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Living & Nonliving: What Makes Something Alive?

Students sort the world into living and nonliving things, discovering the special things all living things do — they grow, need food and water, and can make more of their own kind.

Grade 2Life Science40 minutes1 class period5E ModelExplicit teaching4 StandardsCommon Core
Start the Lesson
Lesson at a Glance

Everything you need before the bell rings

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to…

  • ✓Tell living from nonliving things.
  • ✓Name what living things do (grow, eat, drink).
  • ✓Sort things into living and nonliving.
  • ✓Explain your reasoning.
Essential Question

A dog and a teddy bear can both be furry and cute — but only one is alive. What makes something a living thing?

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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 Model

Living or Nonliving?

Project this and sort each thing into “Living” or “Nonliving.” Tap one, then tap the group — and ask: does it grow, eat, and drink?

🌿 Sort each thing — living or nonliving?Try it
🐶 Living
🪨 Nonliving
Tap a thing, then tap a group.
The Lesson · 5E Model

40 minutes, five moves

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

1

Engage — Alive or Not?

5 min

A dog and a stuffed dog — which one is alive?

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Compare a real and a toy animal.
  • Ask what makes one alive.
  • Set the goal: living/nonliving.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Compare the two.
  • Guess which is alive.
  • Predict the reason.
2

Explore — Sort Them

10 min

Students investigate.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Send students to Living or Nonliving?
  • Ask: does it grow, eat, drink?
  • Sort each thing.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Sort each thing.
  • Ask the alive questions.
  • Explain choices.
3

Explain — What Living Things Do

10 min

Teacher explains.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Living things grow and change.
  • They need food, water, and air.
  • They can make more of their kind.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Name what living things do.
  • Give an example.
  • Explain the difference.
4

Elaborate — Tricky Ones

10 min

Apply.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Discuss tricky cases (a seed, a car).
  • Explain why each is living or not.
  • Note once-living things (wood).

🎒 Student Actions

  • Judge tricky cases.
  • Explain each.
  • Discuss once-living.
5

Evaluate — Exit Ticket

5 min

Three quick checks.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Hand out the exit ticket.
  • Look for living-thing traits.
  • Collect as formative data.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Sort a thing.
  • Name a living trait.
  • Explain a choice.
Standards Alignment

Built to the standards you report on

Aligned to Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core literacy. State-standard crosswalks available on request.

NGSS
2-LS4-1

Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.

NGSS
K-LS1-1

Observe patterns of what plants and animals need to survive.

NGSS
2-LS2-1

Plan and conduct an investigation to determine if plants need sunlight and water.

CCSS
RI.2.1

Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

Differentiation

One lesson, every learner

Multilingual Learners

ELL / EMERGING READERS
  • Living/nonliving picture cards.
  • Sentence frame: “___ is living/nonliving because ___.”
  • Act out things that grow.

Support & Access

IEP / 504
  • Start with a clear animal vs. rock.
  • Use the three questions: grow? eat? drink?
  • Match pictures to groups.

Stretch & Extend

GIFTED / EARLY FINISHERS
  • Sort once-living things (a log, a leaf).
  • Explain why a seed is living.
  • Find living and nonliving things outside.
Materials

What to gather

  • 📽️Projector / board
  • 📓Science notebooks
  • 💻Living or Nonliving?
  • 🖼️Picture cards
  • 🔍Objects to sort
  • 🎫Exit-ticket slips
Vocabulary

Key terms — hover for a quick definition

livingsomething that is alivenonlivingsomething that is not alivegrowto get bigger over timealiveliving and activeneedsomething required to liveorganisma living thingoffspringthe young of a living thingsortto put into groups
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 one thing all living things do.
They grow (and need food, water, and air; they can make more of their kind).
QUESTION 2
Is a rock living or nonliving? How do you know?
Nonliving — it does not grow, eat, drink, or make more of itself.
QUESTION 3
Is a tree living or nonliving?
Living — it grows, needs water and sunlight, and makes seeds.

Going deeper? Living-thing hunt.

Take students outside to find and record five living and five nonliving things, explaining how they know. A printable hunt 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.

🃏 Living & Nonliving ThingsFlip
Card 1
Term
Tap to flip →
Meaning
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Nice work!

Practice · Quiz

Check your understanding

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

📝 Living & Nonliving ThingsQuiz
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.

🖨️ Living & Nonliving ThingsPrint
Name: ________________________
Date: ____________

Part A · Write the word that matches each meaning

Word bank: alive, grow, living, need, nonliving, offspring, organism, sort
  1. the young of a living thing
  2. living and active
  3. a living thing
  4. something that is not alive
  5. to get bigger over time
  6. to put into groups
  7. something required to live
  8. something that is alive

Part B · Show what you learned

  1. Name one thing all living things do.
  2. Is a rock living or nonliving? How do you know?
  3. Is a tree living or nonliving?
Answer key — Part A: 1) offspring · 2) alive · 3) organism · 4) nonliving · 5) grow · 6) sort · 7) need · 8) living
Part B: 1) They grow (and need food, water, and air; they can make more of their kind). 2) Nonliving — it does not grow, eat, drink, or make more of itself. 3) Living — it grows, needs water and sunlight, and makes seeds.