whats alive

Something every kid learns in their elementary science classes is about the definition of life. It was a good review when in our class we talked about our own definitions of life. My group mentioned several of the standard textbook definition such as ability to use or produce energy, ability to grow and change, and ability to reproduce. As a class I enjoyed a few more of the things that were added such as "has cells", even a small thing like that is very important to remember. Defining life was important for our next activity in which we took living things and found out if they really fit the definition.
Doing this activity we definitely took the science is messy literally, as we went out in the dirt to find things that were alive. my group found lots of plants, and grasses, but we also found some bugs. We even ad a little spider colony. This spider colony was fun to watch as they were just teeny tiny, but they still kind of gross me out. The bugs, unfortunately, did not live well in a bag.
From the activity I learned that life has a set definition, but it is also changing. It is fascinating to observe the process of change. after we looked at the bag again a week later, some of the things we thought were dead were indeed alive. Such as the popcorn kernel, or the bean, they had sprouted. one of the coolest looking things was the root that came from a kernel and went through the cotton ball.
Life is always changing, and its a wonderful thing to be a part of. producers consumers, decomposers, they all play a role. one simply has to take the time to watch it. Nature is beautiful  I want to spend more time learning about what happens here on this rock we call planer earth.