The Tech Savvy Teacher
“Living and Non-Living Things”
Third Grade: Standard 2: Objective 1
· Students will understand that organisms depend on living and nonliving things within their environment.
o Classify living and nonliving things in an environment.
As a class, discuss the differences between living and nonliving things.
· Characteristics of Living Things:
o They move
o They obtain and use energy
o They grow/develop
o They respond to their environment
o They adapt to their environment
§ Examples of living things: grass, trees, flowers, animals, humans.
· Nonliving Things:
o They do not have any of the same characteristics from the list above.
§ Examples of nonliving things: sand/rocks, metal (bike), wood (when not on a tree).
Class Activity:
· After discussing the characteristics of living and nonliving things, the students would go outside and take pictures of living and nonliving things. The pictures taken by the students would be posted by the teacher onto Kidspiration to later evaluate the knowledge that students have about differences between living and non-living things.
· After the class comes back in the classroom, the teacher would download the pictures taken while the rest of the class writes in their journal about the things they took pictures of.
· After the pictures are downloaded, the students are going to organize the pictures in two categories: living and non-living things. This last activity will serve as a mini quiz to show the teacher what the students had learned.
Provo Tech Savvy Teacher Newsletter:
Becoming a Tech Savvy Teacher is not as hard as it may seem. By incorporating simple forms of technology the students are able to learn much more than they would otherwise. Using technology in classroom settings can help students develop skills that are necessary for the 21st century.
In our class, while learning about living and non-living things, we went outside to take pictures of different things that were observed that had the characteristics of living and non-living things discussed in class. When we came back together as a class, we uploaded the pictures we had taken into the program, Kidspiration, where students are now able to go onto the program and test their knowledge as to what is living and non-living.
Having the students take pictures of objects and things outside, they were able to use the technology of a camera that would later be used on a computer program to further test what they have learned about the science topic. By using Kidspiration, students quizzed themselves on their knowledge of what makes living and non-living things. By using technology students were able to enhance their knowledge of science.
