Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Classifying Plants and Insects

For Teachers K - 12th
Art and science come together in a lesson based on Flower Still Life by Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder. Learners classify plants and insects in the painting by color, leaf shape, size, reproduction, and season of bloom.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Get to Know- Insects, Spiders and Others

For Teachers 1st - 4th
Students investigate live insects. In this insects and spiders lesson, students work in groups to explore the outdoors and capture insects. Students observe, discuss and record information about the insects they discover. Students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Urban Life: What Lives in Our Schoolyard?

For Teachers K - 7th
Students research living organisms by exploring their school grounds. In this microscopic observation lesson, students gather materials, insects, and objects from their playground and schoolyard and bring them into class. Students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Insect Conservation

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Students make a diorama.  In this insect lesson, students review what they know and what they need to know about insects. Students define conservation, discuss why it is important to conserve insects, and make an insect diorama.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Insects Are Helpful!

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students see that insects do lots good and are very valuable to humans and nature. This is part of an ongoing effort to dispel fears of insects. They rotate through a series of centers that have examples of how insects contribute to our...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Spider's Life Cycle

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Students see that spiders have a life cycle, and reproduce by laying many eggs. We can count by ones, twos, fives, or as many as we want. They make two lists of animals on a chart.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Life in a Log

For Teachers K - 3rd
Young scholars identify insects living in rotting logs. In this decomposition lesson, students observe pieces of a rotting log, they look at the insects that have inhabited the log and create a chart that shows their findings.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Insect Anatomy

For Teachers 3rd - Higher Ed
Students explore the anatomy of an insect. In this activity the characteristics of insects, students explore parts of an insect. Students gain knowledge through pictures and charts showing insects and their body parts. Students will...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Aquatic Life

For Teachers K - Higher Ed
Students explore aquatic life. In this science instructional activity, students visit an aquatic ecosystem and collect animals found there. Students create a food chain for the aquatic ecosystem.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Butterfly Metamorphosis Booklet

For Teachers 2nd - 6th
Young scholars study the four different stages of butterfly metamorphosis, For this butterfly life cycle lesson, students construct a metamorphosis booklet by recording and illustrating the butterfly life cycles in the booklet....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Clearly Classified

For Teachers 3rd - 10th
Young scholars review the classification system for living organisms and apply it the classification of insects and flowers in the still life by Ambrosius Bosschaert. They create a chart classifying the animals and plants in the painting...
Lesson Plan
SeaWorld

Animal Migrations

For Teachers K - 3rd
Here is a fabulous set of activities for your young scientists. Each lesson contains map, hands-on, and game activities that will help the class understand why and how animals migrate from one place to another. First they'll examine the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"The Good, The Bad, and The Smelly."

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students explore insects' use of pheromones and beneficial insects versus insect pests.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Complete Metamorphosis

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
Students use a map and colored pins to plot the migration path of Monarch butterflies. They use data found at the Journey North website. Commas are also used in the activity to show how they are put in a series of words using butterfly...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Termitology

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Learners engage in an inquiry-based study of the ecology of termites. Through hands-on investigations, they explore the life cycle of termites, the termite's role in the food web, and the unique social structure of termite colonies.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Macroinvertebrate Mix and Match

For Teachers K - 5th
Learners are introduced to macroinvertebrates (primarily insects), the major segments of aquatic insects (the head, thorax and abdomen) and also differentiate between larval, nymph and adult stages. They investigate the head, thorax and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What's in Our Woods?

For Teachers K - 12th
Young scholars observe their local forest and document the change that occurs over the school year.  For this forestry lesson, students utilize a GPS to mark a certain area of the woods as their study area for the remainder of the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Water Wonders

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students explore hydrology concepts. In this environment and biology lesson, students identify and describe macroinvertebrates using a variety of pictures and resources. Students observe and write about a classroom aquarium in which...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hide In Plain Sight

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
Students view video clips and use the Internet to look for hidden animals. They then use the Internet to print out animal shapes and color them. They create environments on construction paper in which their animals can hide.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Spiders! Scary or Nice?

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students participate in a variety of cross-curriculur activities in order to explore spiders.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pond and Pond Organisms

For Teachers K - 7th
Students explore pond ecosystems.  In this pond organism activity, students will use pond water and a plastic bad in order to locate and identify freshwater organisms.  The activity is designed for younger grades, but...