Living or Nonliving

Preschool Steam: Biology Beginnings was held today! Since biology is the study of living things our first lesson focused on how to tell the difference between living and nonliving things. Here is what we did:

We examined some bugs in critter keepers - a spider, two cockroaches, and lots of crickets. We also looked at some National Geographic books about animals as we waited for everyone to arrive.

We introduced the mystery bag where we used our senses other than sight to guess what is inside. Today we had 2 mystery bags: one bag contained a living flower and the other bag a nonliving silk flower. We talked about the differences between the living and nonliving flowers.

We watched a quick Sesame Street video that taught us how to determine if something is living or not. The conclusion was if something eats, breathes, and grows it is living. We played a game and learned a song to reinforce these concepts.

Then it was time to start experimenting! First, we studied gummy worms. We measured them with paperclips and identified their colors. The gummy worms didn't move though and weren't much fun to play with so we sprinkled baking powder on them and dropped them into vinegar that really got them moving, but they still weren't living things.

Next we studied real earthworms. We again measured them and identified their color. These real worms moved a lot! They were fun to watch. Everyone named their worm and made a home for their worm.

Pictures from the day are below. Enjoy!