Living or Non-Living?

Overview

In this engaging first lesson of the Sunflower and Butterfly Cycles unit, students activate prior experiences with plants, pets, toys and natural objects. They compare evidence for living and non-living things, then make an initial prediction about the life cycles of a sunflower and a monarch butterfly.

Learning intentions

• WALT compare the characteristics of living and non-living things.
• WALT pose questions and make predictions about life cycles.
• WALT record an observation using drawings, labels and scientific vocabulary.
• WALT explain how science knowledge helps people care for plants, animals and habitats.

Success criteria

• I can identify evidence that something is living.
• I can justify my classification using an observation or example.
• I can draw and label a predicted sunflower or butterfly life cycle.
• I can write a question to investigate during our project.

Curriculum links

• Science: compare characteristics of living and non-living things and examine differences between plant and animal life cycles.
• Science inquiry: pose questions, respond to questions, make predictions and record observations.
• Science as a human endeavour: consider how people use knowledge of plants and animals in gardens, food production and habitats.
• English integration: orally justify classifications and write a clear investigation question using scientific vocabulary.

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–10 min · Hook and diagnostic sort. Open with the hook and classification slides and reveal a sunflower seed, potted plant, butterfly image, rock and toy butterfly one at a time. Students silently decide whether each is living or non-living, then share their reasoning with a partner before placing or photographing each item in a class sort. Ask: “What makes something living?” and “How can we prove it?” Record different ideas without immediately correcting misconceptions.

2. 10–20 min · Explicit teaching: “I do”. Use the living-things teaching slides to model a comparison between a potted plant and a toy butterfly. Think aloud about characteristics such as needing resources, growing and changing, responding to surroundings, reproducing and having a life cycle. Clarify that a seed is living even when it appears inactive, while a toy butterfly may look realistic but does not grow, need food or reproduce. Introduce the two class projects: observing a sunflower life cycle and investigating the monarch butterfly life cycle. Students help complete a simple “living evidence” example in their journals or on the living evidence and prediction recording sheet.

3. 20–40 min · Collaborative stations: “We do”. Display the Life Cycles Sorting Cards and organise five mixed-ability teams of four. Teams rotate through object and photograph stations, sorting examples and evidence cards into “living” and “non-living”, while discussing whether an item may be once living, such as a dry leaf or wooden object. At each station, students record one observation or question on the living evidence and prediction recording sheet. Bring the class together to create a T-chart on chart paper, inviting groups to justify one decision with the sentence stem, “We classified ___ as ___ because we observed ___.” Use the station instructions and discussion prompts to maintain a steady rotation. Discuss that life cycles repeat, and that plants and animals both grow and change but may have different stages.

4. 40–50 min · Independent application. Revisit the sunflower and butterfly prediction prompt and ask: “What might happen to a sunflower seed?” and “How might a butterfly’s life cycle differ from a plant’s?” Students choose either a sunflower or monarch butterfly and draw a predicted life cycle in their science journal or on the living evidence and prediction recording sheet. They add arrows, labels and a short caption, then write one question to investigate, such as “What does a sunflower seed need to begin growing?” or “How does a caterpillar change into a butterfly?”

5. 50–57 min · Share and establish observation routines. Invite several students to show a prediction and explain one choice. Use the Life Cycles Reference Poster to support discussion of stages, similarities and differences without requiring students to have the sequence correct yet. Establish the project routine: observe carefully, handle living things gently, record the date, draw what is seen and avoid disturbing plants or animals. Discuss how people use knowledge of plant growth to grow food and gardens, and how understanding animal life cycles helps protect habitats.

6. 57–60 min · Exit ticket. Show the plenary and exit-ticket slide and ask students to complete the final sentence on the back of the living evidence and prediction recording sheet: “One characteristic of living things is…” Students hand in their sheets as they leave, ready for the teacher to use responses to group students and address misconceptions in Lesson 2.

Resources

• the living or non-living investigation slide deck
• the living evidence and prediction recording sheet
• the Life Cycles Sorting Cards
• the Life Cycles Reference Poster
• Sunflower seed and potted sunflower plant
• Butterfly photograph or toy butterfly
• Rock, dry leaf, wooden object and familiar classroom objects
• Chart paper and thick markers
• Science journals and pencils
• Projector and tablets or classroom camera

Assessment

• Observe the initial classification sort and listen for evidence-based explanations, noting misconceptions such as “moving means living”.
• Question students during stations: “What did you observe?” “What evidence supports your decision?” and “What could we investigate?”
• Review the prediction, labels, investigation question and exit ticket for understanding of living characteristics, observation and inquiry language.

Differentiation

• Support learners with picture and word cards, a visible word bank containing living, non-living, grow, change, need, respond, reproduce and sentence stems such as “I think ___ is living because ___.”
• Use mixed-ability groups, assign roles such as sorter, observer, recorder and speaker, and allow students to explain orally before writing.
• Provide enlarged images, reduced writing demands, adult scribing or speech-to-text for students with additional learning needs; explicitly model each task and check understanding before rotations.
• For EAL learners, pre-teach vocabulary with gestures, real objects and labelled visuals, and accept labelled drawings or oral explanations as evidence of understanding.

Extension

• Ask advanced learners to classify a borderline example such as fire, a seed or a fallen leaf and explain why different people might disagree.
• Challenge students to add a “What evidence would prove it?” question and predict which life-cycle stage might be easiest or hardest to observe.
• Invite students to use a tablet to photograph one station item and add a spoken scientific explanation.