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Chapter 1 Living and Non-Living Things

Introduction:
There is a great variety of things in this world. We classify things into living and
non-living things. We call this process classification. Classifying things this way
makes it easier for us to study them.
Living things are different from non-living things. Living things are things that are
alive. Living things can also do certain things that non-living things cannot do. For
example, living things can move about on their own but non-living things cannot.
Non-living things are things that were either once alive (e.g. fried chicken, timber
used to make wooden furniture) or never alive (rocks, water, air). Some non-living
things come from living things. For example, a wooden stool is made of wood. Wood
comes from trees and trees are living things.
Some living things can look like non-living things! For example, the stone fish looks
and behaves like a stone.
Definitions:
Living things: Are things that are alive.
Examples: Plants (bougainvillea, hibiscus) and animals (dog, giraffe)
Non-living things: Are things that were either once alive or never alive.
Groups of Living Things:
- Plants
- Animals
- Fungi
- Micro-organisms (e.g. bacteria)
Characteristics of Living Things (RGMRD):
1. Living things need air, food and water
2. Living things reproduce
3. Living things grow
4. Living things move
5. Living things respond to changes
6. Living things die
Tackling Animal Classification Questions
Animal Classification is usually one of the harder topics for Lower Primary students.
It requires students to be able to identify what are the possible classifications that
can be used and determine which particular classification is relevant to the question.
Some of the common classifications for animals are:
- Number of stages in their life cycles
- If the young looks like their parent
- The place the animals live in
- If the animals spend part of their life cycle in water (e.g. Mosquito
larva and pupa)
- Methods of reproduction
- Outer covering
- The way the animals move
Step-By-Step Method to Tackle Animal Classification Questions
Step 1: Identify The Group Of Animals That Living Organism Belongs To
There are 6 types in total:
Mammals, Fishes, Birds, Insects, Reptiles, Amphibians
Step 2: List The Characteristics Of Each Animal Group Using The
Following Pointers:
1. Method of reproduction? (Number of stages of life cycles?)
2. Does the young look like the parent?
3. Type of body covering?
4. Warm or Cold blooded?
5. Method(s) of breathing?
6. Live on land or in water?
7. The way the animals move?
Step 3: Pick Any 2 Animals And List All The Possible Similarities And
Differences Between The Animals
For example, let’s pick Shark and Dog.
The guppy belongs to the group of “Fishes” while the dog belongs to the group of
“Mammals”.
How to tackle the question above:
Students are firstly required to think of the possible classifications and analyse if all
the animals in each group can fulfil the characteristics of each particular
classification.
E.g. The dog, eagle and giraffe are classified together whereas the shark, guppy and
salmon are categorised together in another group.
Students may attempt to categorise Group B as “Fish” but in Group A, dog and
giraffe are mammals whereas eagle is a bird.
Hence, this form of categorisation (methods of reproduction) is incorrect.
The correct classification for this question would be the place the animals live in
– Group A: live on land and Group B: live in water.

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