What Is Living?
Living and Non-Living Things: What Is Living?
What Is Living?
What Is Living?
NCERT anchor: NCERT Looking Around Class 1 — Theme: Living and Non-Living (signs of life)
What you'll learn
- Living things eat or drink, grow, breathe, and can move.
- Plants, animals, and people are all living things.
- Something that cannot grow, eat, or breathe is non-living.
Key concepts
1. Living things eat and drink
Verbal: Plants take in water from the soil; animals and people eat food.
Visual: Plant roots drinking water; child eating a meal.
2. Living things grow
Verbal: A seed grows into a plant; a puppy grows into a dog.
Visual: Seed-to-plant growth chart.
3. Living things breathe and move
Verbal: Animals and people breathe air; many living things can move on their own.
Worked example
Checking if a seed is living
Step 1 — Plant a bean seed in wet soil.
Step 2 — Water it and give it sunlight.
Step 3 — After some days, a tiny green shoot appears.
Step 4 — The shoot grows taller and grows leaves.
Answer: the seed is living because it grew.
Common mistakes
| Mistake | Why | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Thinking a still seed is non-living | It does not move like an animal | It can still grow when given water and soil |
| Thinking only animals are living | Plants seem too quiet and still | Plants also eat (make food), grow, and breathe |
| Thinking anything that moves is living | A rolling ball also moves | Living things also grow, eat, and breathe |
Quick check
- Name two things all living things do.
- Is a dog a living thing? Why?
- Is a stone a living thing? Why not?
- Stretch: Why is a seed considered living even though it looks still?
Revision tip: Before saying something is living, check: does it eat, grow, and breathe?
Open the Practice tab for graded questions on What Is Living?.
Key Takeaways (TL;DR)
- What you'll learn
- Key concepts
- Worked example
- Common mistakes
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