Illinois Department of Natural Resources
Section One: What is Biodiversity?
Four intriguing and scientific activities invite learners to explore the natural resources of their town. The activities cover concepts such as genetic traits, organizing species in a taxonomy, the differences between different species...
Smarter Balanced
Classifying Vertebrates
What features do scientists use to classify animals into groups? Class groups examine a series of paired images of vertebrates (a bass and a trout, a toad and a newt, a crocodile and a tortoise, an owl and a robin, a tiger and a bear)...
Discovery Education
Clutter Cutter
Challenge young learners to cut the clutter with this fun engineering project. As employees of a home and office supply company, young engineers are asked to develop devices that organize everyday items. After participating in a...
South Gloucestershire Council
Animal Classification: A Collaborative Sorting Activity for Key Stages 2 & 3
Introduce the logic behind a dichotomous key or administer a group performance assessment with a fun and challenging classification lesson. With explicit instructions for the teacher and for collaborative groups, as well as engaging...
Curated OER
Insects?
Can you tell the difference between a bug and an insect? Aren't they the exact same thing? Let your learners explore, identify, classify, and document the differences they see in bugs and insects. The activity sheet suggests several...
Scholastic
Study Jams! The Kingdoms of Life
Life science learners discuss the characteristics of five kingdoms of life: animals, plants, fungi, protists, and bacteria in this video. Viewers find out from the dialogue that scientists group organisms according to similarities. This...
Curated OER
Name That Critter
Young learners classify five different animals into their proper category. The animals pictured are a pigeon, a lizard, a cat, a frog, and a goldfish. Pupils are also asked to tell why they know it's a certain kind of animal. An...
Curated OER
Fly Detective
Learners use classification skills and clues to determine which flying insect is the one they need to circle. They read four clues and examine each of the five insects depicted. They then deduce which one is the mystery insect. Answers...
Curated OER
Sorting Sets
Here is a simple sorting activity which is appropriate for pre-k and kindergarten learners. Pupils sort each of four items into the correct group, then count the totals and write the numbers in the boxes provided. Along with being a good...
Curated OER
Distinguishing Between Flowers
A branching key is a great way to classify different types of animals and plants! Fifth graders answer several yes/no answers about three different plants. They then create their own key to differentiate between an iris, a rose, and a...
Curated OER
All About Arthropods
Use a dichotomous key to classify these squirmy bugs. A paragraph provides fifth graders with some background knowledge on the animal kingdom, and explains how to use a branching key for classification. They then determine which bugs...
Curated OER
Animals Belong in Class
For this classifying animals worksheet, students use the information in the word bank to complete the T-Chart about mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, and arthropods. Students write 10 answers.
Curated OER
Introductory Bacteria and Virus Worksheet
Compare and contrast eukaryotes, prokaryotes, and viruses with a chart and a Venn diagram. Beginning microbiologists consider motility, reproductive ability, DNA content, and the presence of organelles. They write short answers to...
Curated OER
Is There Room for Everybody?
Third graders examine the capacity of animals able to live in one habitat. In this habitat lesson, 3rd graders play a game that shows the food chain and the interactions between animals in an area. Students discover that food is a major...
Curated OER
Art: Coral Reef Ala Oil
Students investigate Australia's Great Barrier Reef and create oil paintings of it. After their research, they apply various painting techniques to depict air bubbles, sun's radiation, and color blending. For older students, the...
Curated OER
Invertebrate Diversity
Comparative anatomy prevails in the lesson exploring diversity among invertebrates. Biologists examine physical characteristics of an earthworm from phylum annelida and a meal worm from phylum insecta. They also inspect a cricket and a...
Curated OER
Chapter 23 Guided Notes: The Origin of Species
This doesn't have to be used as a guided notes learning exercise because the questions are thought-provoking and applicable to any biology class that is learning about the origin of species. Pupils write out answers to questions about...
Curated OER
Classification Schemes
Junior biologists journey through the hiearchy of living things with these activites. Using a dichotomous key, they identify common algae, plants, and fish. They design their own key for a mixture of seeds and a collection of...
Curated OER
Unidentified (Flying?) Arthropods
Beginning biologists learn the characteristics of the five classes in the arthropod phylum. A student handout lists characteristics to help them identify five specimens. You will need to collect an example of each: arachnida, crustacea,...
Curated OER
Sorting Things Out
Written to examine seeds that grow in Kansas, you can adapt this lesson to anywhere you live. Learners sort a mixture of five different seeds to by any characteristic of their choice. When your budding scientists are exploring the life...
Curated OER
Who Lives Here?
Students identify various aquatic wildlife species. In this biology instructional activity students collect clues about animals that live in wetland habitats. Students rotate through several stations displaying particular animal species...
Curated OER
Systematics and the Phylogenetic Revolution
This assignment conducts a thorough exploration of systematics. Clearly designed for an AP biology course, questions pertain to taxonomic categories, phylogeny, and construction of cladograms.
Curated OER
Campbell's Biology
Six chapters of a biology characteteristics of different domains xt are covered in this twenty-page assignment. Biology buffs chart the characteristics of different groups of organisms and address many critical-thinking questions about...
Curated OER
It Counts
Students classify and compare plants using specific information, observations, and numbers. In this mathematical inquiry lesson, students use plant characteristics to describe, compare, and classify them. They attempt to develop a system...