Looking at Living Things

Unit Overview

This Unit engages students in observing different organisms and cultivates students’ ability to make scientific observation and in identifying and summarising key biological features. Students will learn to classify fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals based on their external features, and recognise the key features of non-vascular and vascular plants, seed and seedless plants, flowering and non-flowering plants. These learning activities help students understand the overarching concept of “form and function”. Through activities such as examining photos and conducting a biodiversity survey on the school campus, students can learn about the concepts of biodiversity, and develop the proper values of respecting nature and cherishing life. Learning about the life cycles of animals through observing the changes in the growth process of birds or frogs, can help students understand more about the patterns of growth and reproduction of organisms. This Unit also introduces cells as the basic unit of living things,teachers may teach the relevant concepts via the use of practical activities, such as providing opportunities for students to prepare slides and examine plant and animal tissues under a microscope, which students could experience the process of scientific inquiry and master relevant experimental skills. Besides, students can develop and master the following skills: a) observing an organism over a period of time and noticing relevant details. b) using a set of general observations, trend or model to deduce a specific result c) identifying similarities and differences of organisms d) classifying organisms according to their external features e) using tables and graphs for data analysis and f) referring information from reliable sources.