Curated OER
Prairie Field Trip
Students study prairie conservation and the plant and animal life within. In this prairie life lesson students divide into groups and complete a lab activity.
Virginia Department of Education
Organisms in Symbiosis
Searching for an activity that allows emerging biologists to explore symbiosis up close and personal? Pupils collect samples and view lichens through a microscope and conclude with a discussion about the relationship they have with other...
Curated OER
What Are Endangered Species?
Students explore the concepts of endangered and extinct animals. In this animal protection lesson, students discuss and define the words endangered, extinct, and habitat. Students share why they think it is important to protect...
Curated OER
Classifying Living and Non-Living Objects
Students investigate living organisms and define the properties of a living species. In this life characteristic lesson plan, students examine plants in their class and discuss whether or not they are alive. Students create a living...
Curated OER
Animal Adaptations
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...
Curated OER
Habitat Mural
Students build a collage of an ecosystem. The goal is for them to understand interactions in a community, plant and animal adaptations, and how all life depends on plants. This activity is based on Wump World and students describe what...
Curated OER
The Food Chain
First graders explore how most living things, big and small, need food for survival.
Curated OER
Learning From Leaves: From Observation to Inference
Young scholars examine the adaptation of plants to their environments. They analyze and observe the structure, shape, and internal structure of various leaves, and make inferences about the structures.
Curated OER
VERTEBRATES
Seventh graders describe the main characteristics of warm-blooded vertebrate animals. They compare and contrast the two different groups of warm-blooded vertebrate animals by looking at external, reproductive, and growth characteristics.
Curated OER
The Intertidal Zone
Young scholars research the diverse animal and plant life that inhabit the intertidal zones along the Pacific rocky coast. As students progress through this lesson, they begin to recognize distinct behaviors, adaptations, and...
Curated OER
How a Seed Grows: And Who Grows It
Second graders explore botany by viewing video clips in class. In this seed growth lesson plan, 2nd graders identify the types of seeds that grow specific plants and what the optimal conditions are for growing seeds. Students view a...
Curated OER
Prairies
Students identify the basic characteristics of the prairie ecosystem, and several commonly known prairie species. They create a classroom mural of a prairie ecosystem; and create reports about what they have found out.
Curated OER
Wegener and Plate Tectonics: A Hands-On Lesson
Students are introduced to and experiment with the basic concepts of plate tectonic theory as well as assess the history of the theory of plate tectonics. They explain and illustrate the basic concepts through diagrams and models of...
Curated OER
A Rainbow Under the Sea: How Do Animals Survive in the Ocean?
Second graders, with adult help, create a PowerPoint presentation on a selected ocean animal.
Curated OER
Building a Butterfly Garden
Students examine the habitat and life cycle of a butterfly. For this early childhood lesson plan, students identify the parts of a butterfly, as well as the stages of the butterfly life cycle. Students also plant a garden in which they...
Curated OER
S-O-I-L Soil
Fifth graders research soil, its nutrients, and plant growth. In this soil lesson, 5th graders create soil journals, trace flowers, and include nutrient information on each petal. Students read an excerpt from "McBroom Tells the Truth."...
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Animal Classes and Their Ecosystems
Students explore animal characteristics by participating in an environment identification activity. In this animal habitat lesson, students discuss a range of different wild life and the ecosystems that they are a part of. Students view...
Curated OER
Winter Survival
Students examine what animals need in order to survive. In this investigative lesson plan students play a "role" of an animal in winter.
Curated OER
Dinosaurs 2: What Were Dinosaurs Like?
Students compare and contrast dinosaurs to animals that are alive today through basic research.
Curated OER
Strawberry DNA extraction
Students study the basic function of DNA and then extract it from strawberries. In this DNA extraction lesson students examine DNA and see why the extraction of it is so important to scientists.
Curated OER
Fish Haunts
Students examine some of the different ecosystems that fish live in. While doing this they identify the species of fish and the ecological conditions needed for survival. Students use research resources to make fish cards that have...
Curated OER
Habitat Preservation Project
High schoolers demonstrate what happens when nature takes back land after humans have managed it. They find an area in the schoolyard, and mark it off with a boundary. Students build a simple fence with string and stakes. They put up...
Curated OER
Learning From Leaves: Adaptation Scavenger Hunt
Learners participate in an adaptation scavenger hunt at. They obtain various plant specimens, and sort the plants based on whether they came from a desert, tropical rainforest, or wetlands.
Curated OER
An Introduction to Brine Shrimp
Second graders engage in a lesson that seeks to discover information about Brine Shrimp. They conduct research using a variety of print and electronic resources. Students study the type of environment the shrimp need and read about the...