SCIENCE CLASS 3

LIVING AND NON-LIV- LESSON 1

ING THINGS

VOCABULARY
Living things

Non-living things

Breathe

Reproduce

ACTIVITY
Look at the following picture and observe. In the given picture, some things are given to
us by nature. Some of the things are not given to us by nature. Identify and name which
of the given picture represents natural things and man made things in the space given
in the picture.
Natural and man-made things
When we look around our house, school or garden, we find many different things.
There are many plants, animals, insects, benches, stones, cars, cycles, soil, sun, water,
etc., around us. Some of
these are man-made and
others are natural things.

All the things made by hu-

mans are called man
made things. For exam-
ple.hair, table, car, house,
road, etc., are things made by
man.
All the things provided by
nature are called Natural
things. For example, the
Sun, moon, stars, wa-
ter, air, soil, etc., are
found in nature. These
things are not made by
the hu- mans.

Natural things can be classified as living and non-living. Some things have life. They are
called living things.

Some of them do not have life. They are called non-living things.

Do you Know

All man-made things are non-living things.

 EXPLORE
Go on the road side.
Make a list of ten liv-
ing and non-living
things

What you see:

Identify Natural things and man made things.
Features of Living Things
There are certain features which differentiate living things from non-living things. Some
the features show by only living things are given as:

• Living things move

• Living things grow

• Living things need food

• Living things breathe

• Living feel

• Living things reproduce

• Living things die

Living Things Move

All living things
move. Move-
ment is one of
the characteristics
of living things.
We can move,
walk and run. Some
ani- mals like dog,
cat, cow etc.,
move from one place to another in search of food, shelter etc. Birds can fly. Fishes can
swim with the help of their fin.

Plants cannot move like animals. They cannot go from one place to another. But
their parts show movement. The sunflower turns its face towards the sun. The plants
which grow in a shade bend towards the light. Some plants like touch-me-not show
slow movement while touched.

Have you ever seen a table or TV or car showing movement? No, non-living things
cannot move unless a push or pull is applied on them.

Living Things Grow

Growth is also an important characteristic of living things. In the beginning, all living
things are smaller but as they get older they become larger. For example, a seed
grows into a small plant. A small plant grows into a big tree. Growth brings change in
shape, size and weight of a living thing. Eucalyptus plants grow high. Banyan, neem
and peepal are other examples of big trees.
A little baby grows into an adult man or an adult woman.

Similarly, a baby owl comes out of an egg and grows into an adult owl.

Non-living things cannot grow such as a pencil, book, table, and chair cannot show
any change in size, weight or shape.

Living Things Need Food

All living things require energy to do any work. This energy is provided by food we
eat. All living things need food to live, grow and build up their bodies. Without food,
living things can die.

We get our food form plants and animals. Plants make their food in their lives using
air, water and minerals of soil in the presence of sunlight. This process of making
food by plants is called photosynthesis.

Animals eat plants and plant products.

Some animals kill other animals for their food needs.

Non-living things do not need food.

Living Things Breathe

All living things breathe. They need air to breathe. They cannot live without air. Like
man, most of the animals breathe through nose and lungs. Fishes breathe through
their gills. Plants also breathe. They breathe through
pores (called stomata) on their leaves.

Activity
1. Close your nose with your fingers. How do you
feel? You feel as if you will die. It is so because by
closing your nose, you cannot breathe.
2. Take two
small
plants.
Cover
one plant
with glass
jar and leave
the other
plant in open.
You will see
that the plant
covered by a
jar dies in a few days because it does not get air to breathe.

Living Things Feel

All living things feel. Men and animals feel through their sense organs.
 If you prick your finger with a pin, you feel pain and pull your finger back. If se touch
a snail, it pulls its body inside the shell. Some insects on touching make themselves
appear dead and suddenly move fast after a few seconds.

Plants also feel but do not have sense organs. This will be very clear by taking an
example of the plant touch-me-not. As soon as you touch its leaves, its leaves start
folding. Sunflower always faces towards the sun because it feel sunlight.

If you throw a toy or any other non-living thing, it will not cry or feel pain because
non-living things cannot feel.

Living Things Reproduce

All living things
reproduce their
own kinds. Hu-
man beings
give birth to
their children.
Animals like
cow, goat, dog,
rat and cat also give birth to their children. Some birds and insects lay eggs.

Like animals, plants also reproduce. Most of the plants reproduce through seeds.
Some plants also grow from stems or roots.

Imagine if coins could produce baby coins or chairs could produce baby chairs. No,
they cannot. They are non-living.

Living Things Die

All living things die sooner or later. Some have a short period of life while others have
longer life period. A housefly has a life of few days. A dog has a life period of around 12
years. Average life of a man is around 75 years. Some trees like banyan tree has a long
period of life around 200 years. Some plants like wheat live for a season only.

Difference between Plants and Animals

Plants and animals differ in many ways:

a. Plants can make their own food; animals cannot.

b. Plants are fixed but animals can move.
c. Plants breathe through pores in their leaves. Animals breathe lungs or gills.
d. Plants reproduce with the help of seeds. Animals lay eggs or produce babies.

In Text Questions

Fill in the blanks with the words given below:

(swim, fly, ten, food, air)

1. Birds can …………………………………………………………………..

2. Fish can …………………………………………………………………….

3. Animals and plants need ………………….to breathe.

4. Dog has a life of about…………………years.

5. Living things need……………………..years.

TO THE TEACHER
Teachers should explain the difference between living and non-living things by using differ-
ent things present in the class.

Chapter Summary
• There are two types of things around us – man-made things and natural things.
• Living things have special features:
 a. Living things move
b. Living things grow
c. Living things need food
d. Living things breathe
e. Living feel
f. Living things reproduce

g. Living things die

• Non-living things cannot do all these things.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT

1. Match Column A with Column B.

A B

1. Fish (a) Lungs

2. Man (b) Stomata
3. Plants (c) Gills
4. Flower (d) Non- Living
5. doll (e) Living

2. True or False:
State whether the following statements are True (T) or False (F).

1. Living things grow.

2. Non-living things need food.
3. Non-living things die later or sooner.
 4. Animals make their own food with the help of air, water and sunlight.
5. Living things feel

3. Fill in the blanks with the words given below:

(gills, cannot, birds, non-living, calves, stomata)

1. Cows give birth to …………………….

2. Plants breathe through their ……………………….
3. Fishes breathe through …………………….
4. A football…………………..breathe in air.
5. A car moves but it is a……………… thing.
6. …………………and insects lay eggs.
4. Circle the correct answer:

(a) Which of the following is not a characteristic of living things?

1. They can reproduce.

2. They can breathe

3. They cannot grow.

(b) Identify the odd one out: (Pictures of options can be given)

1. Tree

2. Cloud

3. Zebra

(c) Why is chair a non-living thing?

1. It can move on its own.
2. It does not need food.
3. It can breathe.,

(d) Identify the incorrect group?

1. Books, car, vegetables

2. Trees, birds, hen

3. Doll. flower, cloud

5. Short Answer Questions:

Answer the following questions briefly:

1. Give three examples of living and non-living things.

2. Give two ways in which plants differ from animals.
3. What will happen if an animal does not breathe?
4. What do you mean by reproduction.
5. What happens if you prick your finger with a pin?

6. Draw and Label:

Draw and label the following:

1. Process of Photosynthesis
2. Life Cycle of owl

7. Describe:

Write the characteristic features of living things. Explain any one in detail.

8. Find and Circle:

Identify the following words in the given grid:

Plant, table, stone, bottle, cat, beetle, bird

(One is done for you)

K L P H G B L I

S R L S T O N E

V G A C A T F B

I M N F D L G I

U P T A B L E R

B E E T L E R D

9. Life Skills

a. Given below is the picture of a house and its surroundings. Observe the picture and
answer the given questions.
Q1. How many non-living things are shown in the picture? Name them.

Q2. Are flowers shown in the picture living or non-living? Give reason for your answer.

b. You have learnt that living things feel. How would you treat your pet at home so that it feels loved?

10. Value integration

1. Sarita got a beautiful car. She wanted to keep on his study table. As there was no space
on the study table, she started crying. She said, “why this table can’t grow in size?. Her
mother came and explained her why table cannot grow.

a. Wha do you think her mother explained the reason?

b. What values are shown by mother?

2. A student takes two pots and put soil in them. In the first pot, he sow a plant and water it
daily. In the second pot, he sow a pencil and water it daily.

a. Which one of the two: pencil or plant will grow and why?

b. What values are shown by the student?

11. Project

Collect pictures from the old newspapers and divide them into living and non-living things and
paste them on sheets of chart paper.
Note: All the images given in the chapter are taken from Internet and needs to be
redrawn.