Michigan State University
Inspecting The School
Keep your eyes peeled for pests! Here, scholars inspect their campus for signs of living things such as insects and rodents. Upon observation, class members record their findings and present the information to their peers.
Baylor College
Living Things and Their Needs: The Math Link
Enrich your study of living things with these cross-curricular math activities. Following along with the story Tillena Lou's Day in the Sun, learners will practice addition and subtraction, learn how to measure volume and length,...
Captain Planet Foundation
Adopt-A-Plant
Note the way that plants change during the season by adopting a plant on your school campus. After your class chooses their plant, they research the plant's needs, how it differs from other plants, find ways to support their plant's...
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, which begins with a seven-minute documentary clip. They also read a New York Times article (linked)...
Curated OER
Characteristics of Living Things
Student use the scientific method to experiment with worms. For this characteristics of living things lesson, learners predict and examine the reactions of worms to dry and wet soil. Students share their findings.
Curated OER
Use Concept Maps to Teach the Transfer of Energy
Practical tips, lessons, and ideas for teaching the transfer of energy.
Michigan State University
In Search of Life
Explore the habitats around you with an activity that takes kids out of the classroom to learn about the local variety of habitats and the living things that call them home. In small groups, scholars investigate their surroundings,...
Baylor College
Need or Want?
Even as adults it can be hard to distinguish needs from wants. Using pictures of common, everyday items, children make a pocket chart separating the objects they need from those that they want. Discuss their choices, explaining that...
Curated OER
Using Living Organisms to Explain Evolution
Students investigate evolution in its most fundamental form: the observation of living organisms. By comparing variations that exist among living animals, students formulate their own hypotheses and conclusions about the evolution of...
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
The Effects of Gold and Silver Nanoparticles on Brine Shrimp: A Toxicology Study
Who doesn't love gold and silver? Brine shrimp, that's who! Learners conduct an experimental lesson plan to monitor the toxicity of gold and silver nanoparticles on brine shrimp. They synthesize solutions to expose the brine shrimp to...
Curated OER
Living or Non-Living
Students examine living and non-living things. In this life science lesson, students are given a group of objects and discuss if they are living or non-living. Students identify and list characteristics of living things.
Curated OER
Feed Me!
When youngsters are learning about the basic needs of humans and animals, this instructional activity could come in handy. In it, pupils circle the pictures of a living thing that is eating food. There are eight pictures all in all, and...
Georgia Department of Education
Living Things/ Nonliving Things
How can you tell if something is living or nonliving? Introduce a set of criteria which can be used to determine which things are alive and which are not. The class discusses the basic needs of all living organisms, checks out an...
NASA
Consumers Get Energy From Other Living Things
How do plants and animals get their food? Learn about where energy comes from, how animals store energy, and aerobic respiration, in a lesson that allows scholars to diagram energy flows.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Genes Are Real Things
Proving microscopic structures exist is a difficult task. Learn how scientists did just that in the mid-1800s as they set out to identify the cellular structures related to genetics. The online lesson explains the collection of work that...
CK-12 Foundation
Fields in the Life Sciences
Many fields of study require a specialty and a sub-specialty as you progress through your education. Scholars learn about six sub-specialties of life science. From botany to zoology, our knowledge of the world of living organisms expands...
Student Handouts
Examining Primary Sources: Rudyard Kipling, “The White Man’s Burden” (1899)
Combine literature and history with the poem "The White Man's Burden" by Rudyard Kipling. Pupils read the poem and answer four questions about the text.
Computer Science Unplugged
The Chocolate Factory–Human Interface Design
What is this? What is it for? How does it work? Challenge the class to think about to how to design a new chocolate factory for the Oompa-Loompas to make it easy to use. The activity is the first of a three-part series on...
Curated OER
Animal Survival - Water and Waste
Here is a very simple set of slides to complement your lecture about the importance of water for animals. It includes a table of where we gain liquid from, the chemical reaction for aerobic respiration, how we lose water, and how ADH and...
Curated OER
Living things
For this living things worksheet, students color the pictures of living things. Students circle 3 pictures and have 5 to choose from.
Curated OER
Jeopardy! The Eight Parts of Speech
Thrill your class with the daily doubles and increasing points of Jeopardy! Complete with sound effects and visual cues, the game focuses on parts of speech, including nouns, prepositions, and conjunctions. Each point square links to a...
Curated OER
A Study of Plants
Using a variety of multi-media resources, your high schoolers become familiar with the parts of plant and create a story about plants using vocabulary learned during their research of plants. Completed stories are published using the...
Curated OER
Help the Duck Find Her Babies
Students are introduced to a basic characteristic and need of living things-the ability and need to reproduce. They investigate how birds (and people) attract mates. Students discover how to build a nest. They discuss the needs and...
NASA
The Discovery of Jupiter Radio Waves
Lead your class on a journey to the planet Jupiter and provide them with fun facts in the process. Learners explore radio waves emitted by Jupiter to further understand how this data helps our daily lives. They conclude by discussing...