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...

What would the world be like with no insects? Ponder this question using a research-based STEM unit that encourages scholars to investigate insects from both a beneficial and hazardous perspective. They learn about insect behaviors,...

Students create a caring classroom environment, where they respect and care about each other, and the people and pets in their lives. They explore the importance of respect and kindness. Students are asked "What does it mean to respect...

This simple lesson introduces children to basic marine life as well as to show them the necessity of protecting aquatic environments. Some famous marine life animals are introduced via vocabulary words, then children cut out pictures of...

Students discover the many different animals within various habitats and discover how each individual species interacts with its particular environment. Through charting different animals and their distinct habitat and matching animals...

Students choose a fish from anywhere within the Ocean Center. They observe it for a given time, recording its behavior. Students comprehend the concept that living things have individual characteristics that enable them to live in their...

Third graders will be able to cut and paste from Internet into a word document with 100 percent accuracy. They use their research to write a 1-2 paragraph paper about their animal with 90 percent accuracy.

Students research animal adaptations. In this adaptations lesson, students research the physical and behavioral adaptations of animals. Students create a diagram of their animal labeling it's adaptations.

Pairs of ecologists select an animal and investigate an ecosystem from its point of view. This simple lesson plan involves Internet research and putting together a presentation of collected information. 

High schoolers explore and classify organisms found in a Rocky Mountain Ecosystem. Through discussions, students examine the effects upon an ecosystem if a component was removed or a new component was added. As a class, they survey...

Students create an animal with clay and use toothpick to draw or carve features. Students write descriptions of their animal and tell why they created it in a certain way. Students write legends on their own, perhaps using their created...

Young scholars listen to a teacher led lecture on jaguars, their habitats, and how they became endangered. Using a specified web site, they choose an endangered animal to research. After gathering information, students participate in...

Learners explore the differences between animals of the wild and domesticated animals.  For this wild animals lesson, students understand that tame animals ancestors were once wild.  Learners illustrate the differences by...

Students find and cut out pictures of American wildlife animals and draw separate American wildlife habitats. They sort their pictures by habitat and then glue each animal onto the correct habitat. They label each picture with the name...

Bioluminescence fascinates most upper elementary scientists. Display images of different glowing deep-sea organisms and discuss their environment. Young biologists then experiment with images and different colors of filtered light. For...

Third graders use the internet to research about an animal. After watching a demonstration, they follow the same steps to gain access to the internet as their teacher and find a picture of their animal to print. They complete a worksheet...

Fourth graders explore the interdependence of frogs and trees. They discuss the various things they need everyday to survive. Students select an animal from their local bioregion and research things that animal is dependent upon for...

Students participate in a scavenger hunt to find different types of trash items around different environments. They distinguish between man-made litter and natural materials.

Second graders explore what life in the Chicago area was like hundreds of years ago. They discuss how settlers impacted the environment, and why there are no longer herds of buffalo in the Chicago area today. They read an article and...

Students explore how personal behavior can affect health, especially the health of your skin. They become better aware of how their personal behavior and the environment can have a considerable impact on their health in general. Students...

First graders build a habitat for crickets after studying animal survival needs. They care for and observe the crickets in the classroom habitat.

There are many ethical and moral issues surrounding critically endangered species. Use these higher-level thinking questions to help high schoolers examine ecological, socioeconomic, and political scenarios about human impacts on...

Learners recognize and demonstrate the patterning of numbers and objects in our environment. They create a pattern using geometric shapes and find a missing number in a sequence.