--- title: "Living, Dead & Never Alive" description: "Explore and compare the differences between things that are living, dead, and things that have never been alive" canonical: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/living-dead-and-never-alive-mt_Sa48W7KXB5 source: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/living-dead-and-never-alive-mt_Sa48W7KXB5.md retrieved: 2026-10-19 --- > **Agent view.** This is the Markdown twin of the page, for tools and assistants. > When to use this site, and the call that answers each job: https://lightmysky.com/agent-instructions.md > API description (OpenAPI 3.1): https://lightmysky.com/openapi.json · Authentication: https://lightmysky.com/auth.md > Pricing: https://lightmysky.com/pricing.md · Catalog: https://lightmysky.com/llms.txt · Full catalog: https://lightmysky.com/llms-full.txt > Every machine-readable file on this domain: https://lightmysky.com/.well-known/ai-catalog.json > Ask for Markdown with `Accept: text/markdown`, a `.md` address, or `?mode=agent`. # Living, Dead & Never Alive Explore and compare the differences between things that are living, dead, and things that have never been alive Subject: Science · Area: Ecosystems & Habitats · Ages 6 to 7 Page: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/living-dead-and-never-alive-mt_Sa48W7KXB5 ## Ready when they can - Sort a collection of objects into three groups: living, dead (was once alive), never alive - Give reasons for sorting decisions, such as 'this dry, dead leaf was living tissue on a tree' - Describe clues to life, including growth during life, animals eating and breathing, green plants making food, and living things making young ## Lesson: Living, Dead, or Never Alive? You have learned words such as growth and nutrition. Living means alive now. Living things grow during their lives and need water and food. Animals eat food. Green plants make food using sunlight. Living things can make young, such as kittens or seeds, but not every living thing does. Dead means once alive but no longer alive. A beetle that has died belongs here. A dry, dead leaf was living tissue on a tree. A leaf can fall while some of its tissue is still alive. Falling alone does not show that it is dead. *(drawing: The plant is alive now. The worm has died. The bead was never living.)* Never alive means never a living thing. Rocks, water, glass, metal objects and plastic toys belong here. Movement, shape or getting bigger alone cannot show life. River water flows. A puddle can get bigger. A battery can move a toy. These things are still not alive. A living seed can stay still before it sprouts. If it later sprouts and grows, that shows it was alive. Some seeds have died and will not grow. Being still or feeling dry does not tell you which kind you have. A living hen still breathes while resting. *(drawing: This seed was alive while it stayed still. Not every seed will sprout.)* **Example.** Sort by checking two questions. Is it alive now? If yes, it is living. If not, was it once alive? That separates dead from never alive. A growing bean plant is living. A worm that has died is dead. A glass bead was never alive. Check every object in a pair or group. Colour, shape and place alone do not settle the answer. Read a life story from earlier to later. A young living thing and a living adult both belong in the living group. After it dies, it is dead. It can never become 'never alive', because it has lived. **Recap.** Living means alive now. Dead means once alive but no longer alive. Never alive means never living. Check its history and use more than movement as a clue. ## Practice 24 questions on this page, each with its working shown. ## Needs first - [Common Plants & Trees](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/common-plants-and-trees-mt_j7cer_Nmor) - [Living Things Vocabulary](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/living-things-vocabulary-mt_zexbopQjG0) - [Naming Common Animals](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/naming-common-animals-mt_zVLOm6U7bh) ## Opens up - [Fossils as Evidence](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/fossils-as-evidence-mt_6Z42wJaKYG) - [Habitats & Basic Needs](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/habitats-and-basic-needs-mt_cM8YS6NXqi) - [How fossils form](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/how-fossils-form-mt_mwirOvigWD)