Using Tablets and Mobile Applications To Classify Living and Non-Living Things Grade Levels: 3-5

Subjects: Science, Technology and Speaking Prepared by: Ashley Ford Overview and Purpose: Students will learn about the characteristics of living, non-living, natural and man-made objects through a guided lesson. Students will learn to use a tablet to collect pictures of different objects during a nature walk. They will learn to use a mobile application to organize, classify and present their picture findings of objects during a nature walk. Pennsylvania Educational Standards

1.6.3.A: Listen critically and respond to others in small and large group situations. Respond with grade level appropriate questions, ideas, information, or opinions. 1.6.3.B: Use appropriate volume and clarity in formal speaking presentations. 3.1.1.A1: Categorize living and non-living things by external characteristics 3.1.3.A1: Describe characteristics of living things that help to identify and classify them. 3.2.3.A1: Differentiate between properties of objects such as size, shape, weight and properties of material that make up the object such as color, texture 3.4.3.A1: Identify how the natural made world and the human made world are different 3.4.3.A2: Identify that some systems are found in nature while others are made by humans. 15.3.5.G: Prepare appropriate information for impromptu and planned presentations 15.3.5.H: Present information as an individual or in a small group 15.4.5.G: Create a digital project using appropriate software/application for an authentic task

Objectives: - When asked, students will be able to write definitions for the terms living, non-living, natural and man-made in their own words, including specific characteristics of each group according to the Pennsylvania Elementary Academic Standards for Science/Technology/Engineering Education. - When asked, students will be able to create a list of specific characteristics for living, nonliving, natural and man-made objects according to the Pennsylvania Elementary Academic Standards for Science/Technology/Engineering Education. - Given a graphic organizer and a set of objects, students will be able to classify objects into categories of living and non-living based on specific physical characteristics. - Given a graphic organizer and a set of objects, students will be able to classify objects into categories of natural and man-made based on specific physical characteristics. - Given a set of objects, students will be able to sort the objects into a category of their choosing based on physical properties such as size, color, texture, etc. - When presented with a categorization of objects, students will be able to explain a correct categorization or correct an incorrect categorization of an object using specific scientific characteristics and physical properties. Materials Needed: Smartboard iPad Tablets (enough to split your class into groups of 4) Access to the internet Digital projector Connection cable for iPad tablet to projector Other Resources: (websites, videos, books, etc.) http://www.appigo.com/corkulous - How to use corkulous http://www.kidsbiology.com/biology_basics/characteristics_life/characteristics_of_life _what_is_life_1.php- What are Living Things http://www.thmsadaqagroup.org/livingthingless.pdf - Living and Non-Living Things, Natural and Man-Made Things http://www.icteachers.co.uk/children/sats/science_materials.htm - Science: Materials and their Properties Information: Background information on Living/Non-Living, Natural and Man-Made and Classification

What are living and non-living things? Begin a discussion with students to share ideas about living and non-living things. Use the SmartBoard to create a chart for characteristics and examples of each. Direct discussion to focus on living things having needs and have students brainstorm what these are. Important characteristics to point out during discussion are that living and non-living things are all around us and living things eat, move and

grow. See Instructor Web or KidsBiology for specific characteristics to focus on. If needed, share these resources with students to encourage discussion.

What are the differences between natural and man-made objects? Begin a discussion with students on what natural and man-made mean. Have students examine the examples of living and non-living objects that students brainstormed on the Smartboard chart. Discuss which are natural and which are man-made. See if students notice any patterns to create rules such as that all living things are natural and all man-made things are non-living but not all natural things are living. See Instructor Web or Science: Materials and their Properties for more information. How do you classify and categorize objects? Categorizing means sorting phenomena (stuff in general) into categories that work in that situation. Categories are specific and personal; they help you impose order... Classifying involves sorting phenomena (stuff in general) into known, fixed classes. (http://www.googolpower.com/content/articles/categorizing-classifying). Students will be classifying objects between living or non-living first. Then they will classify the same objects as natural or man-made. Finally, they will need to apply their own category that may have more than 2 groups. For example, students may sort by size and have small, medium and large groups or they may have tiny, small, medium, large and massive groups. Students may need help focusing on 1 category. How do you use Corkulous? Corkulous is a mobile app that acts like a corkboard. Students can post pictures, add plain labels, arrow labels, note cards, sticky notes and other options to organize their information on one board. The completed board can be exported, emailed or printed for displaying during a presentation. For a video and more information on Corkulous, visit http://www.appigo.com/corkulous.

Verification: Steps to check for student understanding

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Observation of participation in class discussion Observation of students progression in the activity Circulate in the classroom to observe contribution to group collaboration Rubric for final presentation and Corkulous display board

Activity: Students will learn about the living and non-living objects though a classroom discussion and the guided creation of a chart of examples and characteristics. Students will take a nature walk around the school area and capture pictures of different living (10) and non-living (10) objects using the iPads built in camera. Students will learn about the natural and man-made objects though a classroom discussion. They will use the chart from earlier to identify different natural and manmade objects. Students will look for patterns to create rules from the information. Students will learn how to use Corkulous from a demonstration by the teacher. In groups, students will create a Corkulous board to display their findings during a presentation.

First, students classify their pictures into living and non-living groups on the Corkulous board. Students will use the tape option to label each picture with a name. Using a green arrow students will also classify the same pictures as natural and the yellow arrow for man-made. Students will choose an additional category (ex. size, color, weight, texture) to apply to each photo. They will use a different colored sticky note for each category and list the names of each picture that fit that category. Students will add 2 white note cards that describe at least 4 characteristics for living and non-living objects. Students will make sure their board is organized and easy to view. Students will present their display board to the class. Each child will introduce one classification or category to share. Students will ask questions of each group to be answered. Students may challenge classifications and categories with good reasons. Presenter must be able to defend their classification and categories. Students will grade themselves using the rubric.

Notes Photo activity can be completed on any tablet or mobile device that uses a camera. Corkulous can only be used on iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad with iOS 5.0 or later. However, a similar app or slideshow app could be substituted for the presentation with some changes to the activity directions.

Example Corkulous Board: