Curated OER
Common Adaptation Patterns
Students become familiar with common categories of animals and discover adaptation patterns and structures in animals that help them survive in different environments. Students identify major structures of common animals.
Curated OER
Animal Diversity
Students explore biology by completing science worksheets in class. In this animal anatomy lesson, students read the book The Adventures of Marco and Polo and identify the animals mentioned in it. Students examine a real life animal and...
Curated OER
Animal Hide and Seek
Students read about animal camouflage. In this animal adaptation lesson, students read short texts about ways in which animals hide or transform to escape their prey. Students explore animal classifications and determine ways to hide in...
Curated OER
Desert Adaptations
In this desert adaptations activity, students are given a water filled sponge which represents an animal. Students observe their "animal" for a 24 hour period and conserve the water in the sponge as best they can. They measure and record...
Curated OER
Adaptations: Fit For Survival
Students track species using the Journey North project. They examine the meaning of physical and behavioral adaptation, migration, and identify adaptations that help the species they track survive.
Curated OER
Stormy Weather
Fifth graders demonstrate their knowledge for how animals survive in natural environments when a storm occurs. In this science/writing lesson, 5th graders engage in a listening activity with the teacher. Additionally, students write a...
Curated OER
Staying Warm-Keeping Cool
In this Internet research instructional activity, students go to the indicated website and read about animal habitats. Students answer 6 questions.
Curated OER
Animal Communication
Middle schoolers understand that all species have some capacity for communication. Students are exposed to the fact that all species have a capacity for communication. They are enlighten to the fact that communication abilities range...
University of Southern California
How do Organisms Interact?
Examine how organisms interact through a hands-on experience. Learners study population dynamics and distribution during an informative five-lesson unit. The focus is on the ocean environment and the organisms within it.
Curated OER
Seabird Survival Adaptation Card Game
Students study seabirds and how they have adapted to their environments. In this activity based lesson students will play a card game that will allow them to have a better understanding of seabirds and their adaptations.
Curated OER
Desert Tortoise Adaptations
Students observe the Desert Tortoise in its natural surroundings. In this adaptations lesson, students study and take pictures of an animal in its habitat, then design a PowerPoint which addresses adaptations, biodiversity, and threats...
Curated OER
Mangrove Ecology and Adaptations
Students create a plant or animal that would be well adapted to a habitat they selected. They first learn about Mangroves and their specific adaptations that help them survive in their habitat.
Curated OER
Mangrove Ecology & Adaptations
Learners creat a plant, animal, or other living organism that would be well adapted to a habitat that they previously selected. First they learn about adaptations of Mangroves.
Curated OER
Animal Movements
Students discuss the behavior of different animals and how they move. They explore the ways that this helps them live and find food in their environment. They participate in a game that requires them to mimic the ways in which animals move.
Curated OER
Bird Beak Adaptation Lab
Students investigate bird beaks to determine which physical adaptations are necessary based on the types of food the birds eat. They participate in a lab by visiting multiple stations to determine which beaks are most efficient, and...
Curated OER
Week 8 - Sea Life
Using a magnifier, mini marine biologists examine the barbules of a bird feather. They swirl the it into a mixture of oil and water and then re-examine the feather. After the activity, discuss how the oily feathers pose a problem to sea...
Curated OER
A Matter of Survival
Fourth graders dance with inspiration from wild animals. In this creative movement lesson, 4th graders watch a video clip and then move like an animal might move in their natural surroundings.
Curated OER
Habitat Basics
First graders get out and explore two different habitats to examine how each one meets the needs of the plants and animals that dwell there. They discuss what they've learned about animal habitats as they explore the outdoor environment....
Curated OER
Blubber Gloves
Fifth graders examine animal adaptations and how they meet their needs in a variety of environments. They discuss how they might adapt to their own environment before discussing how an animal could adapt. Next, they complete an...
Curated OER
In the Wild
Third graders examine the concept of ecology and how animals are suited to their habitats. In this animal adaptation lesson, 3rd graders identify a variety of plants and animal species that live in a Beech forest.Students create a food...
Curated OER
Animal Life Stages
Guide your young scientists in reviewing basic animal processes including digestion and reproduction. Students review the stages of metamorphosis and the different types of body symmetry. This worksheet has 8 matching, 6 true or false, 4...
National Wildlife Federation
Habitat Hunt
Put yourselves in their shoes—or, in this case, their paws. Learners assume the role of an animal and scan a habitat looking for features to fulfill their basic needs. Based on their findings, they decide if the habitat is a suitable...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Natural Selection and Evolution of Rock Pocket Mouse Populations
Can evolution repeat itself? Scholars analyze amino acid data in two separate populations of mice. They learn that evolution repeats itself, but natural selection prefers some mutations over others in different environments. Analysis...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Gorongosa: Making Observations Activity
Do you have young scientists wanting to make new discoveries rather than just completing the same experiments? Young scientists use their observational skills to identify animals and patterns in animal behavior. Through tracking...