B. Life Systems · Needs and Characteristics of Living Things

Living and Non-Living Things in Our Environment

B2.1 A1.1 A1.5About 35 minutes

Learning goals

I can tell what an environment is.
I can sort things into living and non-living.
I can tell how living things are different from non-living things.
I can explain how living and non-living things in an environment are connected.

Words to know

environment
Everything around a living thing: the place where it lives, and all the living and non-living things there.

living thing
Something that is alive. It grows, needs food, water and air, and can make more living things like itself. Plants, animals and people are living things.

non-living thing
Something that is not alive. It does not grow by itself or need food. Rocks, water, air and toys are non-living things.

observe
To look closely and use your senses to find out about something.

connected
Joined together, or needing each other in some way.

Let's go on a walk!

Imagine you are walking in a park in the fall. You see a maple tree with red leaves. A squirrel runs up the tree. There is a big rock, a puddle of water and a bench. The sun is shining.

Some of these things are alive. Some are not alive. Can you guess which ones?

A squirrel climbing a maple tree with red leaves in a fall park, with a big rock, a bench and a puddle nearby. — Find the living things (the squirrel and the trees) and the non-living things (the rock, the bench and the puddle of water). AI-generated image

🍁🐿️🪨💧🪑☀️

A maple leaf, a squirrel, a rock, water, a bench and the sun. Which ones are alive?

What is an environment?

An environment is everything around a living thing. It is the place where the living thing lives.

A pond is an environment. A forest is an environment. Your home and your backyard are environments too!

Every environment has living things and non-living things.

How do we know if something is living?

Living things:

grow and change
need food, water and air
can make more living things like themselves (a dog has puppies, a tree makes seeds)
respond to the world around them (a plant turns toward the light, a cat runs from a loud noise)

Non-living things do not do all of these things. A rock does not eat. A bench does not grow. A toy car does not have baby cars!

Living things	Non-living things
🧒 people	🪨 rocks
🐿️ squirrels	💧 water
🌳 trees	🌬️ air
🌷 flowers	☀️ the sun
🐟 fish	🧸 toys
🍄 mushrooms	🚗 cars

Sorting living and non-living things

Tricky things that move

A car moves, but it is not living. It does not grow, eat or have babies. A person has to drive it.

A tree does not walk around, but it is living. It grows, it needs water, air and sunlight, and it makes seeds that grow into new trees.

So do not just ask "Does it move?" Ask: "Does it grow? Does it need food, water and air? Can it make more like itself?"

Everything is connected

In an environment, living and non-living things need each other. They are connected.

A squirrel (living) drinks water (non-living) and breathes air (non-living).
A maple tree (living) needs sunlight, water and soil (non-living) to grow.
The squirrel eats seeds from the tree (living) and makes its nest in it.

If one part of an environment changes, the other parts can change too.

The squirrel gets food and a home from the tree, and it needs water and air. Sunlight warms the water and helps the tree grow (dashed arrows). Living and non-living things are connected.

Many ways of knowing

Many First Nations, Métis and Inuit people teach that people are part of the land, water, plants and animals, and that we have a responsibility to care for them. This is another way of saying that everything in an environment is connected.

Worked example

Let's sort a pond together

At a pond you see: a frog, a lily pad (a plant), a stone, the water, a duck and a plastic bottle. Sort them into living and non-living.

Take one thing at a time. Ask: Does it grow? Does it need food, water and air? Can it make more like itself?
Frog: It grows from a tadpole, eats bugs and lays eggs. Living.
Lily pad: It is a plant. It grows and needs water and sunlight. Living.
Duck: It eats, grows and lays eggs. Living.
Stone, water, plastic bottle: They do not grow, eat or make more of themselves. Non-living.

Living: frog, lily pad, duck. Non-living: stone, water, plastic bottle. (The bottle is garbage that does not belong there. It can harm the pond animals!)

Just for fun

What if toy cars could have babies? You'd wake up to a garage full of teeny-tiny cars!

Luckily (or sadly), toy cars can't make more of themselves. That's one way we know they are non-living.

Worked example

Let's find a connection

How is the frog connected to the water in the pond?

Think: What does the frog need?
The frog needs water to keep its skin wet, and its eggs and tadpoles live in water.
So the frog (living) needs the water (non-living).

The frog needs the pond water to live and to raise its young. They are connected.

Hands-on activity

Living and non-living scavenger hunt

You need: paper, a pencil or crayons, and a grown-up.

Fold your paper in half. Write Living on one side and Non-living on the other.
Go outside (your yard, a park or even look out a window). Observe closely.
Draw or write each thing you find on the correct side. Try to find 5 of each.
Pick one living thing. Draw a line to a non-living thing it needs (for example, a bird and the air, or a tree and the soil).
Share your chart with your grown-up. Explain one connection.

Safety: Look at plants and bugs, but do not touch or taste mushrooms or berries you find. Wash your hands when you come in.

Your turn

What is an environment?

Is a dandelion living or non-living? How do you know?

Is a snowman living or non-living?

Name 2 living things and 2 non-living things in your bedroom.

A bird builds a nest in a tree. Name one way the bird and the tree are connected.

Does something have to move to be living? Explain.

Name one non-living thing that all living things need.

More practice: warm-up

Living or non-living: 🐶 a puppy?

Living or non-living: 🪨 a rock?

Living or non-living: 🌻 a sunflower?

Living or non-living: 🧦 a sock?

Are you a living thing?

More practice: on your own

Which one is living: a kite or a caterpillar? Why?

Name 3 things you would find in a forest environment. Say if each is living or non-living.

A fish lives in a lake. Name 2 non-living things in the lake that the fish needs.

Sam says the sun is living because it is hot and bright. Is Sam right?

How is a robin connected to worms in the grass?

Challenge

A seed sits in a packet. It is not moving or eating. Is it living? Explain.

What could happen to the ducks if the pond dried up? Use the word connected.

Think of your home as an environment. Name one living thing that lives there and one non-living thing it needs.

Check your understanding

Quiz

Which one is a living thing?

What is an environment?

Which is something all living things do?

Which is non-living?

A toy robot can move and make sounds. Is it living?

How are a bee and a flower connected?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: An environment is the place where something lives, and it is made of living and non-living things that are connected and depend on each other.

Common difficulties:

Thinking anything that moves is alive (cars, clouds, wind) and anything still is not (trees, seeds). Use the three questions together: Does it grow? Does it need food, water and air? Can it make more like itself?
Confusing "non-living" with "dead". A rock was never alive. A fallen leaf or a wooden table came from something that was once alive. If your child brings this up, praise the thinking and call it "once living". It is not required in Grade 1.
Leaving out non-living things. Children often forget that air, water, soil and sunlight are part of an environment.

How to help: On walks, play "Living or non-living?" and ask "How do you know?" Ask "What does that animal need from this place?" to build the idea of connections. This lesson uses the scientific research process (A1.1): observing, recording and sharing findings.