BIG HISTORY PROJECT / LESSON 5.0 ACTIVITY
CLAIM TESTING - WHAT IS LIFE?
TEACHER MATERIALS
Directions: How do you distinguish a living thing from a nonliving thing? Defining life is not as easy as you might think! Use this “ballot card” to vote on the truth of each statement and
to make notes as to why you believe something is true, false, or you feel you need more information to fairly decide. Be sure to write why you made your decision and also what claim
tester or testers you used to support that claim. If you need more information, you need to write what kind of information you would need and what claim tester that would satisfy.
All things that move are living things.
TRUE
Why do you think that? (Which claim testers did you use: authority, evidence, intuition, logic?)
FALSE
Sample answer: Cars, trains, airplanes, boats, and robots move, but they do not possess the other characteristics exhibited by living things. Students may
also argue that certain living things – like trees, mushrooms, and lichens – don’t move.
NEED MORE INFO
All scientists agree on how to define life.
TRUE
Why do you think that? (Which claim testers did you use: authority, evidence, intuition, logic?)
FALSE
Sample answer: Different scientists use different terms to define life. “Need more info” would also be a fair response to this statement as it is not entirely
clear if different scientists are using different words for the same thing or disagree on the actual defining factors of life.
NEED MORE INFO
All living things reproduce.
TRUE
Why do you think that? (Which claim testers did you use: authority, evidence, intuition, logic?)
FALSE
Sample answer: It is true that all living things reproduce themselves in some way, even though the way in which they do this varies quite a bit among the
different domains of life.
NEED MORE INFO
All living things are either plants or animals.
TRUE
Why do you think that? (Which claim testers did you use: authority, evidence, intuition, logic?)
FALSE
Sample answer: Many living things are not animals or plants. Bacteria are one example of living organisms that are neither plant nor animals. Archaea are
a domain of living things that are not animals or plants, but these species are known only by their complex, scientific names, so students will not likely be
familiar with these.
NEED MORE INFO
All nonliving things are man-made.
TRUE
Why do you think that? (Which claim testers did you use: authority, evidence, intuition, logic?)
FALSE
Sample answer: Many nonliving things are not man-made, such as rocks, minerals, fossil fuels, air, clouds, and snowflakes, for example.
NEED MORE INFO
BIG HISTORY PROJECT / LESSON 5.0 ACTIVITY
CLAIM TESTING - WHAT IS LIFE?
STUDENT MATERIALS
Name:
Date:
Directions: How do you distinguish a living thing from a non-living thing? Defining life is not as easy as you might think! Use this “ballot card” to vote on the truth of each statement and
to make notes as to why you believe something is true, false, or needs more information to fairly decide. Be sure to write why you made your decision and also what claim tester or
testers you used to support that claim. If you need more information then you need to write what kind of information you would need and what claim tester that may satisfy.
All things that move are living things.
TRUE
Why do you think that? (Which claim testers did you use: authority, evidence, intuition, logic?)
FALSE
NEED MORE INFO
All scientists agree on how to define life.
TRUE
Why do you think that? (Which claim testers did you use: authority, evidence, intuition, logic?)
FALSE
NEED MORE INFO
All living things reproduce.
TRUE
Why do you think that? (Which claim testers did you use: authority, evidence, intuition, logic?)
FALSE
NEED MORE INFO
All living things are either plants or animals.
TRUE
Why do you think that? (Which claim testers did you use: authority, evidence, intuition, logic?)
FALSE
NEED MORE INFO
All nonliving things are man-made.
TRUE
Why do you think that? (Which claim testers did you use: authority, evidence, intuition, logic?)
FALSE
NEED MORE INFO
STUDENT MATERIALS
BIG HISTORY PROJECT / WORKSHEET
CLAIM TESTING
Name:
Date:
Directions: Decide if the claim passes each claim tester and provide evidence for your decisions.
The claim you
are testing:
Claim Test
Intuition
• Does your gut reaction tell you the
claim is reliable?
• Do you feel that the claim is true?
Authority
• Does the person stating the claim
have experience in the field?
• Has the person making the claim
made trustworthy claims in the past?
Logic
• Does the claim make sense to you
and follow a clear line of reasoning?
Evidence
• Do you have facts that others can
“see” that support the claim?
Test Passed? (Yes, No, Don’t Know or Needs
More Information)
Why did you decide the claim passed (or did not pass) the claim
tester? What evidence did you use to decide? Where did you get
your evidence?