Discuss with the class the ideas of living and nonliving. Give the students the opportunity to brainstorm differences. As they provide ideas, write them on the board for the rest of the class to see. When they are out of ideas, discuss each of the ideas on the board. Eliminate ideas that are not completely true, and further discuss the ones that are. Provide the students with examples of how the differences can be identified. For example, when holding a kitten, we can feel it breathing. We cannot feel a chair breathing because it is nonliving. Finally, clarify for the students the difference between nonliving and dead.
Instruct the students to take out their notebooks. On the top of one page, tell them to write "living" and on the top of the facing page tell them to write "nonliving." Then instruct the students to make a list of characteristics on each page. On the living page should be characteristics of living things and on the nonliving page should be characteristics of nonliving things. After a set period of time, have the children start sharing what they wrote down. Instruct the rest of the class to write down any characteristics they hear that they did not already have on their list. If a student reads a characteristic that is incorrect, make sure to correct it.
Put two pictures up on the board; one picture of a living thing and one of a nonliving thing. Have the children use their list of characteristics to compare and contrast the two items in the pictures. For example, if you put up a picture of a turtle and a picture of a television, the children may note that the turtle requires food, while the television does not. Repeat this activity with several sets of pictures until you are confident the children understand the differences.
Assign the children to create a living and nonliving collage as a homework assignment. To reinforce what was learned and to make sure each student understands, have them go through old magazines and cut out sample pictures. Then, have the students each make two collages; one of all living things and one of all nonliving things.