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What Living Things Need

Kindergartners learn that all living things — people, animals, and plants — need certain things to live and grow: food, water, air, a home, and sunlight.

KindergartenLiving Things30 minutes1 class period5E ModelExplicit teaching4 StandardsNGSS
Start the Lesson
Lesson at a Glance

Everything you need before the bell rings

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to…

  • ✓Name what living things need.
  • ✓Know they need food and water.
  • ✓Know they need a home.
  • ✓Compare needs.
Essential Question

You need food and water to grow big and strong — and so do animals and plants! What do all living things need to stay alive?

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Lesson Phases
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Vocabulary Terms
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Standards Aligned
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Interactive Task
Explore · Interactive

The Living Things Explorer

Project this and tap each thing living things need. Have children learn about food, water, air, home, and sunlight!

🍎 What do living things need? Tap each!Try it

The Lesson · 5E Instructional Model (Engage · Explore · Explain · Elaborate · Evaluate)

30 minutes, five moves

Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.

1

Engage — Big and Strong

5 min

You need food and water to grow — what do animals and plants need?

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Ask what children need.
  • Ask what animals need.
  • Get ready.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Say what you need.
  • Think of animals.
  • Get ready.
2

Explore — Explore Needs

8 min

Children investigate.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Send children to the Living Things Explorer.
  • Tap each need.
  • Talk about them.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Tap each.
  • Name them.
  • Talk.
3

Explain — Food, Water, Home

8 min

Children explain.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Talk about food and water.
  • Talk about air and home.
  • Talk about sunlight.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Learn food/water.
  • Learn home.
  • Learn sunlight.
4

Elaborate — Caring for Living Things

6 min

Children elaborate.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Care for a class plant or pet.
  • Give it what it needs.
  • Explain why.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Care for it.
  • Give needs.
  • Explain.
5

Reflect — Reflect

3 min

Children conclude.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Name a need.
  • Say why it helps.
  • Draw a living thing.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Name one.
  • Say why.
  • Draw it.
Standards Alignment

Built to the standards you report on

Aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (Kindergarten / Early Elementary Science).

NGSS
K-LS1-1

Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals need to survive.

NGSS
K-ESS3-1

Use a model to represent where animals and plants live to meet their needs.

NGSS
K-ESS2-2

Explore how living things affect their environment.

NGSS
SEP-4

Analyzing and interpreting data.

Differentiation

One lesson, every learner

Multilingual Learners

ELL / EMERGING READERS
  • Needs picture cards.
  • Sentence frame: “Living things need ___.”
  • Care for a real plant.

Support & Access

IEP / 504
  • Start with food and water.
  • Use picture cards.
  • Care for a class plant.

Stretch & Extend

GIFTED / EARLY FINISHERS
  • Sort needs vs. wants.
  • Compare a plant’s and animal’s needs.
  • Grow a plant.
Materials

What to gather

  • 📽️Screen / board
  • 🌱A class plant
  • 💻The Living Things Explorer
  • 🖍️Crayons
  • 🖼️Picture cards
  • 🎫Sticker charts
Vocabulary

Key terms — hover for a quick definition

living thingsomething that is aliveneedsomething you must have to livefoodwhat living things eatwatera drink all living things needairwhat animals breathehomea safe place to livesunlightlight from the Sungrowto get bigger
Evaluate

Exit Ticket

Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.

QUESTION 1
Name two things that living things need.
Food, water, air, a home, or sunlight.
QUESTION 2
Do plants need water?
Yes.
QUESTION 3
Where does a living thing live?
In its home — like a nest, a den, or the soil.

Growing at home? Care for a plant.

Have families care for a plant together — giving it water and sunlight — and watch it grow. A printable living-things sheet is in the Science library.

Study · Flashcards

Study the key terms

Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.

🃏 What Living Things NeedFlip
Card 1
Term
Tap to flip →
Meaning
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Practice · Quiz

Check your understanding

A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.

📝 What Living Things NeedQuiz
Score: 0
1 / 6
Question 1
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Nice work!

Practice · Worksheet

Printable worksheet

A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.

🖨️ What Living Things NeedPrint
Name: ________________________
Date: ____________

Part A · Write the word that matches each meaning

Word bank: air, food, grow, home, living thing, need, sunlight, water
  1. something you must have to live
  2. what living things eat
  3. light from the Sun
  4. a drink all living things need
  5. to get bigger
  6. something that is alive
  7. what animals breathe
  8. a safe place to live

Part B · Show what you learned

  1. Name two things that living things need.
  2. Do plants need water?
  3. Where does a living thing live?
Answer key — Part A: 1) need · 2) food · 3) sunlight · 4) water · 5) grow · 6) living thing · 7) air · 8) home
Part B: 1) Food, water, air, a home, or sunlight. 2) Yes. 3) In its home — like a nest, a den, or the soil.