Virginia SOL K.6

ScienceKindergartenLiving Systems and Processes

SOL Standard (Key Ideas Cluster)

The student will investigate and understand that there are differences between living organisms and nonliving objects. Key ideas include

Virginia Standards of Learning for Science

Cluster contents

K.6 is a Standards of Learning science standard. These are the key ideas and practices under it.

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students sort plants, animals, and objects into living and nonliving groups. They use clues such as growing, changing, and needing air, water, or food to explain each choice.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student correctly classifies familiar and unfamiliar examples. The student names at least one useful clue instead of relying only on movement or appearance.
Common Misconceptions: Students may think anything that moves, such as a toy car, is alive. They may call plants nonliving because plants do not walk. They may also confuse something once alive, such as a fallen leaf, with something currently living.
How to Assess It: Show pictures of a tree, dog, rock, and toy robot. Ask students to label each living or nonliving and explain one choice using a living thing clue.

Lesson moves

Give pairs picture cards and classroom objects to sort onto living and nonliving mats, then ask them to explain two choices.
Ask, “Is a seed alive even when it is not growing yet?” and have students support an answer with one observable clue.
Play Living or Nonliving Corners by naming an item, having children move to a labeled corner, and choosing one child to explain.
Walk around the schoolyard, photograph one living thing and one nonliving object, then compare what each needs and how each changes.

Free download

A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to K.6, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.

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