Comparing characteristics of living things
I can compare the characteristics of living things and describe their similarities and differences.
- Year 6
Comparing characteristics of living things
I can compare the characteristics of living things and describe their similarities and differences.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Anything can be observed and compared to another thing, based on similarities and differences.
- Observable characteristics are properties about things that we can describe using five senses.
- Comparing and grouping living things can help us to identify them.
Keywords
Observable - Something observable is something that we can see or describe using our senses.
Characteristic - A characteristic is a feature or quality of something that we can use to help identify it.
Compare - We compare things by looking at what is the same and what is different.
Similarity - A similarity is something two or more objects have in common.
Difference - A difference between two objects or things is something that is not similar or the same about them.
Common misconception
Pupils may only consider animals' characteristics to be observable if we can see them in a photo, rather than us also being able to observe their behaviour over time.
Explain that when scientists classify living things they make many observations of how that living thing moves, behaves and reproduces, as these are all characteristics we can observe to help us identify and classify things.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match the word to the correct definition.
Q2.Match the sense organ to the sense we use it for.
Q3.Why might Laura be the odd one out of these three children?
Q4.How do we observe something?
Q5.Which two of these can all living things do?
Q6.Which of these are living things?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Anything can be compared to another thing. What do we do when we compare things to each other?
Q2.Jun compares these two animals. Which of these is a difference between them?
Q3.Laura compares these two animals. Which of these is a similarity between them?
Q4.The features of a living thing that we can see or describe using our senses are called characteristics.
Q5.Which of these are observable characteristics of this plant?
