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Lesson Plan
Pace University

Grade 6-8 Living Things

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
What characterizes a living thing? Scholars explore the concept during a differentiated instruction unit on living things. They perform lab experiments to determine how animals adapt to stimuli, watch videos and learn about...
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Activity
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Gorongosa: Making Observations Activity

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Do you have young scientists wanting to make new discoveries rather than just completing the same experiments? Young scientists use their observational skills to identify animals and patterns in animal behavior. Through tracking...
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Unit Plan
Intel

Insects: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
What would the world be like with no insects? Ponder this question using a research-based STEM unit that encourages scholars to investigate insects from both a beneficial and hazardous perspective. They learn about insect behaviors,...
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Lesson Plan
National Wildlife Federation

Conceptualizing Module III

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Many researchers focus on one impact of climate change in isolation, but researchers gain a global perspective when they come together. A timely lesson teaches scholars about the projected impacts of global temperature increases. Then...
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Activity
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National Park Service

Nutcracker Fantasy

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
The Clark's nutcracker bird hides seeds in 25,000 different sites every year to save for winter. Lesson demonstrates how difficult it would be to find these seeds months later when they need them for food. In the first of five lesson,...
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Unit Plan
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Curated OER

Hedgerows

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Hedgerows prevent soil erosion, capture pollutants running off fields, store carbon to help combat climate change, and provide homes for predators of many pest species. The biodiversity lesson begins with an activity that discusses why...
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Unit Plan
1
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Curated OER

Artificial Selection

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
The second lesson in the series begins with a starter activity discussing wild versus domesticated animals. Then, scholars play a card game, with optional variations, to emphasize artificial selection. Next, they attend a field trip to a...
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Lesson Plan
Virginia Department of Education

A Designed Organism

For Teachers 9th - 12th
How can you encourage pupils to demonstrate creativity while still meeting the objective of applying technical knowledge? This activity is your answer! Scientists will create an imaginary creature and prepare a graphic organizer with...
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Activity
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Using DNA to Explore Lizard Phylogeny

For Teachers 6th - 12th
In a fun and interactive two-day lesson, learners sort anole lizard pictures by appearance. Next, they watch a video about the anoles and re-sort based on the information in the video. In addition to physical characteristics, budding...
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Lesson Plan13:10
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

The Making of the Fittest: The Birth and Death of Genes

For Students 8th - Higher Ed Standards
After watching an engaging 13-minute video about the colorless blood of icefish, future ichthyologists examine icefish blood and non-icefish blood (blood samples are simulated with Karo syrup mixtures) to determine advantages of...
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Lesson Plan14:03
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

The Making of the Fittest: Natural Selection in Humans

For Teachers 8th - Higher Ed Standards
Sickle cell disease only occurs when both parents contribute the trait, and mostly in those of African descent. Where did it come from? How did it evolve? Tony Allison, a molecular biologist, noticed a connection between sickle cell and...
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Lesson Plan10:25
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

The Making of the Fittest: Natural Selection and Adaptation

For Students 8th - Higher Ed Standards
The pocket mouse can be light brown like the sands of the desert, or dark brown like the volcanic lava flows that are interspersed throughout New Mexico's Valley of Fire. It seems that predators have weeded out light colored mice in this...
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Lesson Plan
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

How Novel Icefish Genes Can Improve Human Health

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Designed to accompany the 13-minute video The Making of the Fittest: The Birth and Death of Genes, this handout serves as both a viewing guide during the video and an analysis of how the adaptations of the icefish might help treat some...
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Lesson Plan
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

The Making of the Fittest: The Birth and Death of Genes

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
Adaptations must be made as environments change. This fabulous presentation features Icelandic icefish, a transparent, scaleless specimen that even has colorless blood. Genetics and adaptations concepts are explored as scientists study...
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Interactive3:06
Scholastic

Study Jams! Animal Adaptations

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
Physical and behavioral adaptations are discussed by two teen girls as monarch butterflies flutter by. They also describe the process of natural selection. With colorful animation and relatable teen language, learners are sure to adapt...
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Unit Plan
New York City Department of Education

Grade 3 Literacy in Science: Animal Adaptations

For Teachers 3rd Standards
Third graders research and study animal adaptations and then use their findings to write narratives that include scientific criterion. This lesson is all about literacy and science! The lesson is completely designed for addressing Common...
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Lesson Plan
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Survival of the Fittest - Variations in the Clam Species Clamys sweetus

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
It's not often that you come across a clever laboratory activity that is both imaginative and comprehensive! Using M&M's and Reese's peanut butter candies to represent two different clam species, young biologists test for "relative...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Feeding Frenzy

For Teachers 3rd
Young biologists take a look at the myriad of ways that animals increase their chances of surviving in the wild. The adaptations help animals hide, hunt, and attract a mate. This instructional activity specifically explores how insect...
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Activity
University of Pennsylvania

Evolution by Natural Selection

For Teachers 6th - 9th
A diagram, data table, and reading passage top this resource. Through it, biology beginners are introduced to the concept of natural selection. They answer some questions and then participate in a simulation using fabric as a habitat and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Regents High School Examination: Living Environment 2009

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Emerging ecologists need a full understanding of life, from the inner workings of a cell to the complex relationships among organisms. This examination is meant to assess high schoolers after an entire year course on the living...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Regents High School Examination: Living Environment 2003

For Teachers 9th - 12th
The living environment, from the interior of a cell to the complex relationships among populations, are queried in this final examination. Learners look at air pollution maps, diagrams of cells, population graphs, and drawing of cells....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Regents High School Examination: Living Environment 2005

For Teachers 9th - 12th
The 2005 version of the Regents High School Examination in the area of ecology is as comprehensive as previous years' exams. It consists of 40 multiple choice questions on everything from the structure of DNA to the interactions within...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Regents High School Examination: Living Environment 2007

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Environmental science enthusiasts show what they know at the end of the year by taking this full-fledged final exam. They answer multiple choice, graph interpretation, and essay analysys questions, 73 of them in all. Topics range from...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Regents High School Exam: Living Environment 2008

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Tne New York Regents High School Examinations are comprehensive and include various styles of questions, includingmultiple choice and the analysis of graphs. This particular version, the 2008 Living Environment exam surveys a variety of...