Living and nonliving sort: a 20-minute kindergarten science walk
What it is: a kindergarten science walk where students find things outside, decide whether each one is living or nonliving, and sort pictures into two groups. Students learn that living things grow, need food and water, and make more of their kind.
Time: about 20 minutes. Grade: kindergarten.
Materials: a two-column chart labeled living and nonliving, clipboards with a simple drawing sheet, and picture cards for the sort back in class.
- Ask: "How do we know if something is alive?" Write ideas: it grows, it needs food and water, it can make babies or seeds.
- Walk outside. Students draw 4 things they see: a tree, a rock, an ant, a bench.
- For each one, ask the three questions: Does it grow? Does it need food or water? Does it make more of itself?
- Back inside, students sort picture cards and their drawings into living and nonliving.
- Discuss tricky ones, such as a car that moves or a seed that looks still.
Safety: look at insects without touching them, and stay with the group.
Differentiation: students who need support sort 6 clear pictures. Students who are ready add a third group: "was once living," such as a fallen leaf or wood. English learners can answer the three questions with yes or no.
Quick check: show a picture of a fish and of a toy fish. Ask a student which is living and why.
For more ideas at this grade, browse the other free activities on the Hub.
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About this resource
- Shared by
- @UpOnlyLearning · Curriculum team
- Posted
- Oct 30, 2026
- Type
- Lesson plan
- Grade
- Grades K–2
- Subject
- Science
- Language
- English
- License
- Free for classroom, co-op and tutoring use. Please don't resell.