Handout
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

Adaptations – Designs for Survival

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
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.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Habitats: Cactus Hotel

For Teachers K - 2nd
A reading of Brenda Z. Guiberson’s, Cactus Hotel, launches a study of animal habitats. Working with parent volunteers or teacher aides, groups travel outside the classroom to select a habitat, take digital pictures, and incorporate the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Habitat Basics

For Teachers 1st
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....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Wild Horses of the Outer Banks

For Teachers 6th - 7th
Students explore animal habitats.  In this cross curriculum animal survival and writing lesson, students view a website about wild horses on Shackelford Island and discuss ways in which the horses have changed to this...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Whose Home Is This?

For Students 5th
After reading a short and informative paragraph on animals and their environments, learners look at pictures of four animals, and write a short description of how each one has adapted to its environment. A suggested activity is that each...
Worksheet
K12 Reader

Adapting to Survive

For Students 2nd - 3rd Standards
Life science and language arts come together in a passage about animal adaptation. After kids learn about how organisms adapt to conditions in their environments, they complete five reading comprehension questions based on context clues...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hawaiian Bird Beak Adaptation

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students explore adaptation by participating in a lab activity. For this bird characteristics lesson, students discuss the different purposes birds have for their beaks and conduct an experiment testing which beaks collect food best....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Disney's Animal World Part 2: That's My Baby

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students see that baby animals go through different stages of growth during their life, just as people do. They use the downloadable Cyberlesson Worksheet to reinforce what they have learned about animals and their offspring.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Creature Features

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students investigate animals and how they adapt to their environment. They design a multimedia presentation that includes information about an animal of their choice. They include a title card, habitats, adaptations, and a predator/ prey...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Staying Warm-Keeping Cool

For Students 3rd - 5th
For this Internet research worksheet, students go to the indicated website and read about animal habitats. Students answer 6 questions.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Animal Adaptations

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Young scholars expand their knowledge of animal features and behaviors that can help or hinder their survival in a particular habitat. They participate in classroom discussions and visit a website to research animals
Worksheet
Curated OER

Your Favorite Wild Animal

For Students 2nd - 4th
In this research skills activity, students select a wild animal and then respond to 5 short answer questions regarding it. In addition, students draw a picture of it and define 6 habitat terms.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

World of the Pond

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Field trip! The class will review what they know about organisms that dwell in freshwater ponds, then trek down to the old water hole to collect specimens for examination. This includes several web links, useful tips, and an excellent...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Matching Games, Trees and Animals

For Teachers Higher Ed
Students identify and define new words as they are introduced to specific trees, leaves, animals and animal habitats, engage in literacy-related play by playing games that focus on animals and trees mentioned in book, A Tree for Me, and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Waddle You Know About Penguins

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders study the similarities and differences of the seventeen species of penguins. They investigate habitats and how these habitats are suited to each species characteristics. They see how animals adapt to their environments.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Camouflage

For Teachers 1st
First graders learn how plants and animals adapt to their environments.  In this camouflage lesson, 1st graders watch a movie that explains animal camouflage, design a butterfly that blends into a classroom habitat, create a mini...
Lesson Plan
Desert Discovery

Leaping Lizards

For Teachers Pre-K - 6th
Here is a fine biology lesson that introduces youngsters to reptiles. They study their feeding habits, their habitats, and the adaptations they must make to survive in their environments. The outstanding lesson includes two excellent...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ecosystem Interactions in Refuges

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders, using national parks as models, illustrate the energy flow in ecosystems. Working in groups, they use murals, flow charts, or other visual displays to record their findings. Students represent the food chains and webs...
Lesson Plan
Illinois Department of Natural Resources

Section Three: What's the Status of Biodiversity?

For Students 3rd - 5th Standards
Biodiversity is essential for every habitat, but many species are at risk due to pollution and other factors. Explore several different species native to Illinois in a gallery walk with posters that learners have created after research...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Animal Games

For Teachers 1st - 8th
Students explore a variety of games on the Internet that will teach them about animals; they focus on the Florida panther. Students choose the activity that is of interest to them, and then rotate between the games online and the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Woodland Animals and Their Habitat

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Students explore the natural environment through a video and nature sounds tape. They keep journal's of the unit's activities and vocabulary terms. They play a web of interdependence game and compose a list of forest animals and write...
Worksheet
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K12 Reader

Hide and Seek

For Students 6th - 8th
After examining a brief article about survival adaptations, readers identify the main idea of the passage and list two supporting details.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Living in a Tree

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students explore animals that live in trees. In this nature and biology lesson, students go outdoors and make observations about animals and their unique body parts that help them to live in trees. Students create drawings as they...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Adapting to Animal Behavior for Survival

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders explore animal behaviors and adaptations by researching several different animals and their habitats.