the plants need around 1 week to grow.
      Step 3: Ask students to bring it back home and remember to place it at a ventilated place and give it the right amount of water everyday.
      Step 4: After some days, you can see the plants grow taller.
      Step 5: Students need to and measure its height and record it on page 4 of the activity booklet.

  • Elicit to students: Plants are living things, and they need air and water to grow.
  • Play the Learning Story in mute to see how the plant will grow. Stop before the video explains life cycle. The students do not need to remember the words, just look at the animation of the plant growing.
T-S
5 minEvaluate

  • Ask the students about the experiment, reviewing all the concepts they have learned so far. If necessary, show Presentation - Characteristics of living things again.

    “Are the seeds living things?”
    Ans: “Yes they are”
    “What do the seeds need?”
    Ans: “Air to breathe/water to drink/food to eat”
    “What can the seeds do?”
    Ans: “They can grow into a plant”
    “What can living things do”
    Ans: “Living things grow and reproduce”

T-S
5 minWrap-up routine.