Curated OER
African Savanna Habitat Diorama Craft
Set the stage for a unit or lesson on the African savanna by creating a cute habitat diorama. Cheetahs, lions, zebras, and elephants are all present in a shoe-box-sized craft that requires your learners to color, cut, and paste. These...
Michigan State University
Create an Animal
Think beyond the animals and habitats we've already discovered and allow scholars to dream up their very own habitat and an animal that lives there. Class members present the new habitat and animal on a poster alongside an...
Berkshire Museum
Camouflage!: Collecting Data and Concealing Color
Help young scholars see the important role camouflage plays in the survival of animals with a fun science lesson. Starting with an outdoor activity, children take on the role of hungry birds as they search for worms represented by...
American Museum of Natural History
Make Your Own Creatures of Light
Bioluminescent animals are the focus of a hands-on craft in which scholars create a scene of either a land or sea bioluminescent creature.
Exploratorium
Disappearing Act
Crafty critters are camouflaged to escape predators, and crafty science pupils can construct a camouflage demonstration. They work with a partner to show that as a camouflaged animal moves, it becomes more visible.
Scholastic
Minibeasts
Lead young scientists to discover insects outdoors. After investigating, students will record observations, learn about these fascinating creatures, craft, and role play.
PBS
Reading Adventure Pack: Sleep
A reading adventure pack features two stories—Time to Sleep by Denise Fleming and Animals Don’t Wear Pajamas by Eve Feldman. In response to reading the fiction and nonfiction texts, scholars create a dreamcatcher, discuss hibernation,...
California Academy of Science
Coincidental Colonization
The Galápagos Islands are an amazing place of isolated adaptation, colonized by an interesting mix of plants and animals. The class plays a game to help them understand how these organisms came to live on the island through a combination...
SeaWorld
Design a Fish
Craft some neat refrigerator magnets while studying ocean animals with a lesson about the anatomy of a fish. After kids learn about the different parts and shapes of fish, they use modeling compound to design their own fish.
TED-Ed
Bringing a Pop-up Book to Life
Breath life into the pages of a text with this instructional video on creating pop-up books. From choosing a topic, through the planning and creation phases, this video examines how to develop engaging visual presentations that reach out...
Johnson County Community College
Treasured Stories by Eric Carle
Explore the works of Eric Carle with a set of four lessons focused around the stories, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, Papa, Please Get the Moon For Me, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Young readers develop a storyboard,...
Consortium for Ocean Science Exploration and Engagement (COSEE)
Fish Morphology
Life comes in all different shapes and sizes, and fish are no exception. Here, young scientists create fish prints as they learn how specific characteristics allow different species to survive in their particular habitats.
Core Knowledge Foundation
A Time for All Seasons - Spring
Celebrate the arrival of spring with this fun primary grade science unit. Engaging young scientists with a variety of hands-on activities and inquiry-based investigations, these lessons are a great way to teach children about seasonal...
August House
Anansi And Turtle Go To Dinner
That tricky Anansi! Join him and Turtle in the story Anansi and Turtle Go to Dinner by Bobby and Sherry Norfolk, based on the African folktale. Kids answer comprehension questions and sing songs about spiders before creating spider webs...
American Museum of Natural History
The Legend of the Flying Frog
Young conservation biologists have an opportunity to get involved in the effort to save endangered species. After reading and illustrating the tale of the Flying Frog, they craft a tale about another fictional endangered species.
Messenger Education
Give Me a Boost—How Gravity Assists Aid Space Exploration
The propellant needed for space explorations runs in the thousands, while paying to get the craft into orbit costs millions! In the second installment of three, two activities explore laws of conservation of energy and momentum. Using...
Sea World
Seaworld Science Activity
A fun collection of activities about marine life would be a great addition to your elementary science unit. From cute penguins to scary sharks, the unit features crafts, experiments, and basic research projects that will teach your...
PBS
Reading Adventure Pack: Animals
Scholars explore the animal kingdom with help from two texts, Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey and A Bed for the Winter by Karen Wallace. The literature and informational text set the learning stage for thoughtful discussion and...
PBS
Reading Adventure Pack: Environment
A fiction and nonfiction text, The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest by Lynne Cherry and I See a Kookaburra! Discovering Animal Habitats Around the World by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page begins a learning experience in...
Peter Bunzl
Cogheart and Moonlocket
Peter Bunzi takes readers to the Victorian era with two stories, Coghaert and Moonlocket. Accompany the literary time warp with a companion packet that offers a plethora of exercises. Learning opportunities include activities for before,...
PBS
Reading Adventure Pack: Farms
A Reading Adventure Pack features a fiction and nonfiction text—The Oxcart Man by Donald Hall and illustrated by Barbara Cooney and Farming by Gail Gibbons. Following the readings, scholars make a collage showcasing foods farmed from...
NOAA
Wet Maps
How do oceanographers make maps under water? Junior explorers discover the technologies and processes involved in creating bathymetric maps in part three of a five-part series designed for fifth- and sixth-grade pupils. The lesson...
August House
Go to Sleep, Gecko
Use this multidisciplinary lesson to delve into these subjects: English language arts, math, science, drama, and character education. After reading, discussing, and making interpretations about Go To Sleep, Gecko!: A Balinese Folktale by...
Curated OER
Earth's Heavenly Treasures: Hummingbirds
Young ornithologists watch an informative video and use the Internet to gather data about the life, size, habitat, and migration of hummingbirds. The interdisciplinary lesson includes activities that target art, science, math, and...