Curated OER
"Do You Need It or Just Want It?"
Students distinguish between "wants" and "needs." Students make a short list of each. They review The Berenstain Bears Count Their Blessings book and discuss what blessings are. Students then rewrite their list of wants and needs.
Curated OER
Investigation 3 - Terrariums / Aquariums
Third graders create aquariums or terrariums to explain how creatures depend on living and nonliving things.
Curated OER
What Do Pets Need?
Students identify the needs that all humans and animals have. In groups, they play a game to discover the proper way to take care of pets. To end the instructional activity, they develop a plan to best take care of their pets at home and...
Curated OER
Living Organisms Digital Scavenger Hunt
Students photograph living organisms. In this plan for a field trip, students go to a local park or pond and photograph themselves with various living organisms on their scavenger hunt list. The photographs taken are compiled into a...
Curated OER
Major Functions
Seventh graders investigate the basic characteristics and needs of living things. They identify the major parts of plants and animals by making lists. Students focus upon one living thing and speculate how if one part is changed how it...
Curated OER
Reconstructing the Squares
Young scholars visit an outdoors area and mark out a square on the ground that they examine, looking for living and non-living things. They make a model or drawing of the findings from the actual square.
Curated OER
Lesson Plan on Wants and Needs
First graders examine and discuss the difference between what they need to live and what they want. They examine pictures from magazines and newspaper ads, distinguishing between whether they are wants or needs.
Curated OER
Fossils 2: Uncovering the Facts
Students determine what types of information can be determined by looking at fossils. In this fossil lesson, students examine facts about and images of the Tyrannosaurus Rex at an assigned web site. They apply their knowledge to develop...
Curated OER
Student Designed Investigations: Observations
Young scholars choose an organism and create an experiment with that organism. In this observation lesson, students expose a living thing to something from its environment and record their observations. Young scholars must have some...
Curated OER
Physics of Sound: How We Hear Sounds
Second graders identify the different function and parts of the ear. In this physics lesson, 2nd graders explain how we hear sound. They read about the life of Helen Keller and respond to questions that follow.
Curated OER
The Internet of Things: IoT
How has the Internet of Things affected our lives? Scholars examine the massive influence of mobile devices in this analysis lesson plan, which begins with a seven-minute documentary clip. They also read a New York Times article (linked)...
Curated OER
Becoming Part of the Community
High schoolers read narratives by Peace Corps volunteers and examine how they succeeded in adapting to living in a new cultural environment. They identify attitudes and actions that promote having a positive experience in a foreign country.
Bekshire Museum
Cloudy Skies: The Art of Classification
Such a great resource and perfect for learners in Kindergarten through third grade. The class will discuss cloud types and formation, and then they'll get outside and draw as they observe the clouds they see. They'll need to take note of...
Curated OER
What Living Things Need
Students apply the process of scientific inquiry to explore how living things are dependent on one another for survival. They match animals with their generalized food source. Students predict what happens to the organisms when their...
Curated OER
Living and Non-Living
Fourth graders are divided into small groups and collect 4 objects from the playground. They take 5 to 10 minutes to classify their groups and discuss their findings including the terms "living" and "non-living". As a class they discuss...
Curated OER
Classification 2: A Touch of Class
Learners examine how many kinds of living things (e.g. plants and animals) can be sorted into groups in many ways using various features to decide which things belong to which group and that classification schemes vary with purpose.
Curated OER
Lesson Plan fo The Magic Eyes of Little Crab
Interested in a "how and why" story to read with young students? In this storytelling lesson, readers will discuss sea creatures, focusing on practicing new terminology through retelling the story. This resource provides a list of...
Curated OER
Pond Life
Students explore pond ecosystems. In this living environment activity, students observe the local pond and identify the living things they find by drawing pictures. Students observe organisms that were found in the pond by using a...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Classification
Students examine why scientists classify living organisms. They list and classify items they buy at the grocery store, sort and classify leaves, explore various websites, and write a biography of Carolus Linnaeus.
Nuffield Foundation
Measuring Respiratory Quotient
How do scientists prove tiny living things respire? Young scientists build a respirometer and measure respiration rates in living creatures. By comparing the measurements of both plants and animals, they understand the similarities.
WolfQuest
The Return of Gray Wolves to Yellowstone National Park: Right or Wrong?
Should gray wolves be removed from Yellowstone National Park? After researching the complex relationships between the various habitats and species at Yellowstone National Park, including humans, class members take a position...
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...
American Museum of Natural History
Journey to the Bottom of the Sea
Follow the path to the sea floor. Pupils play an online interactive board game to reach the bottom of the sea. Participants must match descriptions of creatures to a property of water dealing with oxygen, food, light, or density to move...
Do2Learn
Winter Picture Cards
Find all things winter here! Use the set of winter picture cards to help class members become familiar with the season. The cards include holidays celebrated in winter, to the temperatures we feel in winter.