Curated OER
Species and Specimens: Exploring Local Biodiversity
Students practice skills essential to all scientific investigation: carefully observing and collecting data. They become field biologists in a series of hands-on activities to collect and identify specimens, and survey and calculate the...
Curated OER
Science: Her-bariums Galore!
Learners collect and identify plant species and construct herbariums both at school and at home. By gathering data from both locales, they draw conclusions and make predictions about plant diversity. Upon completion of the exercises,...
Curated OER
Freshwater Fish Anatomy & Taxonomy
Tenth graders use a classification key to identify organisms. In this classification lesson students identify freshwater species of fish and document their observations.
Curated OER
Species Diversity and Phylogeny
Students explore the classification system of organisms: taxonomy. They examine prepared slides of Protozoans and record information on a Taxonomy Recording Sheet. Two additional classifying activities are also included in this lesson...
ARKive
Penguin Diversity – Mask Making
Penguins are very diverse and well-adapted birds; they live on islands, in warm and cold climates. Little ones examine penguin diversity and discuss the highly functional adaptive traits that have helped them survive in some of the...
It's About Time
Diversity in Living Things
How diverse is the world we live in compared to the way things used to be? Young biologists explore diverse organisms and relate the structure of each organism to its ability to survive in our current environmental conditions....
Curated OER
How Diverse is That?
Compare various types of biological diversity in a coral reef and calculate a numeric indicator that describes the diversity found in coral communities. Your class can work in groups to look at the abundance and distribution data of...
ARKive
Species Discovery
How many of your students know that even today new species are being found all over the globe? Introduce them to the amazing diversity our planet houses with a creative activity about animal variation and classification. They'll use a...
ARKive
Species Discovery
How do you classify a newly discovered species? Learners view a presentation and complete research about biodiversity and the classification hierarchy. The lesson includes activities with dichotomous keys and work on classifying both...
Sea World
Endangered Species
Study different endangered species with several activities that incorporate math, science, language arts, and research strategies. A great addition to your lesson on conservation or Earth Day.
Curated OER
Charting Diversity
Young scholars organize different species of plans and animals according to various characteristics. Students then determine what characteristics enable them to survive in their habitat. Game ideas and activities are included.
Curated OER
Invasive Species
Students study exotic and native species, and examine how exotic species can impact native ones. They study how the mute swan effects native species.
American Museum of Natural History
Life in the City
Believe it or not, biodiversity exists even in areas of disturbed habitat. An interactive activity challenges learners to look for species with a magnifying lens in an image of a city habitat. Pop-up images and descriptions explain how...
Curated OER
Species Charades
Students are introduced to a unit on endangered species. They study the diversity of endangered animals through a game of charades. After the game, students will discuss the animals that were acted out and why some of them are endangered.
Curated OER
Endangered Species
Young scholars define the terms endangered and threatened. They identify the factors that can cause species to become endangered. They discover how animals are protected by the Endangered Species Act.
Curated OER
Species on the Edge
Students study science. In this endangered species lesson plan, students examine sea turtles and actions that can be taken to help keep them alive. They work in small groups to research different species of turtles and share their...
Curated OER
Species on the Edge
Learners examine sea turtles. In this endangered species lesson, students analyze sea turtle habitats. Learners hypothesize why sea turtles could go extinct.
Curated OER
Animal Communication
Students understand that all species have some capacity for communication. Students are exposed to the fact that all species have a capacity for communication. They are enlighten to the fact that communication abilities range from very...
Curated OER
Let's go to the Video Tape!
Using actual data from a deep-sea video survey, high school marine biologists consider the biodiversity, compare species richness between two communities, and learn to calculate the diversity index. The lesson plan is all-inclusive,...
Curated OER
Measuring Biodiversity
Students collect species data from a mock intertidal community. In this biology lesson, students graph their data and analyze the species in it. They construct a species accumulation curve and present it to class.
NOAA
Invertebrates
Crabs and lobsters ... yum! The 18th installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program focuses on invertebrate marine life. After the lecture slideshow, learners conduct an activity to sample...
Curated OER
Sustainability and Extinction
Galapagos Penguins are the only penguins on earth that live north of the equator (in the wild). In this last lesson plan a discussion on how the Galapagos islands developed their populations and diversity sparks the introduction. Two...
Curated OER
Underwater Research
Students make transect and quadrat surveys using a provided worksheet in order to understand the techniques used to study coral reefs. Each type of survey is used to identify the species, diversity, and number of corals.
Curated OER
Analyzing Intertidal and Deep Sea Vent Communities
Students study how scientists measure diversity. In this diversity lesson students look at marine communities and look at data to calculate diversity in 3 different ways.