Alive, dead or never alive ks1 science

[Sofasurfer23]

KS1 science question. Something alive must meet 7 criteria (uses oxygen, reproduce etc)

Trees are alive while a garden fork has never been alive.

Where do wooden objects stand, having a domestic with DH. I said he’s over thinking it, a wooden table isn’t classed as dead as the tree has been smushed together, varnish added etc while he’s saying all wooden objects are classed as dead.

help???

And yes, any material that is derived from something that was once alive would be classed as "dead" eg rubber, cotton t-shirt, paper etc.

Interesting way of looking at it. Surely they focus is the materials it’s made from?

My child was obsessed with things being DEAD this time last year... I wonder if this is why?!

Oh my goodness, science this is not 🤣

@Sofasurfer23 the exact cut off of whether something contains more or less than 23.5% wood is not the point. Both answers are correct because the learning question is about whether a 7 year old can understand what "alive" means, and that things are made from materials that were once alive and some materials that were never alive.

As a grown adult, I expect you already understand this. It's not some deep philosophical point 😁

I agree with your DH. If something is made from mostly wood, it goes in the dead category. I am a massive over thinker though and would probably also put plastics in the dead category as they are mostly derived from crude oil which is a fossil fuel formed from dead plant material and algae.

Surely the question is 'is this object dead etc', not 'are the component parts of this object dead etc'.

A table has never been a live table, no table satisfies those 7 criteria at any point in its existence.

It may be possible to say that a table is made from things that are now dead but that's not the same as saying that the table itself is now dead.

Yes plastics are an interesting question; I too might want to argue that they were once alive, but I suspect that children who don't know the longer history about how oil was formed and how that contributes to plastics would say never alive. I guess it's not a direct use like wood, which was clearly alive right before it was used.

I agree with previous posters - what would a live table be? What would a live book be like?

The materials are dead but the object as a whole was never alive.

Wood is an organic substance that was previously part of a tree. Therefore the tree must have been killed in order to obtain the wood to make the table.

KS1 science is going to unnecessarily confuse a lot of kids if this is an example.

In the context of ks1 teaching its clear its about materials. To simplify the language in instructions for activities the name of the object is used rather than a phrase such as "is the material used to make the wooden table living, dead or never alive"
It's not a philosophical discussion about whether or not an object has a life (or soul or consciousness....)

Yes its a dead spoon

Used to be alive.

Much like if the day after you died somebody cut you up, swapped the body parts around then varnished you.

Is this really what they are teaching children these days? 'Alive, dead, never alive'? Where does a loaf of bread fit into that? Or a pair of leather shoes or a glass of milk?

It’s the material you need to consider and not the object it is fashioned into. So for example, the wooden table, the wood it is made from is dead. What it has been made into is irrelevant.

Dead, obviously.

What a great question, though.

I think I'm with you OP.

The tree that the wood came from was a dead tree. But the table was never alive as a table. It was made using parts of the dead tree and also some other things. Surely if something is dead it had to be alive at some point and I've never seen a living table.

I just said I’ve never seen a wooden spoon produce baby wooden spoons so it can’t be dead and now I want to buy some tiny wooden spoons

The tree that the wood came from was a dead tree. But the table was never alive as a table. It was made using parts of the dead tree and also some other things. Surely if something is dead it had to be alive at some point and I've never seen a living table

How does that work for decayed people then? Would you say a 100 year old skeleton has never been alive because it was not alive as a skeleton form?

Not if they're recyclable because surely then they'd be reincarnated 🤣

This wins hands down! My DH and I are having a right laugh

Dear merciful Jesus PPs I'm concerned that adults running the country and voting don't know whether a table is "alive" "dead" or "never was alive".

A table is "never was alive". It contains some or all of: glues, solvents, varnish, nails/screws, padding under the feet in addition to wood.
There are no living tables walking around.

OP you were not wrong to ask the question. But you have gotten many wrong answers and some of those PPs have ridiculed you even asking this, which deeply concerns me.

Bread is alive isn't it? If its got yeast in

Yeah so alive - humans, dogs, plants, algae

dead: dodo, wooden table, crushed bones etc

nevwr alive: plastic toy, artificial hair, concrete

By age 6 you should be capable of telling the difference between things that are alive, dead, or have never been alive.

This thread is explaining so much about why my bottom set GCSE science students aren't getting help from their parents with basic science questions everyone should have left school being able to answer.