Curated OER
Night Hike
Students explore Upham Woods at night and investigate about the special adaptations of nocturnal animals. They identify three nocturnal animals and how they are adapted to the night. Students explain what night vision is and how it works.
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Science: Birds in Flight
Young scholars identify and examine adaptations in birds that enable them to fly. They conduct Internet research to relate these adaptations to the physics of flight. Students observe birds in flight and describe their behavior and...
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Desert Animals
Middle schoolers survive within an ecosystem, an animal must be physically and behaviorally adapted to the conditions of its environment.
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The Spider Beside Her
Second graders expand their knowledge of spiders. By creating a model of a spider, 2nd graders recognize differences between spiders and insects and determine that a spider is not an insect.
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What is Cultural Evolution?
Students comprehend what is meant by Cultural Evolution and that it primarily applies at Human Evolution, but that there are examples in higher mammals such as a killer whales, dolphins and great apes of particular groups by exploring...
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Holy Habitats or Meet Metamorphosis
Students examine the metamorphosis of frogs and how it adapts to its environment. They research how world pollutants are effecting the amphibian population.
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Caterpillar Camouflage
Young scholars list animals, plant parts, and reasons for caterpillars to camouflage themselves. For this animal and plant adaptations lesson plan, students also play a game where they use colors as camouflage.
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Integrated Pest Management-You're Buggin' Me
Learners research certain crops and how farmers protect them, while other students research certain insects and how they attack the crop. Each group then documents a ten season plan and then insect and farmers give an attack and...
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Echo Location
Students participate in a role-playing activity that demonstrates how whales use sound as an adaptation to their environment.
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Surviving in Our Ecosystems
Third graders identify the characteristics of a frog and compare them to a human child. They draw and describe the best environment for a human to live in and the best environment for a frog to live in based on their physical...
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Life-Cycle Sleuth
Students analyze an animal's life cycle and behaviors, and examine what animals need to stay alive and reproduce. They develop theories and hypotheses about the reasons for migrations, using the Journey North online project.
Chicago Botanic Garden
Leaf Litter Ecology Lab
Some organisms spend their entire lives in leaf litter. The third in a series of six is a great lesson exploring the community of leaf litter. Groups gather and then spread leaf litter over white paper and remove leaves/twigs while...
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Pond Ecology
A lab activity is a great way to incite thoughtful questioning and scientific processes. Pupils will collect organisms with a Petri dish, make observations, sketch the organism, ask questions, then attempt to identify the specimen...
Prince William Network
The Incredible Journey
Divide your school gym into breeding grounds and non-breeding grounds so that your zoologists can play a game simulating the seasonal migration of shorebirds. Players pick one of the included game cards and follow its directions, which...
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Producers and Consumers
Students make lists of producers and consumers and act as consumers that eat producers in a garden. In this producers and consumers lesson plan, students demonstrate a food chain by using a piece of yarn to connect all of them together.
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Prairie Mural Project
Seventh graders construct a large mural of a praire showing plants, and animals that would live there.
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Predator Or Prey?
Students study the concept of predator/prey by researching specific examples of birds. They participate in a concept map/webbing activity to determine different characteristics of birds. They engage in a class discussion about...
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Ecosystem Damage from Household Cleaners
Third graders assess the damage done to various ecosystems by cleaning products and discover how scientists test water quality. Using stream water and common household cleaning agents, they work in groups to test for pH levels. Once...
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Vertebrate History in Rocks
In this reading comprehension worksheet, students read the noted section in their science textbooks and respond to 4 short answer and 3 fill in the blank questions regarding fossils embedded in rock formations.
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What's Up at the Rim?
Students are sent on a scavenger hunt to find as many plants as they can in nature.
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Your Favorite Wild Animal
In this research skills instructional 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.
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Critters in Your Own Backyard
Young scholars identify various animals and their habitats, as well as their specific traits In this animal habitat lesson, students list animals they've seen in their backyard. Young scholars select one animal and do research. Students...
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Into the Pond
Seventh graders use a pond to explore macroinvertebrates and other organisms. They use a dichotomous key to classify the organisms and maintain a journal recording their findings.
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Birds of Wisconsin
First graders explore the job done by ornithologists. They role play identifying the characteristics that make a bird a bird. They discuss what makes each bird species unique. Students are introduced to Wisconsin's most common and rare...