Captain Planet Foundation
Rotting Away
What happens at the end of a plant's life cycle? Show kids the natural way that plants show that they're decomposing, as well as the importance of compost, with a lesson about living organisms. After reading Log Cabin by Anne Schreiber,...
Columbus City Schools
You Can’t Sneeze On This Tissue
Take your class' understanding of cells to the next level... or levels! Demonstrate the levels of organization using a variety of engaging methods. The teacher's guide includes the materials you'll need to execute a flower...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Surprise!: Challenge Activities (Theme 2)
Surprise! is the theme of this series of challenge activities. The surprise comes from the information your scholars will discover when researching topics such as alligators and crocodiles, living in other countries, becoming a...
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...
Rainforest Alliance
Colombia Biodiversity
How diverse is the rainforest? How much more diverse is a rain forest than a temperate forest? Explore these focus questions in a lesson plan that explores the plants, animals, and insects in forests. After listening to a...
Baylor College
Needs of Living Things: Post-Assessment
Assess your class's knowledge of the needs of living things with the final lesson in a series. Given a large piece of paper and coloring utensils, young scientists draw a picture of themselves and a plant or animal of their choosing,...
Curated OER
Plants and Ecosystems
The relationships within and between ecosystems can be explored. after examining an area for living and non-living things students complete the same examination in the forest ecosystem. Students identify abiotic and biotic elements in an...
Curated OER
The Chesapeake Bay in Captain John Smith's Time
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...
Curated OER
Plants and Animals
Students taste test the garden. In this Science lesson, students compare and contrast plants and animals needs. Students pick fruits and vegetables in the garden and discuss their observations.
Curated OER
Land Plants and Algae
Students compare and contrast algae and land plants. In this plant instructional activity students discover what algae and land plants require for growth. The students discuss experimental design. The students experiment with different...
Ocean Explorer
Architects of the Coral Reef
Coral Reefs are the focus of a life science lesson plan. Upper graders look at how coral reefs are formed, how the animals and plants reproduce, and the variety of ways that humans benefit from coral reefs around the world. Groups of...
Curated OER
Tutti Frutti
Get some competition going in your life science class. Give lab groups a variety of plant parts, all of them fruits, except one. Their mission is to make observations, compare and contrast, in order to be the first to identify the...
Curated OER
Flora and Fauna of the Hill Neighborhood
Students compare and contrast the characteristics of plants and animals. For this ecology lesson, students observe the outdoors and describe the relationship among different living things. They relate plant diversity with animal diversity.
Curated OER
Plant Power
Here is an opportunity for your first graders to take a close look at plants: what they need to survive, how they grow, and the names of each plant part. The book, Corduroy's Garden is used to open the lesson. Then, youngsters utilize...
Curated OER
Zoobilation
Youngsters become familiar with zoo animals. They sort them into categories, and choose an animal to act out. Two zoo centers are created in the classroom that have examples of the animals for the pupils to play with. Then, they choose...
August House
Go to Sleep, Gecko
Use this multidisciplinary lesson to delve into these subjects: English language arts, math, science, drama, and character education. After reading, discussing, and making interpretations about Go To Sleep, Gecko!: A Balinese...
Curated OER
Biomes and Plant Growth
Seventh graders design four biomes models and plant three types of seeds in them to observe growth. In groups for each type of biome, they predict the seeds' growth in each of the settings. Students follow the conditions on a biome chart...
Curated OER
Penguins Around the World
Students investigate penguins. In this Science activity, students compare and contrast penguins to flying birds. Students use a Venn diagram to illustrate the differences and similarities of penguins and flying birds.
PBS
Season Seeking
It's a time of change. A hands-on activity engages young scientists in a lesson highlighting the change of seasons. They brainstorm indicators of season changes in nature and then look for them. Next, they record observations in a field...
Curated OER
What Plants Need in Order to Survive and Grow: Light
Students conduct an experiment to evaluate whether plants need light to survive and grow. They observe and gather data about plant responses to different growth regimes, analyze the data, and make conclusions about basic plant needs.
Curated OER
Fall vs. Spring
Students compare fall and spring. In this seasonal changes lesson, students read the book Apples and Pumpkins and discuss the fall season. The students then read It's Spring and describe the spring season. As a culminating activity,...
Curated OER
Ecosystems and Remote Sensing
Students obtain remote sensing data to compare and contrast global biomass data with global temperature data.
Curated OER
Soil Scrolls
Third graders examine soil samples and explore the what happens in each layer of the subsoil. They work in cooperative groups to create a scroll that shows what takes place in each layer, and discuss why much of the activity is in the...
Curated OER
Understanding Science Vocabulary and Categorization
Students analyze scientific vocabulary words. In this life science vocabulary instructional activity, students complete a worksheet using VisualThesaurus as they evaluate words related to plants and animals and how the words are used.