New
New
Year 2
Alive, dead and never alive
I can compare and group things that are alive, dead and never alive.
New
New
Year 2
Alive, dead and never alive
I can compare and group things that are alive, dead and never alive.
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- A living thing is something that is currently alive and needs food, air and water to stay alive.
- Something that is dead was once living but is no longer alive.
- A non-living thing is something that has never been alive.
- Things can be compared and grouped into alive, dead and never alive.
Keywords
Alive - Living things are alive. They move, respire, sense, grow, reproduce, excrete waste material and need nutrients.
Dead - Something that is dead was once living and now is no longer alive.
Never alive - Something that has never been alive cannot be called alive or dead.
Compare - We compare things by looking at what is the same and what is different.
Group - To group things is to put similar things together
Common misconception
A non-living thing is something that is dead.
Examples demonstrating that non-living things have never been alive.
Create a class display of things that are living, dead or have never been alive. This is a useful visual aid to refer to throughout the lesson and can be added to by the pupils as they think of new examples for each group.
Teacher tip
Equipment
Scissors and sorting cards.
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).
Lesson video
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Starter quiz
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6 Questions
Q1.
Which of these is not a living thing?
a fox
a poppy plant
Q2.
Which of these is a living thing?
a watering can
a lawnmower
Q3.
True or false? Everything that moves is a living thing.
Q4.
Everything in the world can be grouped into living and non-living. This is called ...
alive.
research.
Q5.
Living things are alive. What do they need to stay alive?
water, food and a house
water, fire and air
Q6.
All of these things can move. Which of them are not living things?
a cress plant
a human
Exit quiz
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6 Questions
Q1.
A living thing is ...
dead.
non-living.
Q2.
A rabbit is a living thing. What does it need to stay alive?
grass, toys and friends
a hutch, water and food
Q3.
These bones are from an animal that is no longer alive. How would we describe this animal?
This animal is a living thing.
This animal is a non-living thing.
Q4.
Which of these is a non-living thing?
a giraffe
an iris
leaves on the ground
Q5.
When scientists group things, they ...
read books.
name things.
Q6.
Lucas has been grouping things that are alive and things that have never been alive. Which things has he put in the wrong place?
the olive tree and the plasticine
the olive tree and the watering can
Additional material
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