Distinguish living organisms from non-living objects using life processes such as growth and respiration. Review suitability for your learners before teaching.
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Worksheet StudioPractice pack · Ages 7-9
Living things & life processes
Take your time. Show your thinking.
1. Is a steel spoon made from iron ore something that was “never alive” or “currently alive”?
Sun + H₂O → Growth & Life
2. When a caterpillar turns into a pupa (chrysalis) and emerges as a butterfly, what is this life-cycle change called: metamorphosis or hibernation?
Sun + H₂O → Growth & Life
3. Does a battery-powered toy robot count as a biological living thing just because it moves (Yes / No)?
Sun + H₂O → Growth & Life
4. When a sunflower turns its stem toward the light, which life process is it showing: sensitivity (responding to changes) or rusting?
Sun + H₂O → Growth & Life
5. Is a wooden table something that was “once part of a living thing” (a tree) or “never part of a living thing”?
Sun + H₂O → Growth & Life
6. Is a smooth beach pebble a living thing or a non-living thing?
Sun + H₂O → Growth & Life
7. What life process releases energy from glucose inside the cells of both plants and animals: respiration or magnetism?
Sun + H₂O → Growth & Life
8. Which part of a plant cell gives it a rigid box-like shape and is not found in animal cells: the cell wall or the heart?
Sun + H₂O → Growth & Life
9. How do green plants obtain their food differently from animals: plants make food using sunlight, whereas animals eat plants or other animals, or plants eat rocks?
Sun + H₂O → Growth & Life
10. Is a seashell washed up on the beach “once part of a living animal” or “made of plastic”?
Sun + H₂O → Growth & Life
11. Which of these is a living organism: a coral polyp or a glass marble?
Sun + H₂O → Growth & Life
12. What is the correct order of a frog’s life cycle: Egg (spawn) → Tadpole → Froglet → Adult frog, or Adult frog → Egg → Tadpole?
Sun + H₂O → Growth & Life
12 questions · Seed 42 · Age guidance, not curriculum certification
View the answer key
Worksheet StudioAnswer key · Ages 7-9
Living things & life processes
Answers and reasoning. Review before teaching.
1. Is a steel spoon made from iron ore something that was “never alive” or “currently alive”?
Never alive
Metal refined from mineral rock was never a living organism.
2. When a caterpillar turns into a pupa (chrysalis) and emerges as a butterfly, what is this life-cycle change called: metamorphosis or hibernation?
Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis is the biological transformation from larva to adult.
3. Does a battery-powered toy robot count as a biological living thing just because it moves (Yes / No)?
No
A toy robot does not grow, respire, feed or reproduce, so it is non-living.
4. When a sunflower turns its stem toward the light, which life process is it showing: sensitivity (responding to changes) or rusting?
Sensitivity (responding to changes)
Living things sense and respond to stimuli such as light, touch and gravity.
5. Is a wooden table something that was “once part of a living thing” (a tree) or “never part of a living thing”?
Once part of a living thing
Timber comes from trees, which were living plants.
6. Is a smooth beach pebble a living thing or a non-living thing?
Non-living thing
A pebble is a rock and does not grow, respire or reproduce.
7. What life process releases energy from glucose inside the cells of both plants and animals: respiration or magnetism?
Respiration
Cellular respiration releases energy for life processes.
8. Which part of a plant cell gives it a rigid box-like shape and is not found in animal cells: the cell wall or the heart?
Cell wall
Plant cells have a cellulose cell wall outside the cell membrane.
9. How do green plants obtain their food differently from animals: plants make food using sunlight, whereas animals eat plants or other animals, or plants eat rocks?
Plants make food using sunlight, whereas animals eat plants or other animals
Plants are autotrophs (producers); animals are heterotrophs (consumers).
10. Is a seashell washed up on the beach “once part of a living animal” or “made of plastic”?
Once part of a living animal
Seashells are grown as protective coverings by living marine molluscs.
11. Which of these is a living organism: a coral polyp or a glass marble?
Coral polyp
Coral polyps are living marine animals.
12. What is the correct order of a frog’s life cycle: Egg (spawn) → Tadpole → Froglet → Adult frog, or Adult frog → Egg → Tadpole?
Egg (spawn) → Tadpole → Froglet → Adult frog
Frogs hatch from spawn as aquatic tadpoles before developing legs and lungs.
12 questions · Seed 42 · Age guidance, not curriculum certification
Worksheet StudioPractice pack · Ages 7-9
Living things & life processes
Take your time. Show your thinking.
1. Is a steel spoon made from iron ore something that was “never alive” or “currently alive”?
Sun + H₂O → Growth & Life
2. When a caterpillar turns into a pupa (chrysalis) and emerges as a butterfly, what is this life-cycle change called: metamorphosis or hibernation?
Sun + H₂O → Growth & Life
3. Does a battery-powered toy robot count as a biological living thing just because it moves (Yes / No)?
Sun + H₂O → Growth & Life
4. When a sunflower turns its stem toward the light, which life process is it showing: sensitivity (responding to changes) or rusting?
Sun + H₂O → Growth & Life
5. Is a wooden table something that was “once part of a living thing” (a tree) or “never part of a living thing”?
Sun + H₂O → Growth & Life
6. Is a smooth beach pebble a living thing or a non-living thing?
Sun + H₂O → Growth & Life
7. What life process releases energy from glucose inside the cells of both plants and animals: respiration or magnetism?
Sun + H₂O → Growth & Life
8. Which part of a plant cell gives it a rigid box-like shape and is not found in animal cells: the cell wall or the heart?
Sun + H₂O → Growth & Life
9. How do green plants obtain their food differently from animals: plants make food using sunlight, whereas animals eat plants or other animals, or plants eat rocks?
Sun + H₂O → Growth & Life
10. Is a seashell washed up on the beach “once part of a living animal” or “made of plastic”?
Sun + H₂O → Growth & Life
11. Which of these is a living organism: a coral polyp or a glass marble?
Sun + H₂O → Growth & Life
12. What is the correct order of a frog’s life cycle: Egg (spawn) → Tadpole → Froglet → Adult frog, or Adult frog → Egg → Tadpole?
Sun + H₂O → Growth & Life
12 questions · Seed 42 · Age guidance, not curriculum certification
Worksheet StudioAnswer key · Ages 7-9
Living things & life processes
Answers and reasoning. Review before teaching.
1. Is a steel spoon made from iron ore something that was “never alive” or “currently alive”?
Never alive
Metal refined from mineral rock was never a living organism.
2. When a caterpillar turns into a pupa (chrysalis) and emerges as a butterfly, what is this life-cycle change called: metamorphosis or hibernation?
Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis is the biological transformation from larva to adult.
3. Does a battery-powered toy robot count as a biological living thing just because it moves (Yes / No)?
No
A toy robot does not grow, respire, feed or reproduce, so it is non-living.
4. When a sunflower turns its stem toward the light, which life process is it showing: sensitivity (responding to changes) or rusting?
Sensitivity (responding to changes)
Living things sense and respond to stimuli such as light, touch and gravity.
5. Is a wooden table something that was “once part of a living thing” (a tree) or “never part of a living thing”?
Once part of a living thing
Timber comes from trees, which were living plants.
6. Is a smooth beach pebble a living thing or a non-living thing?
Non-living thing
A pebble is a rock and does not grow, respire or reproduce.
7. What life process releases energy from glucose inside the cells of both plants and animals: respiration or magnetism?
Respiration
Cellular respiration releases energy for life processes.
8. Which part of a plant cell gives it a rigid box-like shape and is not found in animal cells: the cell wall or the heart?
Cell wall
Plant cells have a cellulose cell wall outside the cell membrane.
9. How do green plants obtain their food differently from animals: plants make food using sunlight, whereas animals eat plants or other animals, or plants eat rocks?
Plants make food using sunlight, whereas animals eat plants or other animals
Plants are autotrophs (producers); animals are heterotrophs (consumers).
10. Is a seashell washed up on the beach “once part of a living animal” or “made of plastic”?
Once part of a living animal
Seashells are grown as protective coverings by living marine molluscs.
11. Which of these is a living organism: a coral polyp or a glass marble?
Coral polyp
Coral polyps are living marine animals.
12. What is the correct order of a frog’s life cycle: Egg (spawn) → Tadpole → Froglet → Adult frog, or Adult frog → Egg → Tadpole?
Egg (spawn) → Tadpole → Froglet → Adult frog
Frogs hatch from spawn as aquatic tadpoles before developing legs and lungs.
12 questions · Seed 42 · Age guidance, not curriculum certification