The pet rock and the puppy
A puppy eats, grows, and runs to you; your pet rock does none of that. Living things take in food, grow, and respond to the world — the checklist that tells a puppy apart from a rock.
Alive or not?
Living things grow, need food and water, and can make more of themselves. A dog, a tree, and you are living. A rock, a toy, and water are non-living.
Living things need…
Food, water, air, and a place to live. Plants also need sunlight to make their food.
Lab · Sort the room
- Look around and pick five things.
- Ask of each: does it grow, eat, and need water?
- Put each into a 'living' or 'non-living' pile.
What you should see: Plants and animals land in 'living'; rocks, toys, and water land in 'non-living'.