Science notes, unit 3

Living things and non-living things

Textbook Science Year 1 (DLP), pages 17–30

What this chapter covers

You can sort things into living things and non-living things (3.1.1)
{'You can name the characteristics of living things': 'breathe, need water and food, move, reproduce and grow (3.1.1)'}
You can say how a living thing is different from a non-living thing that also moves (3.1.1)
You can arrange animals and plants from small to big (3.1.2)
You know that living things need food, water and air (3.2.1)
You know that humans and animals need shelter (3.2.2)
You can say why food, water, air and shelter are important (3.2.3, 3.2.4)
You know how plants get food, air and water (3.2.5)

Look around you. A cat, a tree and a bird are alive. A chair, a car and a rock are not. In this unit you will learn how to tell living things from non-living things and what living things need.

3.1.1Living and non-living things

Living or non-living?

Living things are alive. Non-living things are not alive.

A park with a tree, a bird, a lotus, a duck, a frog, flowers, a rock and a hut — In the park: tree, bird, lotus, duck, frog and flowers are living. Rock and hut are non-living.

Living things	Non-living things
Humans, trees, birds, cats, ducks, frogs, flowers	Toys, cars, rocks, benches, waste bins, aeroplanes

A family with balloons, children playing, a cat, a car, a bench and a waste bin — Humans and a cat are living. The toy, the car, the bench and the waste bin are non-living.

Is a rock living or non-living? Is a duck living or non-living?

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A rock is non-living. A duck is living.

Characteristics of living things

All living things have these five characteristics.

Characteristic	Example
Breathe	A boy and a cat breathe
Need water and food	Girls eat and drink; a giraffe drinks
Move	A boy runs, birds fly, a tiger walks
Reproduce	Rabbits and humans have babies
Grow	An egg becomes a chick, then a chicken

Children eating and drinking, a boy and a cat breathing, and a baby, a child and an adult — Need water and food, breathe and grow.

A boy kicking a ball, birds flying, a tiger, rabbits and a family, an egg becoming a chicken — Move, reproduce and grow.

Remember: breathe, need water and food, move, reproduce, grow.

Similar and different

Two boys at a window watching a bird and an aeroplane fly — A bird and an aeroplane can both move.

	Bird (living)	Aeroplane (non-living)
Moves	Yes	Yes
Breathes	Yes	No
Needs water and food	Yes	No
Reproduces and grows	Yes	No

Careful! Moving does not mean alive. An aeroplane and a car move, but they are non-living. A living thing has all the characteristics.

A balloon can move in the air. Is it a living thing? Why?

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No. It does not breathe, need water and food, or reproduce. It is non-living.

3.1.2Small and big

We can arrange animals and plants from small to big.

Animals arranged from the smallest to the biggest: rat, wild cat, deer, gaur, elephant — Small to big: rat, wild cat, deer, gaur, elephant.

Tip: Start with the smallest and end with the biggest. Big to small is the other way round.

3.2Basic needs of living things

Living things need food, water and air. Humans and animals also need shelter.

Plants make food and need air and water; humans and animals eat, breathe and drink — Humans, animals and plants use food, water and air in different ways.

Basic need	Humans and animals	Plants
Food	Get energy	Make their own food
Water	Quench thirst	Roots take in water to make food
Air	Breathe	Breathe and make food

Plants also need sunlight to make food.

Shelter

Humans and animals need shelter to protect themselves from rain, heat and danger.

A house and a cave protect from rain and heat; a house and a cage protect from danger — Shelter protects from rain, heat and danger.

Why are basic needs important?

Basic need	Why we need it
Food	Gives energy, and helps us grow
Water	Basic source of life. Without water animals die.
Air	Basic source of life. We need it to breathe.
Shelter	Protects from danger, rain and heat

A tired man eats and then has energy to lift a box — Food gives energy.

A baby grows into a man; a foal grows into a horse — Food helps humans and animals grow.

Animals die without water, a diver needs air, an animal shelters from danger — Water and air are the basic source of life.

Why do humans and animals need food?

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To get energy and to grow.

Try it: Put mung beans in two cups with tissue paper. Wet one and keep the other dry. After 3 days, only the wet beans germinate: living things need water.

Steps: label containers A and B, drop water on A, place mung beans in both — Seeds germinate in the wet container.

Pictures: Science Year 1 (DLP) textbook, pp. 18-30.

Summary

Idea	Remember
Living things	Humans, animals and plants
Non-living things	Rocks, toys, cars, aeroplanes
Characteristics	Breathe, need water and food, move, reproduce, grow
Basic needs	Food, water, air; shelter for humans and animals
Shelter	Protects from rain, heat and danger