Click image to open full size
Early Learners
Living and Non-Living Things
Sorting plants, animals, rocks, and water
Related Tools
Related Labs
Related Worksheets
Living things and non-living things are all around us at home, in school, and outside. A flower, a dog, and a bird are living things because they need food, water, air, and space to live. A chair, ball, book, and toy car are non-living things because they do not grow, eat, breathe, or have babies. Learning the difference helps children observe the world like young scientists.
Key Facts
- Living things need water, air, food, and space.
- Living things can grow and change over time.
- Many living things can move by themselves, such as dogs, birds, worms, and fish.
- Non-living things do not eat, breathe, grow, or have babies.
- Some non-living things can move only when something pushes, pulls, winds up, or powers them.
- Total objects = living things + non-living things.
Vocabulary
- Living thing
- A living thing is something that needs water, air, food, and space and can grow or change.
- Non-living thing
- A non-living thing is something that does not eat, breathe, grow, or have babies.
- Grow
- To grow means to get bigger or change as time passes.
- Needs
- Needs are things a living thing must have to stay alive, such as water, air, and food.
- Observe
- To observe means to look, listen, and notice details carefully.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Calling a toy animal living because it looks like an animal is wrong because toys do not eat, breathe, grow, or have babies.
- Calling a plant non-living because it stays in one place is wrong because plants grow and need water, air, light, and space.
- Thinking all moving things are living is wrong because a toy car, fan, or clock can move when powered or pushed.
- Forgetting that small animals are living is wrong because worms, insects, and fish still need food, water, air, and space.
Practice Questions
- 1 In a garden scene, there are 1 tree, 3 flowers, 2 birds, and 1 dog. How many living things are there?
- 2 In a classroom scene, there are 4 books, 2 chairs, 1 ball, and 3 crayons. How many non-living things are there?
- 3 A plant does not walk or talk, but it needs water and light and gets bigger over time. Explain why it is a living thing.