The teacher brought a stuffed turtle to class to share and teach a lesson on living vs. non-living things. A student asked to take the turtle home, giving the teacher an idea to have each student take the stuffed turtle home for the weekend to care for it. To further enhance the lesson, a pet store brought in various live animals for the students to observe and care for in the classroom. By taking home the stuffed turtle and observing real pets, the students were able to grasp the concept of caring for living things through hands-on experience with responsibility.

1. Overview- Pre-K
When I came back from vacation I brought back a stuffed turtle to share with the class. I had a
student ask if they could take home the turtle and take care of him. We were doing the unit of
sharing the planet learning the difference of living and non-living and the responsibility for taking
care of living things.
This is where I saw the perfect opportunity for the students to grasp the concept of living and non-
living. For the students to really understand the concept of living and non-living, a pet store came
in for the students to have a hands-on experience with the animals. The Pet store gave us 6 pets to
take care of between 6 classes, each classroom had a different pet for the week. One of the pets
was a turtle, this gives the students the chance to really grasp the concept of living and non-living
when they must take care of the living turtle and the toy turtle that they take home for the
weekend and take care of him. The students really understand this concept because they are held
responsible and it is a hands-on experience. When you are doing hands on experiences it is more
meaningful and students can grasp the concept that is being presented.

2. What are they going to do?
• Each student will take home Mr. Turtle for the weekend where
they will be responsible to “take care” of him.
• This will teach the students responsibility and dependence.

3. Students will complete a journal
• What did you do with Mr. Turtle?
• How did you take can of Mr. Turtle?
• Draw a picture of what you are doing with Mr. Turtle.

5. Teacher questions/provocations
• What are the properties of living things?
• How does human behavior impact living things?
• Are humans responsible for living things?

6. Objective
• Students are learning the difference between living and non-living
and the properties about living things by comparing real animals
and toys.