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Cells and Systems 6-8 / Week 01 / Nature Day
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Week 01 · Living or Not

Nature Day

Nature Day: Living and nonliving hunt
// What every living thing does
⏱ about 20 min

Nature Day: Living and Nonliving Hunt

Saturday morning, the crew heads to the garden with the Windowsill Log and a hand lens.

"Twenty things," Rocket says. "Ten living, ten not. Race you." Raven laughs. "Not a race. A hunt."

She kneels by a flowerpot. "What do you notice? Moss on the pot, a snail shell, a stone, a fallen leaf."

Nova hovers above a bee on a flower. "Look from where you stand," she says. "Never touch the bee or a nest."

Rocket lists them. "Moss, living. Stone, not. Fallen leaf?" He pauses. "It was living. Is it still?"

"Good question," Raven says. "Write it down. Some answers take a week to find."

  1. All living things are made of one or more cells, use energy, grow and develop, respond to stimuli and reproduce.
  2. Scientists use eight characteristics together to define life. A nonliving thing may show one or two, never all.
  3. The cell theory: all living things are made of cells, and the cell is the basic unit of life. New cells come from existing cells.
  4. A seed is a living plant resting. Water starts germination, and the radicle, the root, emerges first.
  5. The course seed jar is planted. Keep the towel damp and measure the roots in millimeters.
◇ FAMILY HUNT FOR LIVING AND NONLIVING THINGS
Walk around a garden, park or block together. Each person finds five living things and five nonliving things.
For each find, say which of the characteristics you can actually see: cells (hard to see), growth, response or reproduction.
Find one tricky case together, such as a fallen leaf, a seed pod or a feather. Talk about what it was and what it is now.
Back home, check the seed jar together. Add water if the towel is drying, and measure any root.
For a grown-up
Outdoors, the crew looks at flowers, bees, birds and nests from where they stand. Nothing is touched, and no plant or berry is picked.
Everyone washes hands after handling leaves or soil.
The facts in this week's recap come from the OpenStax textbook Concepts of Biology, free at openstax.org.
Safety first
Never touch a nest, an insect or an unknown plant or berry. Look from where you stand.
Nothing found outside goes in your mouth.
Wash your hands when you come back inside.
THINK IT THROUGH
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
A fallen leaf is on the path. Which statement is best?
You see moss on a flowerpot. Which clue tells you it is living?
Nature Day checkTrue or false?
A stone shows none of the eight characteristics.?
A bee responds to stimuli and uses energy from food.?
A seed pod with seeds in it contains living things.?
WHY THIS EXERCISEThe hunt is the same test as Monday's tray, with real living things in it.
Draw the trickiest find from your hunt. Write beside it which characteristics it shows and which it does not.
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