Curated OER
Create a Critter Collage
Young scholars create a collage. In this animal classification lesson, students discuss why and how scientists classify animals. Young scholars view pictures of different animals and decide which class each animal belongs to. Students...
Curated OER
Giraffe Riff Raff
Students study the effects of wildlife conservation and relocation. In this conservation lesson students view video on the preservation of the giraffe populations and discuss the impact that humans have had on them.
Curated OER
Teaching Kids about the Environment
Fifth graders identify the species of plants and animals found in an environment. They compare these findings to plant and animal species found in an unlike environment. Students acquire and compare soil samples from the two sites chosen.
Curated OER
Population Dynamics
Students are divided into groups, each group goes to a randomly selected area of the field. They lay out a one square meter plot. Using string to mark the square. Students identify some sort of vegetation that is easy to count within...
Polar Trec
Animal Monitoring Introduction
Not only do mealworms taste great, they are also great for classroom science lessons. In pairs, young scientists observe and record what they see as they check out what their mealworms are doing from minute to minute. Each minute...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Zebrafish and Skin Color
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...
NOAA
Climate Is Our Friend…Isn’t It?: Make an Extinction Polyhedron
Climate affects populations in different ways. Scholars research extinct organisms and mass extinctions in part three of the 10-installment Discover Your Changing World series. They create graphic organizers, then fill in the information...
Earth Watch Institute
Entering Local Groundhog Data in an Excel Spreadsheet
Here is a cross-curricular ecology and technology lesson plan; your learners create spreadsheets depicting the location and number of groundhog dens in a local park. They research groundhogs and analyze data about where the groundhog...
Curated OER
Native Species Restoration and its Impact on Local Populations
In this native species restoration worksheet, students are given 3 scenarios to choose from to help restore a declining population of an endangered species of deer. Students make predictions about what they will think happen when the...
Curated OER
Create a New Animal
Students understand what physical adaptations are and how they help an animal to survive. In this adaptations lesson, students research four animals and then make an original animal that has adaptations to make them survive.
Curated OER
Pet Population
Students examine how to control pet overpopulation. In this animal welfare lesson, students consult a phone directory for listings of animal shelters in the community. Students construct a list of questions to ask them, such as, "how...
Curated OER
Wolves At Our Door
Students investigate the wolf. In this animal adaptation instructional activity, students examine the social characteristics of the wolf. They discuss the role of human intervention in reestablishing the wolf population.
Curated OER
Bears of Banff
Young scholars pretend they have just entered a national park. They imagine that the park borders are all impassable mountains, and students will play the role of grizzly bears. Young scholars list three things every animal needs to...
Curated OER
Beetle Collection and Release
Students investigate plants and compare them to the purple loose strife. As they observe the plants they predict possible impacts on plant populations based on their observations. They work in groups and present their findings to the class.
Curated OER
How Many Bears in the Forest?
Third graders model the tag and recapture of bears and use proportions to estimate the population of the bears in their forest. This is a statistical sampling method used by scientists and naturalists to determine population numbers.
Curated OER
Wildlife Sampling
Seventh graders use paper bags and crackers to simulate a wildlife sampling of salmon. They record data on spreadsheets and determine a formula to estimate salmon populations.
Scholastic
Study Jams: Symbiosis
Three types of symbiosis are explained: parasitism, commensalism, and mutualism. This is done with colorful animation and lively dialogue in a straightforward and easy-to-follow manner. Have your ecology class watch this at home and then...
National Wildlife Federation
I Speak for the Polar Bears!
Climate change and weather extremes impact every species, but this instructional activity focuses on how these changes effect polar bears. After learning about the animal, scholars create maps of snow-ice coverage and examine the yearly...
Curated OER
Populations and Ecosystems
Sixth graders define terms prey, predator, and scavenger, describe predator-prey relationship, discuss effects of a lack of predators in an environment, and separate the role of the scavenger from that of the predator.
Curated OER
Population Dynamics
Young scholars watch a video on population dynamics. They conduct an experiment where they fill up a designated space with students. They recreate multiplying rabbits using beans.
Curated OER
Sand Tracks
Young scholars examine the different markings animals make while walking through the sand. In an activity, the teacher hold up the same tracks individually and they must guess the animal who made them. They discuss the results as a...
Curated OER
School Forest
Sixth graders explore the concept of biodiversity. In this biodiversity instructional activity, 6th graders discover a variety of planets and animals that live in forests, and how a rotting log benefits that environment. Students also...
Nature New Brunswick
Habitat for Endangered Wildlife and You
Compare and contrast your habitat with that of endangered plants and animals! Learners discuss what a habitat is actually comprised of, describing what theirs looks like. They fill out a graphic organizer explaining what they eat, how...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
WildCam Gorongosa
After years of war and unrest, how quickly will nature recover? Started as a project to track lion populations, WildCam Gorongosa now tracks many species. Through hidden camera evidence, scientists know species are returning to the area....