This lesson plan was for classes that participated in a research project on tardigrades that took place in 1999. Tardigrades, also known as water bears, are fascinating, tiny creatures that can survive under the most extreme conditions. There is information about the project and about tardigrades, including their taxonomy and a glossary. Students were asked to collect samples from the environment and examine them for tardigrades, documenting their observations and discoveries in a biological journal. As this is an older site, some of the links to other sites or to the coordinating scientists no longer work.