Nature Detectives Teacher Guide Nature Detectives Lesson Plan
Topic: Living vs. Non-Living Standard: LS.K.1.1
Objective
Students will identify living things based on their needs for water, food, air, and their ability to grow.
Duration
45 Minutes
Detective Toolkit (Materials)
Living Legends Slide Presentation
Detective Log Worksheet (1 per student)
Classroom items for "Evidence Check" (e.g., a plant, a rock, a teddy bear, a student)
Crayons and pencils
The Investigation (Procedure)
1. The Hook: Mystery Box (5 mins)
Show the class a rock and a small potted plant. Ask: "Which one of these is my 'pet'? Why do you think so?" Listen for "it looks alive" or "it grows."
2. Instruction: Living Legends Slides (15 mins)
Use the slides to define "Living" through needs. Focus on the 4 key questions:
Does it need water?
Does it need food/energy?
Does it need air?
Does it grow and change?
3. Guided Practice: Evidence Argument (10 mins)
Hold up a teddy bear. Ask the students to argue if it is living or non-living using evidence. Prompt: "I know the bear is non-living because it doesn't ________."
4. Independent Practice: Detective Log (10 mins)
Students complete the Detective Log Worksheet, circling living things and drawing an example of growth.
Teacher Tips & Differentiation
Scaffolding:
Use hand gestures for needs (e.g., drinking motion for water, breathing deep for air).
Extension:
Ask students to find one non-living thing in the room that *looks* like it has a need (e.g., a car needing gas) and explain why it's still non-living.
Living Legends Slides Nature Detectives
Living or Not?
Detectives Look for Evidence!
A living thing has clues that tell us it is alive.
Let's find the clues!
Clue #1: Thirsty?
Living things need water.
🪴
Plants drink
🐶
Animals drink
🧍
You drink
🧸
Not me!
Clue #2: Hungry?
Living things need food for energy!
🍎 🥩 ☀️
Plants get food from the Sun.
Animals and people Eat food.
Clue #3: Breathing?
Living things
"Take a deep breath!
Clue #4: Growing Big
Living things grow.
🪨 🪨 🪨
A rock stays the same.
Is it Alive? Let's Argue!
🚲
A Bicycle
Does it need water?
Does it eat food?
Does it grow into a car?
NON-LIVING!
Detective Challenge!
Look around the room. Can you find one thing that is living and one thing that is not? Use your clues!
Detective Log Worksheet Detective Log
Name:
Date:
1. Is it Living?
Circle the things that need water, food, and air!
🌿 Plant
🧱 Brick
🦋 Butterfly
🧢 Hat
🐶 Puppy
🚗 Car
2. Clue: It Grows!
Draw a living thing when it is small and BIG!
Small
BIG
I am a Nature Detective!
Secret of Change Teacher Guide The Secret of Change Guide
Structure, Movement & Change Standard: LS.K.1.1
Objective
Students will describe how living things move using body structures and identify how they change as they grow.
Duration: 45 Minutes
Focus: Movement, Structure, and Life Cycles.
Detective Keys
Structure
Body parts like legs, wings, and fins.
Movement
Walking, flying, and swimming.
Changes
Growing from baby to adult (frog/butterfly).
Investigation Steps
1. Hook: Move Your Body (5 mins)
Ask: "What part of your body moves when you walk? What about when you high-five?"
2. Lesson: Move It Slides (15 mins)
Use slides to show wings, fins, and legs. Discuss how plants move slowly toward light.
3. Guided Practice: Charades (10 mins)
Act out an animal. Class identifies the animal AND the structure used to move.
4. Independent: Change Report (15 mins)
Students match animals to structures and sequence the frog life cycle on the worksheet.
Teacher Tips
Scaffolding: Use "Simon Says" with movement structures (e.g., "Simon says flap your wings").
Extension: Ask students to draw a non-living thing that moves and explain why it doesn't have "life structures."
Move It Slides Secret of Change
Structures and Motion
Building Bodies!
A structure is a part of a living thing's body.
It helps the living thing survive and move!
Legs
Stems
How do they move?
🦅
FLY
using Wings
🦈
SWIM
using Fins
🐅
RUN
using Legs
Do Plants move?
Plants move slowly!
They turn toward the sun.
Their stems grow UP.
Their roots grow DOWN.
Living things Change!
🥚
Egg
🐛
Caterpillar
🦋
Butterfly
The Non-Living Secret
A NON-LIVING thing might move, but it doesn't CHANGE or GROW on its own!
🧸
Stays the same
🧱
Stays the same
Detective Challenge!
Stand up! Can you move like a living thing that uses wings?
Change Report Worksheet Change Report
Name:
Date:
1. Match the Move
Match the animal to the part it uses to move!
🦋 Butterfly
Fins
🦈 Shark
Legs
🐯 Tiger
Wings
2. Life Cycle
Write 1, 2, and 3 to show how a frog changes!
🥚
Eggs
🐟
Tadpole
🐸
Adult Frog
Movement Master!
