Characteristics of Living Things

Students will learn how organisms obtain and use resources for energy, respond to stimuli, reproduce, and grow and develop.  The final assessment will be a project in which the students choose an organism and indicate his/her organism’s characteristics. 

Duration
Multiple days
Lesson Type
Traditional Lesson

Lesson Created By: MattieShuler

Essential Question

How can you obtain and communicate information to support claims that living organisms (1) obtain and use resources for energy, (2) respond to stimuli, (3) reproduce, and (4) grow and develop?

Grade(s):

  • 6

Subject(s):

Recommended Technology:

Internet

Digital Devices (chromebooks, iPads, tablets, or PC’s)

Interactive Whiteboard

Other Instructional Materials or Notes:

Journals

Pen

Paper

Lesson Progression

  1. Bellringer - Students will brainstorm and quick write all the things they believe living things need in order to survive for five minutes in their journal. 
  2. They will pair-share their classmates with their answers.
  3. The teacher will introduce the vocabulary (see list in resources) to the class by using the Marzano method of teaching vocabulary words (Teaching Basic and Advanced Vocabulary: A Framework for Direct Instruction). The teacher introduces the word by using the students background knowledge, students write the vocabulary words and definitions in their journal using their own definitions, students draw a picture of each word in their journal (the teacher might want to skip the vocabulary terms dealing with reproduction for this part), and students pair-share the vocabulary words with a partner. 
  4. The teacher will review the answers given by the class and organize their answers into the four characteristics of all living things - (1) obtain and use resources for energy, (2) respond to stimuli, (3) reproduce, and (4) grow and develop.
  5. The teacher will discuss the details of the four characteristics of living things (see https://ed.sc.gov/instruction/standards-learning/science/support-documents-and-resources/grade-six/, pgs. 52 and 53).
  6. The teacher will show the following video https://scetv.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.colt.alive/is-it-alive/support-materials/. The students are to make a list in their journals as to which ones are living and which ones are not, and be prepared to justify their answers using the characteristics mentioned above.
  7. The teacher will go over the things with the students and select students to share their answers and justify their responses. 
  8. The teacher will assign the students to watch the following video: https://scetv.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.colt.eat/what-do-animals-eat/. They will discuss the different ways and resources the animals obtain energy.  Since these animals are heterotrophs, students should recognize them as such.  
  9. Then the teacher will assign this video https://scetv.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.stru.photosynth/photosynthesis/. The students will pair-share how plants obtain energy different from animals. The teacher should emphasize that plants are autotrophs and thus obtain energy differently than animals. 
  10. The teacher will assign this video (https://scetv.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.reg.redknots/marathon-migrators/) and the students will discuss the different stimuli and the responses by the animals in the video. 
  11. The teacher will assign the background reading for students to understand sexual versus asexual reproduction. https://scetv.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.repro.asexual/asexual-reproducers/support-materials/. Students will write a comparison in their journals. 
  12. The teacher will assign this video (https://scetv.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/bf10.sci.lv.ls.hatching/nature-american-eagle-hatching/) and students will write and sketch the milestones of the hatchlings in their journals. They will pair-share with a partner to see how the eagle is born.
  13. The teacher will assign this video (https://scetv.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/bf10.sci.lv.ls.fledgling/nature-american-eagle-fledglings/) and the students will sketch and write about the milestones of the fledglings of the eagle and how it compares to the eagle chick in their journals. The teacher will facilitate by helping them see the growth of the eagle.
  14. The teacher will assign this video (https://scetv.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/bf10.sci.lv.ls.growindie/nature-american-eagle-growing-independent/) and the students will sketch and write of the full grown eagle and compare it to the chick and fledgling to see how eagles grow and develop. The teacher will again facilitate by helping them see the growth of the eagle. 
  15. Assignment - Students are to pick an animal or plant and research how that plant or animal (1) obtain and use resources for energy, (2) respond to stimuli, (3) reproduce, and (4) grow and develop.  The students will then present or write an essay demonstrating how their living thing demonstrates the four characteristics of living things. See rubric in resources as to how to grade this assignment.

Teacher Notes

This standard discusses reproduction, so some material might be sensitive for immature learners. 

Characteristics of Living Things Vocabulary List

Characteristics of Living Things Vocabulary List

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SC Support Standard Document

SC Support Standard Document

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Is It Alive?

PBS Learning Media Video - "Despite technological advances that have produced machines with lifelike qualities, most people can easily distinguish between what is living and nonliving. Or can they? This video includes some "fuzzy" examples that will make students question the meaning of life."

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What Do Animals Eat?

PBS Learning Media Video - "Do you eat like a horse? Or more like a bird? As you might expect, different animals eat different things. Some animals specialize in eating one particularly rich food source, while others eat whatever they can find. This video segment samples the diversity of feeding habits among some of the world's creatures."

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NOVA | Photosynthesis

PBS Learning Video - "In this video from NOVA: Earth, explore the history of plant biology, from the earliest scientific hypotheses that plants ate dirt, to our present-day understanding of photosynthesis, the process by which plants use the Sun's energy to convert carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates."

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Marathon Migrators

PBS Learning Video - "Animals use many strategies for staying close to their food sources, as this video segment from NOVA: The Mystery of Animal Pathfinders explains. One of the most remarkable of these strategies is demonstrated by the red knot, a species of shorebird that flies 20,000 miles annually in its never-ending search for food, especially the eggs of spawning horseshoe crabs."

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Asexual Reproducers - Background Reading Essay

Background Reading Essay for a PBS Learning Media Video

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Nature | American Eagle: Hatching

PBS Learning Video - "In this video from Nature, scientists watch newborn eaglets, or hatchlings, in their first days. Video footage from the nest itself offers a rare glimpse into the complex relationship between parent and offspring and how it evolves over time. Through the arduous first days, the young mother eagle must master a delicate approach and learn how to bond with her young eaglet. Fortunately, the male eagle is an experienced father ..."

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Nature | American Eagle: Fledglings

PBS Learning Media Video - "This video from Nature reveals the practice young eagles need for flight and captures a maiden voyage into the air along the Upper Mississippi River. It’s summer when two young eagles begin their preparation—the male, named “Underdog,” appears to be more interested in flight than the female. Finally, Underdog takes to the air where he and other young eagles play with their parents and learn how to land, often the hard way."

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Nature | American Eagle: Growing Independent

PBS Learning Media Video - "This video from Nature features fledgling bald eagles along the Upper Mississippi River. It’s Fall, and the Mississippi is teeming with life. Water birds like the American coot are especially abundant this time of year—a welcome gift for the region’s bald eagles. Young eagles master the art of hunting and play with their spoils like it’s a game akin to rugby."

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Assessments

Rubric for the final assignment can be located here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WDHyUTwMqaIjsfNU6a0-IAp2LeHy_PvtwGY8...