Every year, I teach my littles about living and non-living organisms and basic needs. And every year I seem to have a hard time really getting them excited about this new unit. I know it’s important that they understand this before we move on to our habitats unit, but no matter how many songs we sang, they were still just “eehh” about the whole thing.
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SHOCK FACTOR & TREATS!
I’ve learned the way to my littles’ minds is through the art of surprise. Plus, we all know the way to their hearts is through their stomachs. So, when I friend shared this idea with me, I was sold!
How to Hook Them
I try to set this activity up for a time after they’ve been out of the class for specials or recess. When we’re about the enter the room I say, “I placed some new friends for you to meet at your tables. They don’t bite and whatever you do, please don’t eat them!”
This leaves them looking around at each other wondering what in the world their crazy teacher has done now. Come to think of it, it’s probably lessons like this that have earned me the name “tricky teacher” from my class! It’s so fun to watch how differently the kids react to the worms. Some squeal because they’ve never touched an actual worm before. Some scoop the worms right up and start showing them off to their tablemates. By the end of the lesson, most kids have been brave enough to at least POKE the earthworm. Some think they’ve made a new lifelong friend!
Now for the Lesson
First, I tell my “scientists” that they’ll be making careful observations. I’ll be posing questions throughout this lesson. It’s their job to work together with their group to find the answers. They’ll need to use both their observations and what they already know.
My first 2 questions: “How are these two things the same? How are these two things different?”
I usually give them about 5-10 minutes to make observations and discuss at their tables.
Next, I have them push the worms away from their inquiring hands so we can have a class share. I like to have a venn diagram ready with “earthworm” on one side and “gummy worm” on the other. My Littles share out and we add to the chart.
Then, we take a closer look at our observations. It typically doesn’t take long for them to put the clues together and decide one is living and one is non-living. We discuss what observations led us to believe the earth worm is living and the gummy worm is non-living. This leads to great discussions about if all living things can move, breathe, etc. Eventually, we realize both plants and animals are living but have very different qualities.
Next, I pose another question: “What does this earthworm need to survive?”
The groups record their ideas on a dry erase board so they can add and erase throughout the discussion. After a bit, we share out and I write all common answers on the board. We continue to discuss until we end up with SWEAT – shelter, water, energy (food), air, and time to grow.
We end this lesson with one final question: “What do YOU need to survive?”
This part is always so interesting to me. It takes a VERY long time for the groups to realize they have the same basic needs as the earthworm! At first, the groups will list many needs and wants on their boards. As I walk around, we do a lot of need vs. want explanation. Eventually, we come to the conclusion that our basic needs are actually the same as earthworms. We just fulfill our basic needs in different ways.
This lesson is the perfect, engaging lead into my habitats unit. Learn about how I integrate art and science during our week of learning about habitats HERE.
Of course, you have to celebrate your new learning with a treat! I let my little choose which type of worms they want to eat!
