National Endowment for the Humanities
Animal Farm: Allegory and the Art of Persuasion
Introduce your class members to allegory and propaganda with a series of activities designed to accompany a study of George Orwell's Animal Farm. Readers examine the text as an allegory, consider the parallels to collective farms and the...
National Geographic
Animal Habitats
Explore animal habitats and reinforce speaking, listening, reading comprehension, and writing skills with a unit that focuses on the Arctic, desert, ocean, prairie, and rainforest. Enthusiastic scientists read informational text to...
EngageNY
Reading Closely to Expand Understanding of Adaptations
Third graders work to determine the main idea, recall key details, and answer questions using an informational text on the topic of animal adaptations. Using the non-fiction text "Staying Alive: Animal Adaptations" (provided) the teacher...
Curated OER
Writing and Presenting a Fable Using Research
Elementary and middle schoolers research animal facts and use them in a fable. First, they pair-share to find animal traits to use in writing a fable. They then complete a prewriting worksheet. After going through the writing process,...
Teach Engineering
Live Like an Animal
When your parents say that your room's a pig sty, tell them about biomimicry. The sixth installment of a nine-part Life Science unit has scholars research the shelters used by animals in the natural world, like turtle shells. Using the...
Science 4 Inquiry
The Ups and Downs of Populations
Life has its ups and downs ... especially if you're an animal! Biology scholars engage in a population study through an inquiry-based lesson. Pupils work together to explore the factors that affect deer populations, then examine the...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Coral Reefs in Hot Water
Global warming is leaving coral reefs in hot water. What does that mean for their survival? Find out as scholars use authentic satellite data to explore the issue. Learners look for global trends in the data and research the effects the...
Curated OER
Artificial Selection
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...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Scientific Inquiry Using WildCam Gorongosa
How do scientists determine what questions to ask to meet their research goals? Help your class develop an inquiry mindset with a lesson based on studies in the Gorongosa National Park. Partners create their own research questions by...
Teach Engineering
Earthquakes Living Lab: FAQs about P Waves, S Waves and More
Let's talk about earthquakes .... Using the Internet, pupils research what causes earthquakes, how scientists measure them, their locations, and their effects. The resource is not only informative, but it also builds crucial research...
American Chemical Society
Changing State: Melting
Dry ice is extremely cold — it is -109.3°F or -78.5°C. Scholars observe and explain the molecular motion associated with melting. Then they design their own experiments to speed up the melting process. Finally, a teacher presents a...
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
Adaptations – Designs for Survival
What's the difference between behavioral adaptations and physical adaptations? Learn about the various ways that organisms adapt to their environment with a worksheet about the creatures of the Hudson River.
National Wildlife Federation
Citizen Science to the Rescue!
You don't have to be a scientist or even out of high school to contribute to scientific research. In the 12th lesson plan in the series of 21, scholars use this opportunity to add to the growing body of scientific knowledge and consider...
Columbus City Schools
Constructive and Destructive Geologic Processes
Show the class the world as they've never seen it before—from way above! Learners try to unravel the mysteries presented by rich satellite imagery, learn to interpret topographic maps, and study erosion by constructing their very own...
Channel Islands Film
Island Rotation: Lesson Plan 1
How do scientists provide evidence to support the theories they put forth? What clues do they put together to create these theories? After watching West of the West's documentary Island Rotation class members engage in a series of...
NOAA
It's a Roughy Life
Scientists recently discovered several previously unknown species at the Bear Seamount off the coast of New England. Scholars research these new species — benthopelagic, benthic, and seamount fish — and find out what makes them unique....
Indiana Historical Society
Lesson One – Vietnam War Time Line
To prepare for an in-depth study of the Vietnam Era, class members research and create a timeline that tracks the United States' involvement in Southeast Asia and especially Vietnam.
Curated OER
Comparing Mitosis with Meiosis
Life science learners view an online animated mini textbook comparing two types of cell division. Working in groups, they use a digital microscope to capture images of cells in different stages of mitosis and meiosis. Then they create an...
Lerner Publishing
Meet the Dinosaurs
Take your class of youngsters on a prehistoric adventure with this four-lesson series on dinosaurs. Accompanying the Meet the Dinosaurs books by Don Lessem, these lessons engage children in writing their own dinosaur books, making...
Curated OER
Wildlife Burrows
Burrowing animals are busy! Get your middle school ecologists busy as well by having them create a scale model of a burrowing population. They also design a PowerPoint or poster to explain their models.
Curated OER
The Chesapeake Bay in Captain John Smith's Time
When Captain John Smith visited the Chesapeake Bay in the summer of 1608, what types of animals and habitats did he encounter? Your young historians will analyze primary source documents to answer this question, as well as compare the...
Sea World
Ocean Discovery
Immerse your young marine biologists in the world of marine animals. The lesson plan includes several activities that are age-appropriate for preschoolers and kindergartners, including coloring pages, gluing feathers and sand onto paper...
Mathematics Vision Project
Module 6: Congruence, Construction, and Proof
Trace the links between a variety of math concepts in this far-reaching unit. Ideas that seem very different on the outset (like the distance formula and rigid transformations) come together in very natural and logical ways. This unit...
Curated OER
Pet Perspective
Discuss point of view through a familiar medium: your pet! Learners write a story from the perspective of their own or the class pet. Prompts such as "My Family" (or "My Class"), "My Day," and "A Day in the Life of a _________" help...