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Teaching the Characteristics of Life

6/27/2017

5 Comments

 
Activities for teaching the characteristics of life
Living? Nonliving? Dormant? Dead? Even though teaching living vs. nonliving seems very elementary, you'd be surprised by how often high school students get confused when you throw examples at them. It makes me think of this 90's "J-E-L-L-O it's alive!" commercial:
But in all seriousness....
Teaching characteristics of life is a great way to start off the year in biology. I like teaching it week 1 because it's more fun than the scientific method (which they should know by now anyway) and a great introduction to biology- the study of living things. Here are a few resources you can add to your teacher toolkit for your life unit:
  • Check out this youtube clip that introduces characteristics of living things. Great to get them thinking!
  • Great to catch their interest: sometimes called "sewer lice" or "dancing raisins" lab, this activity gets students thinking about what really makes things living or not. Download it free here from Flinn Scientific.
  • Hatch some triops! I like having the discussion- are eggs alive? (You'd be surprised at the number of high school students that don't know the difference between eggs that hatch into chickens, and eggs that you eat). You can buy triops online, and I've also found them at our local science kids museum. Your students will love watching them hatch and swim around.
  • Another fun question to throw at them- are seeds alive? Ask students if they think popcorn kernels are alive. If so, how could we test it? Your students will be amazed after a week once they have corn plants sprouting in their cups! (see picture below)
  • Try my Characteristics of Life Lab. In this activity, students will be given a box of objects and have to classify them as living, nonliving, dormant, or dead. They will also need to find ways to test if they are living or not. For example, if they say a leaf is living, how can they prove it? I like doing this lab before I review the characteristics of life, because it allows students to try and come up with the list of characteristics on their own. You can check it out in my TpT store here.
  • I also have a set of task cards in my TpT store, where students have to identify the 8 characteristics. This is a great follow up to your lesson and good review before a quiz. Check it out here.
  • Here is a free lab where students test if yeast is alive or not.
I hope those are helpful! Any other great ways you teach the characteristics of life? Drop them in the comments!
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Characteristics of life lab from Science Lessons That Rock
Triops- Teaching the characteristics of life
Activities for teaching the characteristics of life
Characteristics of life task cards from Science Lessons That Rock
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5 Comments
Rhiannon
7/4/2018 07:04:14 am

Incredibly helpful resources. Thank you!

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Virginia D.
8/20/2018 02:37:04 pm

Thank you for the great ideas! Do you happen to have a write up for the corn kernel lab? Did you just drop the kernels in a cup of soil and water? Thanks!

Reply
Becca
8/20/2018 05:00:26 pm

Hi! I don’t currently have a write up for the popcorn, sorry! I can add to my to-do list!

Reply
Morgan Slatery
8/22/2018 01:01:57 pm

Are the popcorn kernel lab matierals simply kernels, potting soil, and cups?

I think this is a great science starter!

Becca
8/25/2018 12:21:07 pm

Hi Morgan!
Yes, that is all you need! I have a plant stand which is nice for light and drainage, but not necessary!

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    Becca 
    The face behind Science Lessons That Rock

    I'm a teacher, blogger, and curriculum writer.
    I've been teaching science for 12 years at both the middle and high school levels.

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