Young scholars describe vertebrates in terms of observable body parts and characteristics and describe life cycles of familiar organisms. They identify familiar organisms as part of a food chain or food web and describe their feeding...

Fourth graders describe the various kinds of soils and how plants and animals are affected by them. They describe the baic needs of plants, scoring at least a 3 or 4 on a 4-point rubic. Students are able to predict and/or infer what...

Fifth graders identify and analyze various ecological regions of Australia in order to identify more about some of the animals that inhabit the area. Students record information they discover on a chart provided that is assessed at end...

Students explore the major characteristics of the major animal phyla. They describe adaptive features that have contributed to the success of animals on land. Students explain how primate evolution provides a context for understanding...

Third graders work in small groups to investigate how to sort a variety of items into groups and subgroups. They work on a class chart based on the activity which show how the items are classified based on commonalities. Upon completion...

Students create a visual organizer that describes different groups of vertebrates in this pre-writing activity. They view and discuss a video on descriptive writing and then form small groups to research vertebrate classes using the...

Students list characteristics and features of animals found in their community. They then group the animals according to how they are similar and different and create names for each group. They then create a chart of their...

Students distinguish between invertebrate and vertebrate organisms while examining the zoological classes of a number of invertebrates. They illustrate a food web of these organisms and investigate the impact of humans on the oceanic...

Students watch video and slide shows as an introduction to animals. They discuss classifications of animals while moving from most common to least common of the animals. Types of classifications includes herbivores/carnivores;...

Seventh graders identify the names and features of macroinvertebrates found in Turtle River.  In this ecology lesson students use digital microscopes and take pictures of invertebrates. 

Sstudents identify consumer goods obtained from the oceans. They classify the items and calculate the cost of buying these goods. After taking a simulated sea shopping spree, they tally the cost of the items purchased. They conclude the...

Finding the central idea is the focus of this lesson. Middle schoolers write descriptions of different animals using details and descriptive language. They watch a video of kids using descriptive language, and then use showing language...

Youngsters complete a unit of lessons based on the story "Little Miss Muffet." They predict what will happen in the story, and use context clues to look for meaning in the words. They research information about spiders using the Internet...

Examine a slug? Of course, what else would a 2nd grader do with it? Pupils use clues and go on a slug hunt, read a slug story, or make a cooperative group mural of a slug's habitat. While older learners catalog slugs, go on a slug hunt,...

Second graders study the readily observable characteristics of marine invertebrates, 2nd graders research the invertebrates and complete worksheets in this series of lessons.

Third graders are introduced to bones as the body's means of support and protection. They research bone facts and conduct an experiment with chicken bones. They identify and observe involuntary muscles at work.

Allow your students to review what they learned about animal characteristics with this PowerPoint. This slideshow includes 9 multiple choice questions and an answer key at the end. Tip: You can use this as an assessment by having your...

Using meters as years, your class works together to map out the geologic time scale on a football field. Plenty of background information is included in this lesson plan as well as several resource links and a student worksheet. Your...

Eighth graders write a short report in first person about any plant or animal found on a list of Illinois species. They become the character of the plant or animal and give a short report describing the plant or animal.

Students complete two labs. They observe the fertilization and development of sea urchin and zebrafish embryos. They examine the similarities and differences in the development of an invertebrate vs. a vertebrate animal.

High schoolers discuss the recent disovery of the "furry lobster" to peak interest in the animal kingdom. They classify various speciments using invertebrate dichotomous keys, identifying major animal phyla and classes. Thy the complete...

Using a magnifier, mini marine biologists examine the barbules of a bird feather. They swirl the it into a mixture of oil and water and then re-examine the feather. After the activity, discuss how the oily feathers pose a problem to...

Students explore the diversity of life forms and the role that interdependency plays in our world through a mult-segmented unit. This segment introduces the unit.

Students, through hands on games and activities, discover how bats live and how bats benefit ecosystems. They play a game designed to show them how echolocation works and another to show how mother bats locate their young through their...