Living, Dead & Never Alive
Explore and compare the differences between things that are living, dead, and things that have never been alive
What a learner can do afterwards
- Sort a collection of objects into three groups: living, dead (was once alive), never alive
- Give reasons for each sorting decision (e.g. 'the leaf was on a tree so it was alive once')
- List characteristics of living things such as growing, breathing, reproducing, and moving
The lesson
Everything around you fits into one of three groups: living, dead, or never alive. A living thing is alive right now. It grows, breathes, needs food and water, and can make new living things like itself.
A dead thing was alive once, but it is not alive anymore. A fallen leaf or an old tree stump are dead things. A thing that was never alive, like a rock or a spoon, never grew or breathed at all.
Mia found a shiny rock, a brown leaf, and a wiggly caterpillar. The caterpillar is living, it moves and eats. The leaf was once part of a tree, so it is dead. The rock was never alive, it never grew or breathed.
Ask yourself: did it ever grow, breathe, or move on its own? If yes, it is living or dead. If it never did those things, it was never alive.
Living things are alive now, dead things were alive before, and never-alive things never lived at all.
Watch it
Where it sits
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.