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Description
In this introductory inquiry activity, students will work with a partner or in a small group to categorize cards as living or nonliving. Through class discussion and argumentation, students will come up with a class list of which cards fall into each category, as well as a list of qualifications for how they determined what they consider to be alive. This activity is a great way to kick off the school year or your ecology unit by having students critically think, engage in discussion, make claims substantiated by reasoning, and work together in small groups and as a class.
How can I use this?
• First day of school activity in a biology classroom
• Introduction to ecology inquiry activity, prior to teaching on the characteristics of life
What is included?
• 2 pages of teacher implementation notes
• 24 cards (that you will need to print, cut, and laminate)
• Answer Key
How much class time will this take?
This can take anywhere from 15 minutes – 45 minutes depending on how much support you give your students, how much you question and press them to defend their choices, and how much they disagree on what is the “right” answer. You can truly do this as a quick intro. or stretch it for a full day activity. I use this to introduce my Ecology unit and after we go through a short set of notes on what ecology is and the characteristics for life.
What if I have a question?
Email me at itsnotrocketsciencestore@gmail.com I’d love to answer any questions you have!
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*TERMS OF USE*
You may...
• Use this item for your own classroom, students, or for your own personal use.
• Buy additional licenses for others to use this product at a discount by visiting your TpT “My Purchases” page.
• Review this product to recommend others buy it in blog posts, at professional development workshops, or other venues as long as credit is given to my store with a direct link to my store/product.
You may not...
• Upload this product to any unsecured website or server that other teachers can access for free.
• Give this product to others without the purchase of an additional license for them (this includes emailing, printing copies, or sharing through a website, cloud or other network.)
• Copy or modify any part of this document to offer others for free or for sale.
