2nd Grade: Living, Non-Living, or Dead?

Today in STEM, 2nd grade students had the opportunity to explore some of my classroom "treasures". Before we began our lab, we brainstormed as a class what made something"living". Together students came up with an elaborate list:

                                                

Example of one 2nd grade group brainstorm

After brainstorming we came up with a few things that we all agreed on:

• Living things are made of cells.
• Living things obtain and use energy. 
• Living things grow and develop.
• Living things reproduce.
• Living things respond to their environment. 
• Living things adapt to their environment.

Once we had a good idea of what it means to be living students set out with their recording sheets to decide whether my 15 treasures were "Living, Non-Living, or Dead" and what characteristics each item possessed

Stations: 

1. Algae
2. Fossil
3. Plants inside the fish tank
4. Coral
5. Birds nest
6. Snake skin
7. Large moth
8. Starfish
9. Bone under a microscope
10. Pine cone 
11. Hair under a microscope
12. Yogurt under a microscope
13. Skeleton
14. Glass statue
15. Fish in the fishtank

2nd Grade Scientists: 

While students explored each station we made sure ask questions and reason to the best of our ability what we thought each item was!

Ask your 2nd grader what their favorite item was!

-Mrs. Henderson