Here is a well-designed lesson on biodiversity that should intrigue your charges. In it, pupils compare a natural desert area to a school field to see how habitat destruction affects species diversity. Groups set up transects and collect...

Students design a zoo habitat for an animals. In this zoo habitat lesson, students develop an idea for a zoo habitat that would meet the needs of a specific animal. They solve problems that might be encountered by using their knowledge...

Students consider the adaptation of life forms through natural selection to fill various niches and accommodate changing environmental conditions. They select an ecosystem and conduct research to provide as much detailed information as...

Second graders identify what constitutes as a desert by reading a habitat checklist.  In this environment instructional activity, 2nd graders read a nature website to discover facts about the desert and where they are located....

Students simulate animals in a food chain. In this food chain lesson plan, students are identified as grasshoppers, frogs or hawks. Popcorn is spread across a lawn and students are given baggies (stomachs) and colored sashes to identify...

Students explore rain forests.  In this rain forest ecosystems instructional activity, students identify and describe the layers of the rain forest. Students paint and decorate a large rain forest mural. Students write riddles about...

Students conduct an experiment. In this temperate forest lesson, students discuss what kind of animal life can be found in the forest. They read The Magic School Bus Meets the Rot Squad: A Book About Decomposition and complete an...

Students identify and study New York State Breeding Bird Atlas maps to learn where different bird species nest and how their distributions have changed over time. They also identify how maps serve as representations of a geographic...

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...

Students study black history, examine portraits and portrait making and create their own portraits, and  investigate their natural environment. This humanities lesson provides a text that can be used to teach lessons in black...

Youngsters examine how people show respect and care for the land. Specifically, learners see how the Native Americans truly did care for and respect the land, and still do so to this day! They also explore how they themselves can care...

Students will participate in classroom discussions and visit a website to learn more about animals and how well (or poorly) they've adapted to satisfying their needs in their natural habitats. This will help move them toward the goal, in...

Students are each assigned an animal from Madagascar. They research their animal and design a picture book about their animal. Students design a cover page, back page, bibliography page and the title page. Their book will contain...

Students read or have the book A River Ran Wild read to them. They discuss and reflect on the messages presented in the book. Students use their listening comprehension skills to draw conclusions. Students articulate several examples of...

Students apply cause and effect relationships to water pollution in a stream. In this pollution lesson students recognize the importance of clean water in their daily lives. Students accompany "Fred the Fish" as he travels down stream....

Fifth graders investigate aquatic organisms. In this fishing lesson, 5th graders use can-fishing rigs to observe animals in their natural habitat. Students consider ways to solve a problem and discuss their findings. 

Students explore the evolution from a pond habitat to a meadow.  In this habitat activity, students become familiar with a beaver meadow habitat.  Students are aasigned an animal to research and find why the animal best...

When your parents say that your room's a pig sty, tell them about biomimicry. The sixth installment of a nine-part Life Science unit has scholars research the shelters used by animals in the natural world, like turtle shells. Using the...

During this game, kids become migratory shorebirds and fly among wintering, nesting, and stopover habitats. If they do not arrive at a suitable habitat on time, they do not survive. Catastrophic events are periodically introduced that...

Sixth graders explore the concept of biodiversity.  In this biodiversity lesson, 6th graders discover a variety of planets and animals that live in forests, and how a rotting log benefits that environment.  Students also locate...

Discover the natural beauty of California. With a conservation bent, this activity delves into some of the attributes that make this state unique. Learners discuss Yosemite and the forest habitat. They focus on the things plants and...

Seventh graders discuss the loss of animal habitats and the importance of refuge areas for them. They collect small pictures of animals found in their state and glue them to an outline of their state according to their range. Finally,...

Explore the amazing temperate rainforest of the Pacific Northwest. Your class starts by investigating the animals and plants of the Northwest, specifically Washington, and then research an animal population common to the area. In small...