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Generated on 9/15/2025 at 8:19 PM |
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https://www.cpalms.org/PreviewIdea/Preview/499
https://www.cpalms.org/PreviewIdea/Preview/499
A. All plants and animals, including humans, are alike in some ways and different in others.
B. All plants and animals, including humans, have internal parts and external structures that function to keep them alive and help them grow and reproduce.
C. Humans can better understand the natural world through careful observation.
Big Idea 14 : Organization and Development of Living Organisms
Cluster Standards
This cluster includes the following benchmarks.
Visit the specific benchmark webpage to find related instructional resources.
- SC.1.L.14.1 : Make observations of living things and their environment using the five senses.
- SC.1.L.14.2 : Identify the major parts of plants, including stem, roots, leaves, and flowers.
- SC.1.L.14.3 : Differentiate between living and nonliving things.
Cluster Information
Number:
SC.1.L.14
Title:
Organization and Development of Living Organisms
Type:
Big Idea
Subject:
Science
Grade:
1
Body of Knowledge
Life Science
Cluster Access Points
This cluster includes the following Access Points.
- SC.1.L.14.In.1 : Use sight, hearing, and smell to make observations.
- SC.1.L.14.In.2 : Identify the leaf, flower, and stem of a plant.
- SC.1.L.14.In.3 : Identify characteristics of living and nonliving things, including whether they need food or water.
- SC.1.L.14.Su.1 : Use sight and hearing to make observations.
- SC.1.L.14.Su.2 : Recognize the leaf and flower of a plant.
- SC.1.L.14.Su.3 : Distinguish common living and nonliving things in the environment.
- SC.1.L.14.Pa.1 : Recognize and respond to different types of sensory stimuli.
- SC.1.L.14.Pa.2 : Recognize that plants have leaves.
- SC.1.L.14.Pa.3 : Recognize self and others as living things.
Cluster Resources
Vetted resources educators can use to teach the concepts and skills in this topic.
Original Student Tutorials
- Pascua Florida Day: Use your imagination to experience what it may have been like to be a member of Ponce de Leon's crew as they arrived on the shores of Florida for the first time. Make observations and discover the origin of Florida's name in this video.
- Is A Tree House A Living Thing?: Learn to differentiate between living and nonliving things and their characteristics in this interactive tutorial.
- Exploring Kangaroo Island Part 3: The Waters: Make observations of the plants, animals and environment in the waters of Australia's Kangaroo Island.
This interactive tutorial is part 3 of 3. Click below to explore other habitats on Kangaroo Island.
- Exploring Kangaroo Island Part 2: The Woodlands: Make observations of the plants, animals and overall environment in the woodlands of Australia's Kangaroo Island.
This interactive tutorial is part 1 of 3. Click below to explore other habitats on Kangaroo Island.
- Exploring Kangaroo Island Part 1: The Coast: Make observations of the plants, animals and environment along the coastline of Australia's Kangaroo Island.
This interactive tutorial is part 1 of 3. Click below to explore other habitats on Kangaroo Island.
- Parts of a Plant: Look at a plant and what each part does as you complete this interactive tutorial.
Image/Photograph
- Plant Cycle Graphic Organizer: This resource provides two picture examples of a strategy for using a specific graphic organizer to help students learn the parts of a plant. This strategy can be used by students to represent a variety of concepts across subject areas.
Lesson Plans
- Expedition Florida: Students will imagine being among Juan Ponce de León’s crew when they first landed on the coast of modern-day Florida in this science and civics integrated lesson plan. They will conduct their own expedition to explore a location on campus to observe living things. In the process, students will learn about the first European exploration and naming of the state of Florida as well as the annual celebration that commemorates it on Pascua Florida Day.
- Living or Nonliving: Pascua Florida Day: Students will imagine being among Juan Ponce de León’s crew when they first landed on the coast of modern-day Florida in this science and civics integrated lesson plan. Students will use this experience to practice differentiating between living and non-living things. In the process, they will learn about the first European exploration and naming of the state of Florida as well as the annual celebration that commemorates it on Pascua Florida Day.
- Let's be Nice: Students will practice thinking about being responsible citizens in their school community. They will discuss the appropriate ways to interact with living and nonliving things and then demonstrate their understanding by acting as responsible citizens during a guided activity in this integrated lesson plan.
- Gr. 1 Lesson 1-Everglades Animal Exploration: Everglades Animal Hunt is lesson 1 of a 3 lesson unit. Students will learn that animals communicate through their senses. The students will use their knowledge and imagination to vocally and/or physically imitate wildlife of the Everglades.
- Tree Cookies: One way to learn about tree growth is to look at annual rings. Tree rings show patterns of change in the tree's life as well as changes in the area where it grows. In this activity, students will trace environmental and historical changes using a cross section of a tree, or "tree cookie."
- To Be A Tree: By making a tree costume, your students will gain an awareness of a tree's structure and functions.
- Flower Power Flower Company MEA & STEAM* Activity: This STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) lesson has been designed around a Model-Eliciting Activity.
The Flower Power MEA provides students with an real world problem in which they must work as a team to design a plan to select the best flower arrangement for a special event. The resource was primarily designed as an MEA so the time and teacher instructions are based on the MEA format. The additional activities will take several hours of instruction but include watching and discussing a video about the parts of plants, reading a book, and discussing the art in the book as well as additional art by the book author/illustrator.
Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.
- Friendly Aquarium: In this Model-Eliciting Activity (MEA), students will learn that pollution is anything that makes air, land, or water dirty. They will become aware that human activities have a big impact on other living things in a number of different ecosystems.
Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. MEAs resemble engineering problems and encourage students to create solutions in the form of mathematical and scientific models. Students work in teams to apply their knowledge of science and mathematics to solve an open-ended problem while considering constraints and tradeoffs. Students integrate their ELA skills into MEAs as they are asked to clearly document their thought processes. MEAs follow a problem-based, student-centered approach to learning, where students are encouraged to grapple with the problem while the teacher acts as a facilitator. To learn more about MEAs visit: https://www.cpalms.org/cpalms/mea.aspx
- Living VS nonliving: In this lesson, students learn about the characteristics that distinguish living things from nonliving things. By examining video clips and still photographs of a variety of objects and organisms, students gather evidence and develop criteria to decide if something is living or nonliving.
- Exploring Plants: Students will be introduced to the study of plants in this lesson. First they will sprout bean seeds on moistened paper towels, then make drawings and measurements of their growth. They will watch time-lapse videos that illustrate a plant's major growth stages. Another clip covers fruits and asks students to consider how their seeds are spread. They will gather seeds by walking outside with an old sock over one of their shoes, then plant their sock to observe the resulting plants.
Resource Collection
- BioEd Online K-2 Educational Resources for Educators, Students, and Parents: Biology lesson plans for a Living Things Unit of study.
Teaching Ideas
- Fruit and Vegetable Mystery: This teaching idea describes a project called Fruit and Vegetable Mystery, which is a set of note cards created by first grade students. The cards include a written description of a fruit or vegetable on one side and the name and illustration of the corresponding fruit or vegetable on the other. The cards were created as a final product for an expedition on plants and soil.
- Colorado Bird Project: This teaching idea describes a project completed by students in Colorado after studying birds. Students wrote and illustrated informational texts that included information on the physical characteristics of a bird found in Colorado. The same teaching idea can be used with birds from any state.
- Rough Rubbin' Sharks-SeaWorld Classroom Activity: In this activity, students gain an understanding of sharks' rough, textured skin through artwork. They demonstrate knowledge of a shark's ecosystem. Students will also have the opportunity to measure/estimate different sharks using objects and rulers.
- A Shrimpy Home-SeaWorld Classroom Activity: In this activity, students will demonstrate how changes in an environment can affect the survival of an animal.
- Animal Sing Along-SeaWorld Classroom Activity: In this activity, students will be able to name warm- and cold-blooded animals through role play and song and demonstrate the behaviors used to dissipate excess body heat.
- Aiming For Action-SeaWorld Classroom Activity: In this activity, students will use hand-eye coordination and large muscle skills as they reinforce positive action choices that help endangered wildlife and habitats.
- A Body of Geography-SeaWorld Classroom Activity: In this activity, students will be able to demonstrate that all penguins live south of the equator and relate where various species of penguins live.
- Birdie on my Finger-SeaWorld Classroom Activity: In this activity, students will identify bird body parts and adaptations (feathers, wings, bill, tail) while creating paper finger puppets.
- Baby Shamu Suit-SeaWorld Classroom Activity: In this activity, students will be able to name whale body parts (flipper, flukes, fins) and describe the function of each. In addition, they will role-play whale behavior.
- Animal Disguises-SeaWorld Classroom Activity: In this activity, the students will be able to demonstrate how cryptic coloration helps ocean animals survive.
- Design a Fish-SeaWorld Classroom Activity: In this activity, the students will use a modeling compound to make fish-shaped refrigerator magnets. They will use observation skills to learn about different fish body types and replicate them with the modeling compound.
- Living and Nonliving: The students will think about what is alive. They will practice how scientists observe and record. Going outside they will record in their journal the things they observe under the heading they think it belongs in-living or nonliving.
- My Penguin Memory Book-SeaWorld Classroom Activity: In this activity, students will keep a daily journal, recording facts about penguins.
- Sharing What We Know About Organisms: Students discuss living and nonliving organisms, including plants and animals.
- Sirenian Survival-SeaWorld Classroom Activity: In this activity, students will identify four reasons why manatees are endangered.
- Webcams: Animal Inquiry and Observation: Observe animal habits and habitats using one of the many webcams broadcasting from zoos and aquariums around the United States and the world in this inquiry-based activity that focuses on observation logs, class discussion, questioning, and research.
- Wiggly Worms: In this inquiry-based worms lesson, students will compare and contrast red worms and earthworms through exploration (magnifying glasses provided) and a read-aloud.
Text Resource
- Biology of Plants: Younger students can learn about plant biology. Topics include characteristics of living things, germination and growth, the basic parts of plants, photosynthesis, reproduction, and ecological adaptations of plants. The information presented can also be ordered as a video.
Unit/Lesson Sequence
- What do Living Things Need?: In this unit, teachers allow students to explain how they know something is living and to identify the needs of living things.
Video/Audio/Animation
- What Do Animals Eat?: This video segment samples the diversity of feeding habits among some of the world's creatures. Different animals eat different things through different mechanisms.