Animal or Plant?

  Guiding Questions:
1. What is a living thing?
2. What is an animal?
3. What is a plant?

Objectives
Concepts:

 Something that is alive has life! It is not an object and it is not dead.
 Animals are living things that can move around, eat food for fuel, and reproduce.
 Plants are living things that usually make their own food, reproduce, but cannot move
around.

Facts:

 Most plants make their own food by a process called photosynthesis.

 All green plants make their own food because they have a substance in them called
chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is a key part of the process of photosynthesis.
 Photosynthesis is the process by which plants use sunlight to produce the food they need
to live and grow.

Principles:

 All living things have to have food for fuel and energy.
 Animals and plants are different because animals cannot produce their own food; plants
can produce their own food.
 Animals and plants are different because animals can move around; plants cannot move
around from one place to another.

Skills

 Making Observations
 Making Comparisons
  Communicating Findings
 Making Inferences
 Drawing Conclusions

Materials:

1. Large pieces of drawing paper

2. Pencils, crayons, magic markers
3. May take something stiff to put paper on while drawing
4. Outdoors area with many critters and plants

Room Preparation

None—Going Outdoors!

Procedures and Activity

Introduction

Ask the guiding questions:

1. What is a living thing?

Share examples of living and non-living things. Help children see that all living things
are "alive"—they aren’t dead but will die someday. All living things grow, need food,
and reproduce.

2. What is an animal?

Share examples of animals. Help children see that animals have to eat, but they cannot
produce their own food. They eat other animals and plants. Most animals can move
around from one place to another. Animals don’t all get around in the same way. Some
run, while others walk, creep, fly, or hop.

3. What is a plant?

Discuss examples of plants. Then think about what makes all these plants alike or similar.
For example, plants all grow and need air, usually dirt or soil, water, and sunlight. Plants
can produce other plants like themselves.
 Many plants are green. Share the idea of plants using photosynthesis as a way to make
food by turning sunlight into fuel and energy. Add that most plants can’t move around
and get from one place to another.

Activity

1. Continue the discussion to figure out how plants and animals are different. Help them
come to some understandings such as that plants can make their own food; animals
cannot. Animals can move around from place to place; plants cannot.
2. Today, we are going on a walk to be scientists and investigators. We are going to look for
examples of plants and animals. There are lots and lots of them around us every day, but
most of the time we don’t look for them!
3. Pass out drawing paper. Have them fold the paper in half and then unfold paper. Draw a
line down the middle of the paper.
4. On the right hand side, write the word “animals” at the top.
5. On the left hand side, write the word “plants” at the top.
6. Explain that they are to identify the plants and animals they find on our walk. They may
use words, pictures, or both.
7. Go on walk and let children observe, identify, classify and record information. Remind
them that these skills are what scientists use every day.

Evaluation
Closing - Original Question

Back in the classroom, ask again:

1. What is a living thing?

2. What is an animal?
3. What is a plant?

Listen as children share examples of plants and animals. Have them offer explanations for why
they classified different things the way they did. Encourage them to define characteristics of all
living things and then of plants and animals.