All lessons › Living things and life cycles › Lesson 1
Australian primary science · Year 3 · Lesson 1 of 4
Alive or not?
Inquiry question: How can we tell if something is alive?
Check practical materials
Classifying
What students learn
Living things grow, need food, water and air, respond to their surroundings and reproduce. Non-living things do not. Fossils are preserved remains or traces of past life; a rock with a fossil is evidence that something once lived.
Success criteria
- I can name things living things do.
- I can sort things into living, once-living and never alive.
- I can explain my sorting using a feature, including evidence of past life in a fossil.
Preparation and materials
Before this lesson: Students can name some plants and animals.
- Picture cards or real items: pot plant, snail (photo), rock, feather, apple, toy car, shell, leaf, bread, robot (photo), a fossil shell impression (picture) — 13 sets
- Sorting mats with three columns — 13
Teacher setup
- Make 13 sets of 11 items or picture cards.
- Print one investigation record per pair.
Safety and adaptations
- Wash hands after handling leaves, shells or real items.
- Treat any living animals gently and return them.
Review your school policies and curriculum requirements before teaching.
How to investigate
The lesson sequence should leave pupils with evidence to interpret, not only an activity to finish.
- Pairs sort the cards into living, once-living and never alive.
- For each card, choose one feature that helped them decide.
- Record the three groups and one reason each.
- Compare a fossil shell impression with the shell card. Ask what was once living and what evidence remains in the rock. Do not describe the whole rock as alive.
- Swap with another pair and check one disagreement.
Teacher modelling prompt
Hold up a leaf. Think aloud: “Was it part of a plant? Yes. Is it growing now? No, it fell off. So it is once-living.” Then do the robot: “It moves, but does it grow or have babies? No. So it is never alive.”
Record and explain evidence
Recording question: How can we tell if something is alive?
| Card | Group (living / once-living / never alive) | Our reason |
|---|---|---|
| ________________ | ________________ | ________________ |
Example recording headings; record actual observations, including inconclusive results.
Discussion prompt
Who has the stronger reason, and why?
Check understanding
What should pupils know? Name two things all living things do.
Explain with evidence: A feather and a fossil shell impression are not alive now. How does each provide evidence of something that once lived?
Apply the idea: Is a mushroom living, once-living or never alive? Give a reason.
Teacher answer guidance and saved classroom work are available through the main lesson experience where supported.