MRS GREN Living Things Cards | Montessori Biology Cards

Help children understand what makes something a living thing with this Montessori-inspired MRS GREN biology resource.
Students learn the 7 life processes: Movement, Respiration, Sensitivity, Growth, Reproduction, Excretion, and Nutrition.
Includes MRS GREN posters, instructions, and Montessori 5-part cards for botany, zoology, and living/non-living science lessons.

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What makes something alive?

This is one of those big science questions children love — but it can be surprisingly hard to explain clearly. This MRS GREN Living Things Cards resource gives Montessori teachers and homeschoolers a simple, visual way to introduce the characteristics of living organisms.

Using the memorable MRS GREN acronym, children learn the seven life processes that help scientists decide whether something is living: Movement, Respiration, Sensitivity, Growth, Reproduction, Excretion, and Nutrition.

This makes it a practical follow-up for biology, botany, zoology, living and non-living things, plant studies, animal studies, and classification work.

What’s Included

This printable science resource includes:

• 2 MRS GREN posters
• Posters showing what each letter in MRS GREN stands for
• Instructions
• Montessori 5-part cards for each MRS GREN letter
• Cards for Movement
• Cards for Respiration
• Cards for Sensitivity
• Cards for Growth
• Cards for Reproduction
• Cards for Excretion
• Cards for Nutrition

Why This Resource Works

Children often know that animals and plants are alive, but they may not yet understand why they are alive or what living things have in common.

This resource solves that problem by giving students clear vocabulary and a concrete card activity to explore each life process.

It supports:

• Biology vocabulary
• Living and non-living classification
• Botany lessons
• Zoology lessons
• Scientific observation
• Montessori 5-part card work
• Independent shelf work
• Small group science lessons
• Homeschool science studies
• Early life science understanding

The MRS GREN acronym helps children remember the characteristics of living things, while the 5-part card format gives them a familiar Montessori-style activity for reading, matching, naming, and checking understanding.

Best For

This resource is ideal for:

• Montessori 6–12 classrooms
• Lower elementary science
• Homeschool biology lessons
• Botany units
• Zoology units
• Living and non-living things studies
• Classification work
• Science vocabulary shelves
• Teachers wanting low-prep printable science materials

Suggested Use

Use the posters to introduce MRS GREN during a lesson on living things. Then place the 5-part cards on your science shelf for children to match, read, define, and revisit independently.

This resource pairs especially well with plant and animal classification work, botany experiments, zoology studies, habitats, life cycles, and living/non-living sorting activities.

Created by Montessori Kiwi

Created by a Montessori-trained teacher and school leader, this resource is designed to make biology vocabulary clear, memorable, and accessible for children.

It saves you preparation time while giving students a hands-on way to understand th