Lesson Plan
National Wildlife Federation

Butterfly Life Cycle

For Teachers K - 4th
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...
Lesson Plan
National Wildlife Federation

Endangered Species: What and Where?

For Teachers K - 8th
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...
Lesson Plan
National Wildlife Federation

Controversy Over Wild Cats

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Everyone should take an interest in the fate of wild cats. A thorough lesson explores the habitat changes of native North American wild cats and asks learners to make connections to human development. They consider the implications of...
Lesson Plan
National Wildlife Federation

Build a Bat House!

For Teachers 2nd - 8th
Bats usually get a bad rap. Scholars learn about the importance of bats and the threat their declining population has on the environment. They then build bat houses to attract and welcome bats into the area.
Lesson Plan
Dawn N . Ericson

California Kelp Forest Restoration

For Teachers K - 12th Standards
This unit is so cool, you won't be able to "kelp" yourself! Intended for all grades, this science and activity guide for teachers offers a unique opportunity to understand kelp's role as a valuable ecological resource. Teachers and...
Lesson Plan
National Wildlife Federation

Watershed Web: A Field Trip

For Teachers K - 8th
Observing plant succession doesn't have to be a decade long process. A hands-on instructional activity has groups study succession over a designated space. Learners use their observation skills to record differences in plant and soil...
Worksheet
K12 Reader

Competing for Resources

For Students 2nd - 3rd Standards
Young biologists examine the concept of scarce resources with a reading comprehension passage. After finishing the paragraphs, learners turn to the questions to demonstrate what they have learned about what is beneficial and what is...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Moving Left to Right

For Students Pre-K - K
These animals need to find their homes! Young scholars help them by drawing lines from each animal on the left to its habitat on the right. There is no guessing to be done here, though; pairs are directly across from one another. They...
Lesson Plan

Keeping a Betta

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Swim with the fishes. Class members observe, research, and record physical characteristics of Betta fish. They change the environment of the aquarium by adding rocks and plants and observe any reactions the fish have to the new environment.
Activity
Curated OER

African Savanna Habitat Diorama Craft

For Teachers 1st - 4th
Set the stage for a unit or lesson on the African savanna by creating a cute habitat diorama. Cheetahs, lions, zebras, and elephants are all present in a shoe-box-sized craft that requires your learners to color, cut, and paste. These...
Lesson Plan
National Wildlife Federation

Massive Migrations

For Teachers K - 4th Standards
Turn your students into flocks of migratory birds for this fun lesson plan on animal migration. Prior to the activity, the teacher creates four different migration routes in the classroom or any available open space,...
Activity
Smarter Balanced

Zoos

For Teachers 4th - 7th
How do the experiences of animals living in zoos differ from animals living in the wild? To prepare for a performance assessment on this question, class members are introduced to key concepts and vocabulary, and then groups use a Venn...
Lesson Plan
ARKive

Species Discovery

For Teachers 6th - 8th
How do you classify a newly discovered species? Learners view a presentation and complete research about biodiversity and the classification hierarchy. The lesson includes activities with dichotomous keys and work on classifying both...
Lesson Plan
ARKive

Human Impact on the Environment

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Study the ways that humans have impacted the environment, particularly the spread of plastic waste. After watching a short film about the Laysan albatross population, learners complete a worksheet and research other ways that plastic...
Printables
PreKinders

Poison Dart Frogs

For Teachers Pre-K - K
Learn about the poison dart frogs of the rainforest with a slide show that features facts and pictures. Each slide educates viewers about poison dart frogs, such as where they live, what they eat, and how they are poisonous.
Printables
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PreKinders

Forest Word Cards

For Teachers Pre-K - K
Explore the animals of the forest with a set of vocabulary cards. Each half-page card features the name of an animal with a corresponding photograph, as well as a few plants.
Lesson Plan
Outside Education

Who Lives in a Tree?

For Teachers K Standards
Young scientists journey outside to observe what animals live in nearby tress. They identify the animal, take note of special features that help the animal in this habitat, and then illustrate their findings.
Worksheet
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Zombie Ants

For Students 8th - 10th
One of the creepiest and coolest natural occurrences is a great forum for data analysis and discussion! Explore the phenomenon of zombie ants, or ants infected with the Cordyceps fungus, with a series of activities and experiments....
Worksheet
Curated OER

Whales and Fish: Creatures of the Deep

For Students 5th Standards
Practice comparing and contrasting details in informational text with a reading passage about whales. It explains the ways that fish and whales are similar, as well as the ways they are different, and specific characteristics of various...
Activity
Michigan State University

Preferred Destinations

For Teachers 3rd - 6th Standards
Pests vacation, too! Here, scholars create travel brochures or posters that inform others about a habitat in which a pest lives. Travel information to be included contains everything from pictures to resort names to slogans...
Lesson Plan
NOAA

Deep-Sea Ecosystems – Life is Weird!

For Teachers 7th - 8th Standards
A pool of brine in the deep sea can be up to four times as salty as the surrounding sea water. The deep sea ecosystem relies on chemosynthesis and the organisms that live there are often strange to us. The lesson focuses on researching...
Lesson Plan
NOAA

Importance of Deep-Sea Ecosystems – How Diverse is That?

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
When judging diversity of an ecosystem, both species evenness and species richness must contribute. After a discussion of diversity and a guided example using the Shannon-Weaver function, scholars use the same function on two other...
Lesson Plan
Consortium for Ocean Science Exploration and Engagement (COSEE)

Life in an Ocean World

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
How does the shell color of crabs and the habitat they live in impact the predator-prey relationship? The fourth lesson in a series of five is a game where participants try not to get eaten if they are a prey and try to eat if they are...
Lesson Plan
Space Awareness

The Thermal Layers of Oceans

For Teachers 7th - 11th Standards
How much does the sun heat up a lake or ocean? Scholars use a cup and a strong lamp to investigate the heat transfer and thermal layers in the ocean to come up with the answer. They collect data and graph it in order to better understand...

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