Living, once living, never living
Biology · Early Years · The School
What living things do
Living things all do the same seven jobs: they move, breathe, sense things, grow, feed, get rid of waste and make babies. A cat does all seven. A rock does none. Check any object against the list — that is how scientists decide, instead of guessing by how it looks.
The tricky middle group
A wooden table was once a tree, and the tree was alive. Leather was once an animal skin. Paper was once wood. These are ONCE LIVING. A plastic spoon was never alive at all — it is NEVER LIVING. Sorting into three groups instead of two is what stops the classic mistake of calling wood "not living" as if it had never grown.
Plants are alive too
Plants do all seven jobs, just slowly and quietly. They move (towards light, over hours), they feed (making sugar from sunlight), they grow, they make seeds. Watch a seed sprout on damp cotton wool over a week and you will SEE a living thing doing living things — which is much more convincing than being told.
A CAR moves, uses fuel and makes noise — but it does not grow, and it cannot make another car. Never living. A WOODEN TABLE does nothing at all now, but it was made from a tree that grew and fed. Once living. A SEED looks like a dead pebble in your hand, yet give it water and warmth and it grows. Living. Check each one against the list — feeds, grows, breathes, responds, makes more — rather than watching to see if it moves.