Living Things
Slide text
Living Things
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Slide text
Living Things
Open with familiar examples from students' surroundings: plants, animals and humans. The lesson focuses on what makes something a living thing and how living things can be grouped.
Learning Goal
I can identify the main features of living things and group living things into simple categories.
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What words come to mind when you hear living things?
Use this to surface prior ideas such as animals, plants, growth, food, movement and breathing. Pick up misconceptions too, especially if students mention only animals.
What are living things?
Living things are organisms
They carry out life processes
They need resources from their surroundings
They change over time as they grow
Keep the idea broad at first. Students often name only animals as living things, so include plants clearly from the start.
The main features of life
Movement - a living thing can move by itself or move part of its body
Growth - it becomes larger or develops
Respiration - it releases energy from food
Sensitivity - it responds to changes around it
Reproduction - it produces young
Excretion - it removes waste
Nutrition - it takes in food or makes its own food
These are the core characteristics commonly taught as life processes. You may mention that not every example is obvious at first glance, such as plant movement.
Plants are living too
Plants grow from seeds or spores
They make food using sunlight
They respond to light and water
They reproduce and produce new plants
Text
Useful for correcting the misconception that living things must walk or make obvious sounds. Point out simple plant responses such as stems bending towards light.
Living and non-living
A car can move, but it is not a living thing because it does not grow, reproduce or carry out life processes by itself.
A tree, a bird and a human are living things because they show the features of life.
This contrast helps students avoid judging by one feature only. Emphasise that living things are identified by the full set of life processes, not a single property.
Why do living things need food?
Food provides energy
Energy is needed for growth and movement
Energy is also needed for repair and keeping the body working
Plants make food; animals obtain it by eating
Link nutrition to respiration carefully: food is the source, and respiration releases the energy from it.
How living things grow and change
A seed becomes a plant
A young animal becomes an adult
Bodies change as living things develop
Growth is a clear sign of life
You can briefly mention life cycles without expanding into a full separate topic. Keep the focus on growth and development as evidence of life.
Which one is a living thing?
Car
Tree
Robot
Ball
Checks the contrast between living and non-living. Distractors are objects that may move but do not carry out life processes by themselves.
Complete the summary
Living things carry out life processes and need energy for growth and movement. Plants make their own food, while animals obtain it by eating.
Echoes slides 2 to 7: life processes, energy, plant nutrition and animal feeding.
Why is a car not a living thing?
Expected elements: living things show several features of life, not just one. A car can move but does not grow, reproduce or carry out life processes by itself.
Grouping animals
Mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians are animal groups
Animals in the same group share important features
Grouping helps scientists study living things
Keep classification simple and age-appropriate. The goal is recognising shared features, not memorising every detail of taxonomy.
Examples of animal groups
Mammals and birds
Fish, reptiles and amphibians
Mammals have hair or fur
Most mammals give birth to live young
Birds have feathers and beaks
Birds lay eggs
Fish live in water and breathe with gills
Reptiles have dry scales
Amphibians live part of life in water and part on land
Present these as simple identifying features. Avoid overloading the slide with exceptions.
Grouping plants
Some plants are flowering plants
Some plants do not make flowers
Trees, grasses and shrubs are common plant forms
Plants can be grouped by visible features
Keep plant grouping at a simple observational level. The lesson goal is basic categorisation rather than advanced botanical classification.
Why scientists group living things
It makes the huge variety of life easier to study
It helps us compare organisms
It shows which living things share features
It helps us identify unknown organisms
This slide lands the purpose of classification, so students see grouping as useful scientific thinking rather than simple sorting.
Which feature helps identify a bird?
Dry scales
Gills
Feathers
Fur
Tests simple animal-group features from slides 8 and 9.
Complete the grouping summary
Scientists group living things to make life easier to study and to compare organisms. A mammal has hair or fur, and a fish breathes with gills.
Combines the purpose of classification with key animal-group features from slides 8 to 11.
Which part of this lesson helped you most?
Life processes
Plants
Animal groups
Why scientists group
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What is one thing you will remember from this lesson?
Invite brief reflection on the most memorable idea, such as plants being living things, life processes, or animal groups.
Which part of the lesson felt hardest today?
Use responses to identify where students need recap or more examples, such as respiration, classification, or plant responses.
Glossary
organism - a living thing
living thing - something that carries out life processes
growth - an increase in size or development
reproduction - producing young or new organisms
nutrition - taking in food or making food
respiration - releasing energy from food
classification - grouping living things by shared features
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Glossary
mammal - an animal with hair or fur
bird - an animal with feathers and a beak
fish - an animal that lives in water and breathes with gills
reptile - an animal with dry, scaly skin
amphibian - an animal that lives in water and on land at different life stages
flowering plant - a plant that produces flowers
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