Provide a metaview, lifting students into a wider view of the concept. Use another medium (not reading or writing) to connect students' personal knowing to the concept (i.e. visual arts, music, movement, metaphor, etc.) Involve learners in reflective production that blends the emotional and the cognitive.

Have students create a collage

Objective:A smooth transition should be provided between the connection activities and content delivery. Reflection and open discussion facilitate closure on the activities that engaged the student’s curiosity and move them toward the discovery and application of the content knowledge.

Activity: 1. Have students create a collage that might include pictures, photos, sketches, drawings, etc. of what being alive means to them. Have individual students present their collage to the class and then post them around the room.
2. Ask the students to consider the quote, “To be or not to be that is the question” from the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare.
Have them quietly contemplate to themselves what the difference is between living and being alive. How is survival different from the quality of life?
After a few moments of quiet reflection, play the song “Circle of Life” from the Disney Lion King soundtrack. Ask the students to think about how Shakespeare’s quote relates to this song?
There are many related activities which can be derived from the quotation and the song. In the end, however, the students must realize that from a scientific standpoint, there is a distinct difference between what one needs to survive and what one needs to feel connected. Scientific definitions of life deal only with the physical requirements for an organism to sustain life. They do not address emotional needs or the quality of life.