Science
Before KG · 12 min
My five senses
How do you know the world is there? Five ways.
Ages 2–33 pagesYou: discuss
Alive, or not alive?
How do you know if something is alive?
ScienceAges 2–315 minutes3 pagesEnglish textInk-light
Being written
This one is planned but not finished yet. Everything below is what it will contain.
- Skill
- The first scientific classification, and the one that provokes real argument
- You will need
- Crayons
- Your job
- Discuss
- Stage
- Before KG · ages 2–3
Not drawn yet
I can sort things into alive and not alive, and say why.
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How the fifteen minutes go
The five steps on this sheet, in the order a child meets them. This is what you will actually be doing, not a description of the method.
- 1
Wonder
How do you know if something is alive?
- 2
Listen
Your grown-up asks the question and does not answer it.
- 3
Explore
Put each picture in one of the two boxes.
- 4
Share
Say your rule for 'alive'.
Three levels in the same pack
Print the one that fits today. Same skill, three depths — and on this sheet they differ like this.
Support
Six easy pictures, obviously one or the other.
Fewer items, more pictures, hints included, parent reads the instructions.
Core
Ten pictures, including two tricky.
The standard task, recognition, practice and explanation.
Challenge
Argue for the tricky ones. Any defended answer is accepted.
Open-ended. Explain why, make your own example, use it somewhere new.
For the grown-up
The same guide that is printed on the back page, so you can read it before you decide to print anything.
The answers
Alive: cat, tree, fish, bird, child. Not alive: chair, stone, spoon, car, cloud. The TRICKY ones are the cloud (it moves) and the tree (it does not), and a child who hesitates there is thinking correctly.
If they get stuck
Ask one question about each: does it need food? Does it grow?
Common mistakes
- 'It moves so it is alive', the classic and entirely reasonable error. Do not simply correct it: ask about a cloud and a tree and let the contradiction do the work.
- An adult giving the biological definition. Growing, needing food and water is enough at three.
When they finish early
Walk outside and sort five real things.
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Licence
Free for personal, classroom, and parent use. You may print and share the link. You may not sell, re-upload, or modify this PDF without permission.
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