What Makes Something Alive? 🐸
Australian Curriculum Version 9.0 | Biological Sciences | Year 3 Science
Australian Curriculum Science Year 3 | Biological Sciences | AC9S3U01
Welcome, curious critters and fantastic educators! 🐸🌻
This Australian Curriculum Science Year 3 resource (AC9S3U01) supports Biological Sciences learning in primary classrooms across Australia. It focuses on living and non-living things, once-living classification, and life cycle activities for Year 3 students.
It forms part of a growing collection of primary science resources Australia teachers can use to support inquiry-based learning, classroom discussion, and hands-on science exploration.
This resource includes:
- student-friendly reading guide (this page)
- structured classroom activities
- printable living and non-living things worksheets
- life cycle activities for Year 3 science
- vocabulary support materials
- formative assessment (exit ticket)
- teacher guidance notes
- curriculum-aligned video learning support (Critter Quest Education)
👉 Downloadable resources are embedded throughout this page for classroom use.
Already subscribed? Upon opening, bookmark the Teacher Resource Library for quick future access.
This pack can be used for whole-class teaching, independent reading, homework, relief lessons, flipped learning, or as part of a science inquiry unit.
Have you ever looked at a butterfly and wondered what makes it alive? Why does it flutter and fly, while a rock just sits there doing… well, nothing? And what about fossils? They’re not alive anymore, but they used to be!
If you’ve asked these kinds of questions, you’re thinking like a scientist — and this resource pack is for you.
Let’s explore what makes something living, non-living, or once-living, and take a closer look at the life cycles all living things go through.
Learning Intentions
This Australian Curriculum Science Year 3 resource supports Biological Sciences outcomes and provides primary science resources Australia teachers can use for classroom learning and life cycle activities Year 3.
Students will:
- identify characteristics of living things
- distinguish between living, non-living, and once-living things
- explore plant and animal life cycles
- understand that living things grow and reproduce
- investigate how scientists classify living things based on observable features
Success Criteria
Students can:
- explain how scientists identify living things
- describe differences between living, non-living, and once-living things
- identify stages in a frog or plant life cycle
- use scientific vocabulary such as life cycle, reproduction, and metamorphosis
- justify classifications using scientific reasoning
🔍 What Is a Living Thing? (Year 3 Biological Sciences AC9S3U01)
All living things share seven key features. These features help scientists distinguish between living, non-living, and once-living things.
Movement
Living things can move on their own or show movement through growth and responses to their environment.
Sometimes movement is easy to see — like a kangaroo hopping. Other times it is slow or subtle, like a plant turning toward sunlight.
Respiration
Respiration is the process of turning food into energy. All living things do this — even plants.
It provides the energy needed for survival, growth, and activity.
Sensitivity (Response to Environment)
Living things respond to changes in their environment.
Examples include:
- plants growing toward light
- leaves closing when touched
- animals reacting to sound or temperature
- humans responding to sensory input
Growth and Life Cycles
All living things grow and change through stages known as a life cycle.
Examples include seed → plant or egg → tadpole → frog.
You can also explore related Critter Quest Education resources on:
Reproduction
Living things produce offspring.
This may include eggs, seeds, or live birth depending on the organism.
Excretion
Living things must remove waste products.
Although it may seem unpleasant, excretion is essential for keeping organisms healthy and maintaining balanced ecosystems.
Nutrition
All living things need energy.
Animals get energy by eating plants or other animals. Plants make their own food using sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide through photosynthesis.
🤔 Living and Non-Living Things Year 3 Science Activity
Let’s investigate!
🐸 Frog — Living
Moves, eats, grows, responds, and reproduces.
🪨 Rock — Non-living
Does not grow, eat, or respond to its environment.
🦴 Fossil — Once-living
Was once part of a living organism.
🌳 Tree — Living
Grows, reproduces, and responds to light and water.
🪵 Log — Once-living
Came from a tree that is no longer alive.
🤖 Toy Robot — Non-living
May move, but does not grow or reproduce.
🌱 Life Cycles Activities for Year 3 Science
Living things grow and change throughout their lives.
🐸 Frog Life Cycle
Egg → Tadpole → Froglet → Adult Frog
This process is called metamorphosis.
🌻 Sunflower Life Cycle
Seed → Germination → Seedling → Adult Plant → Seed production
Both frogs and plants show growth, change, and reproduction — key characteristics of living things.
🧠 Quick Recap: How Can You Tell If Something Is Living?
Scientists often use the MRS GREN life processes to help identify living things.
Ask these questions:
- Movement — Does it move on its own or show movement through growth?
- Respiration — Does it use energy to stay alive?
- Sensitivity — Does it respond to changes in its environment?
- Growth — Does it grow and change over time?
- Reproduction — Can it produce offspring or make more of its kind?
- Excretion — Does it remove waste products?
- Nutrition — Does it need food, water, or another source of energy?
If most answers are yes → it is a living thing.
🎥 Video Learning Support
To support student understanding, teachers may choose to use the Critter Quest Education video aligned with this lesson:
👉 Watch: Living, Non-Living & Life Cycles Explained (Year 3 Science: AC9S3U01)
This video can be used:
- as an introduction to the topic
- during the lesson for reinforcement
- for revision or homework
- in flipped learning environments
🔬 Science Vocabulary
- living thing
- non-living thing
- once-living
- organism
- life cycle
- metamorphosis
- reproduction
- growth
- respiration
- nutrition
- excretion
- sensitivity
- environment
- habitat
- classification
🧪 INCLUDED CLASSROOM RESOURCE PACK (DOWNLOADS)
All resources are catalouged in the Critter Quest Education Resource Library and designed for easy classroom printing and flexible use across Australian primary science lessons.
This lesson is supported by a complete set of printable classroom resources:
- Resource 1: Living, Non-Living & Once-Living Sorting Worksheet
- Resource 2: Life Cycle Sequencing Activity
- Resource 3: Exit Ticket Assessment
- Resource 4: Science Vocabulary & Word Wall Sheet
- Resource 5: Teacher Lesson Support Guide
This free educator support hub provides updates for Australian Curriculum science resources, printable classroom materials, and new learning videos for primary classrooms.
Already subscribed? Upon opening, bookmark the Teacher Resource Library for quick future access.
🎒 For Teachers
This Year 3 Science resource pack aligns with:
AC9S3U01
Compare characteristics of living and non-living things and examine the life cycles of plants and animals.
Suggested use:
- full lesson sequence
- inquiry-based science unit starter
- relief teaching pack
- flipped learning support
- outdoor investigation companion
- paired with Critter Quest Education videos
👨👩👧 For Parents and Carers
Support learning by:
- sorting household objects into living/non-living
- observing plants and animals outdoors
- growing seeds together
- discussing life stages in pets or people
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between living and non-living things?
Living things grow, use energy, reproduce, and respond to their environment.
What does once-living mean?
Things that were once alive but are no longer living.
What is a life cycle?
The stages a living thing goes through as it grows and changes.
What is metamorphosis?
A major change in body form during development (e.g. tadpole to frog).
🧪 Final Thoughts
Whether it crawls, swims, grows in soil, or once lived long ago, the natural world is full of clues about life.
By observing carefully and asking questions, students begin to think like scientists.
Keep questioning, keep exploring, and keep discovering with Critter Quest Education.
This Year 3 science resource is part of Critter Quest Education’s Australian Curriculum science Year 3 collection, including biological sciences lessons, life cycle activities, and living and non-living things worksheets for primary science classrooms in Australia.
About the Author
W. A. Greenly is the creator of Critter Quest Education, a science communicator with a Bachelor of Science in Biodiversity and Conservation and a pre-service primary educator. Critter Quest Education produces curriculum-aligned science resources for Australian classrooms, families, and young learners.
Resources are designed to support Australian primary science teaching and student engagement through curriculum-aligned, inquiry-focused learning experiences.