Grade 1: Understanding Life Systems
Needs and Characteristics of Living Things Science Kit.
Call Number: TBD
Covers the following:
Strand A: STEM Skills and Connections
Strand B: Needs and Characteristics of Living Things
Stressing the importance of a healthy environment, this kit focuses on the physical characteristics of living things, and how living things provide for their needs. Also included in this kit are activities which focus on different parts of the body, including the five senses. This kit includes materials for five activities.
It's Alive! by This website has categorized various animal types and gives examples of each with facts that go with it. The facts and pictures are an easy way for students to learn about and compare the physical characteristics of each animal and their needs.
Kids Health in the Classroom: The Five Senses. (2015).
This Teacher's Guide pdf offers activities that teach students about their five senses. K-2.
The Needs and Characteristics of Living Things from MrCollinson.ca
A unit plan on the needs and characteristics of living things. These sequential lessons include a brief summary of each day's lesson as well as any sheets, posters, and videos needed to teach it.
This video is from the National Film Board of Canada.
"This short animation by artist and animator Evelyn Lambart offers a wordless plea for the right of all living creatures to a clean, unpolluted environment. With rich colour and intricate animated motion, the film features birds, butterflies and other woodland creatures succumbing to air pollution caused by human inventions."
Because of an Acorn by 
Hearing by 
I'm Afraid, Said the Leaf by
A touching, playful exploration of empathy and interdependency from an acclaimed author and illustrator. I'm afraid, Said the leaf. / You're not alone, Said the tree.But who will comfort a nervous bird, a lonely crab, a lost wolf? How can a horse find warmth, a snail some cheer, a child some rest? Through a series of amusing and soothing exchanges, this deceptively simple and profound picture book depicts different pairings to celebrate interconnectedness and underlines the importance of caring for every living organism to ensure a strong and healthy natural world. I'm Afraid, Said the Leafinvites young readers to understand that we all need each other for support and survival - and that we're all stronger together.
I Am Josephine (And I am a Living Thing) by 
Sight by 
Taste by 
The Toad by 
Touch by 
Whose Food Is This? by 
Whose House Is This? by 
Butterflies Belong Here by
Butterflies Belong Here is a powerful story of everyday activism and hope. In this moving story of community conservation, a girl finds a home in a new place and a way to help other small travelers. This book is about the real change children can make in conservation and advocacy--in this case, focusing on beautiful monarch butterflies. * From Deborah Hopkinson and Meilo So, the acclaimed team behind Follow the Moon Home * An empowering, classroom-ready read * The protagonist is a girl whose family has recently immigrated to the United States. I know what to look for: large black-and-orange wings with a border of small white specks, flitting from flower to flower, sipping nectar. But though I looked hard, I couldn't find even one. I wondered if monarch butterflies belonged here. I wondered if I did, too. Butterflies Belong Here is proof that even the smallest of us are capable of amazing transformations. * Equal parts educational and heartwarming, this makes a great gift for parents and grandparents, as well as librarians, science teachers, and educators. * Those interested in beautiful butterflies and everyday activism will find this lovely book both motivating and inspiring. * Perfect for children ages 5 to 8 years old * Add it to the shelf with books like Thank You, Earth: A Love Letter to Our Planet by April Pulley Sayre, The Honeybee by Kirsten Hall, and Greta and the Giants: Inspired by Greta Thunberg's Stand to Save the World by Zoë Tucker
Ten Birds [Problem solving] by
A clever counting book and fable unlike any other and winner of the 2011 Governor General's Award for Illustration. Ten birds are trying to figure out how to get to the other side of the river. The bird they call ?Brilliant? devises a pair of stilts. The bird they call ?Highly Satisfactory? engineers a raft. One by one, nine resourceful birds make the crossing until a single bird is left behind - the one they call ?Needs Improvement.' This bird's solution proves surprising - and absurdly simple. More than a counting book, Ten Birds is a witty story that highlights ingenuity, common sense and the inadequacies of labels. Cybèle Young's intricate chiaroscuro pen-and-ink drawings depict a rich alternative world that both children and adults will marvel over.
