What kind of troubles affect turtles? Learners create paper plate wheels to show four different hazards to sea turtles. Pupils color four segments of a picture to represent the overharvesting, changing beaches, pollution, and fishing...

Re-enact the flight of the pollinator. Pupils learn about the roles of butterflies, bats, and other pollinators in plant reproduction. The class acts out the migratory flight of Monarch butterflies and bats from the Sonoran Desert to...

Swim with the fishes. Learners simulate the migration of Chinook salmon. Groups pretend to be salmon, while others are predators, fishers, and hazards. The salmon start in the spawning area and swim downstream to the ocean until reaching...

Don't just teach learners to fish, but to create fish. The class discusses fish heads and predicts whether where the fish might live and what it eats. Given an index card with a fish adaptation written on it, pupils construct an...

Am I going to catch it? Individuals time how long it takes them to walk, jog, and run a given distance and calculate their speed. They then research two animals and find their speeds. Using a chart, pupils compare the speeds of the...

What's it like to migrate as a pollinator? Teachers provide direct instruction about the roles of pollinators such as butterflies on plants along with the threats they encounter. The class then acts out a story of the migration of bats...

While wildlife may not always be visible, they leave their marks behind for people to discover. A wildlife lesson has pupils explore the characteristics of animal tracks. They learn different types of tracks, as well as what tracks tell...

Bats may look the same, but are actually very different. Some bats eat meat and others fruit, while some have bright colors and others are dark colors. Learners examine the differences, view them as adaptations, and then play a game to...

Natural design is amazing. Young scientists connect the features of a bison to an assortment of everyday items. A bison's tail is an ideal flyswatter, and a pot stores water just like a bison's stomach. The activity connects the...

Worms are the kings of the decomposers. A four-part lesson plan has learners experiment with the characteristics of earthworms and their sensitivities. They vary factors such as light, acidity, temperature, and touch of soil and observe...

What do endangered species have in common with non-endangered species? Given an endangered species to read about, individuals choose another species that is not endangered to compare it to. As a class, they create a species book with the...

Diminishing habitats is a real concern that is threatening endangered species. Learners examine these concerns by studying the prairie chicken. Groups get a card with characteristics and threats to the species that they turn into skits.

Caterpillars and butterflies each have their own unique challenges. While studying the life cycle of butterflies, learners focus on the threats to each stage. While some threats will be the same, each stage has its own unique...

Bird behaviors have a distinct purpose. Using a tally sheet, learners observe and record different bird behaviors in nature. They practice their observation skills while learning how birds act and why.

The structure of a bird's beak lends itself to specific functions. Using an assortment of everyday objects, learners mimic the behaviors of bird beaks. They learn about the habits of different birds by studying their beaks.

Even animals that are part of the same species have differences. Learners read a passage about white and brown pelicans and compare their features. They recognize that although the birds look very similar, they also have their own unique...