Scarecrows and The Science of Living and Non-Living Things

The book the Littlest Scarecrow Boy by Margaret Wise Brown, is a great way to add Science into your day! How? You might ask? Well, by teaching what living vs. non-living is. At first, kindergarten and first grade students aren't always able to comprehend what is living or non-living, but don't worry, I have you covered.  Find a free resource page that can help you give them the information they need to ask the right questions.

Book Connection: The Littlest Scarecrow Boy

STEM Connection: making scarecrows and corn or crows...something living and non-living

We use toilet paper rolls, straws, popsicle sticks, paper, glue, and tape. We used blocks, but they wanted to take them home so I kept it simple.

Science Connection: Living vs. Non-living

We focus on asking the questions to figure it all out...
1. Does it need food, water, and shelter?
2. Can it move by itself?
3. Does it grow and change?
4. Does it need air?
5. Does it reproduce? Create a new one?

When we ask these questions we are able to figure out if it is living or not. We then make generalizations about plants and animals...they are all living at one time. We use cards I made with pictures of living and non-living things. I throw some harder pictures in there such as a balloon because it needs air, and it grows and changes...

Find a copy of the book here...this is an affiliated link. 

This activity is part of a bigger Thanksgiving Science and STEM pack, if your interested in adding even more Science and STEM check it out here!

Want to try this activity? Here is a free resource to get you started! Grab your lesson plan and Living vs. Non-living poster HERE.