Learning activity

• Discuss what makes a living thing (for example, cellular respiration). Revise the definition and formula.
  
• Ask students to collect a selection of living things from outside. Stress how to collect and transport the organisms without damaging them. All animals must be returned to the same place without damage.
  
• Ask students to divide their organisms into plants and animals (they can use themselves an animals). (Remember the five kingdoms: Plants, Animals, Fungi, Protoctists and Bacteria). Discuss how they made this division.
  
• Plants - autotrophic (Botany) Animals - heterotrophic (Zoology).
  
• Ask students to make another division (long,thin/short or number of legs).
  
• Continue until sorted. Try and name them.
  
• Swap keys and organisms with another person and try to use their key.

Learning outcomes

• Divide living things into the two major kingdoms.
  
• Identify characteristics that enable them to classify organisms.
  
• Draw up simple working keys.

Homework
Draw up a key to identify clothing.

Special needs

Higher: Work on fungi (for example, find a definition and examples).
Lower: List the differences between a typical animal and plant (for example, a cow and a daisy). Draw and label on A3 paper.

Further information

Video: Distinguishing between life and non-life.