Turn your learners into flocks of migratory birds for this fun lesson on animal migration. Prior to the activity, the teacher creates four different migration routes in the classroom or any available open space, labeling nesting...

Elementary ecologists pretend to be migratory hummingbirds. They fly between wintering and nesting grounds, trying to reach a habitat haven. In a musical-chair fashion, some birds will miss out, and are removed from the game. To further...

For as long as there has been life on earth, animals, including humans, have used migration as a means of survival. This collection of activities supports young scientists as they learn about this behavioral adaptation, encouraging them...

A great way to incorporate math into life science, this lesson has learners measure migratory routes on a map and calculate the actual distance that shorebirds on the routes would cover. Learners compute the distance covered in both...

Can you stomp like a elephant? Or slither like a snake? Use these animal cards to get your little monkeys moving! Each card features an illustration and action word that matches the animal.

Bird migration is a fascinating behavior. Budding scientists experience their own migrations using the school grounds for their flight patterns. They follow a map that leads them through a migration pattern that includes stops for...

Many Arctic species only spent a fraction of their lives in the Arctic region. Scholars research migrating Arctic species to learn more about their habits. They focus on their migration habits including distances, time, and challenges...

Migratory animals follow the same path every year. Learners research the path of an assigned species and create a map highlighting key landmarks along the way. As a group, they come up with a presentation to share with their class.

There are five methods of seed dispersal. They include gravity, mechanical, animal, water, and air. Scholars study seed dispersal in instructional activity five of the series of six. Through discussions, hands-on analysis of different...

What does dropping a ball look like as a graph? An engaging activity asks learners to record a video of dropping a ball and uploading the video to software for analysis. They compare the position of the ball to time and calculate the...

What do your pupils know about animals? Have them put together and color this little book about animals to learn about everything from camels to pandas.

Some living things go to extreme measures to avoid the cold. A three-part activity guides learners through the migration of the monarch butterfly. After studying the life cycle of the monarch butterfly, pupils learn the process of...

The Galápagos Islands are an amazing place of isolated adaptation, colonized by an interesting mix of plants and animals. The class plays a game to help them understand how these organisms came to live on the island through a combination...

Accompany a reading of First Come the Zebra written and illustrated by Lynne Barasch with a teacher's guide equipped with before reading, vocabulary, and after reading activities. Additional social studies,...

Tracking area birds can tell a lot about an ecosystem. Learners use that understanding as motivation to observe and record bird populations in their area. They use journaling to store their information and ultimately choose one bird as...

A fiction and nonfiction text, The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest by Lynne Cherry and I See a Kookaburra! Discovering Animal Habitats Around the World by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page begins a learning experience in...

A reading adventure pack features two stories—Time to Sleep by Denise Fleming and Animals Don’t Wear Pajamas by Eve Feldman. In response to reading the fiction and nonfiction texts, scholars create a dreamcatcher, discuss hibernation,...

The third in a series of six lessons is an engaging three-part activity defines that discusses phenology, focusing on the cyclic seasons of plants. Pupils then observe phenology outside before determining how climate change can...

It turns out there's a lot more to heading south for the winter for migratory birds! Study the Coriolis Effect with a fun, hands-on teaching tool. Pupils take to the skies as a small red bird bound for the tropics from his frosty home at...

How is life in Northern Europe different from other areas of the world? Historians journey through the various regions of Northern Europe discovering what type of climate, animals, and lifestyles exist in that section of the world. They...

You may not know if that zebrafish in your fish tank is a model citizen—but it is definitely a model organism! What can we learn about ourselves from a tiny zebrafish? Discover more about the polygenic trait of skin color through a...

Scholars explore the animal kingdom with help from two texts, Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey and A Bed for the Winter by Karen Wallace. The literature and informational text set the learning stage for thoughtful discussion and...

Young ornithologists watch an informative video and use the Internet to gather data about the life, size, habitat, and migration of hummingbirds. The interdisciplinary lesson plan includes activities that target art, science, math, and...

A Reading Adventure Pack features a fiction and nonfiction text—The Oxcart Man by Donald Hall and illustrated by Barbara Cooney and Farming by Gail Gibbons. Following the readings, scholars make a collage showcasing foods farmed from...