Students create a collage. In this animal classification lesson, students discuss why and how scientists classify animals. Students view pictures of different animals and decide which class each animal belongs to. Students compare...

Students maintain a field journal as they follow penguin parents raising their chicks during the breeding season. They formulate testable questions. Students reflect on animal behavior in the field related to survival and chick rearing.

Students explore biology by creating a report for the class. In this oceanography lesson, students research and identify the survival characteristics of a list of freshwater animals by utilizing the Internet and library. Students...

Students role play a living wetland food web. They trace the food web associated with the items in their lunch.

An ecosystem is really just the flow of energy through many different living organisms. A study of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book leads to an environmental science activity in which learners study how various factors can affect...

Learners, after locating different marine habitats on a globe, play a card game about ecosystems, food webs and organisms.

Students explain the different stages in the growth of a frog, then analyze and collect data to make generalizations about a larger population. They determine the survival rate of a population of tadpoles under controlled conditions.

Young scholars record data found at an assigned web site. For this data collection lesson, students access an assigned web site in order to complete a data chart about animals they see. They travel to different sections of the web site...

Students examine how animals protect themselves from predators and camouflage themselves. They participate in a simulation in which they locate red and green yarn "caterpillars," organize their data, and generate a bar graph using...

Fifth graders observe their plant experiments that they started in a previous lesson and examine the role of decomposers in the nitrogen cycle. Two weeks after they set up a worm terrarium, they analyze any changes they observe, and...

Students explore the cycles of an ecosystem.  In this environmental science lesson, students work in groups to research the nitrogen cycle, the water cycle, or the oxygen-carbon dioxide cycle. Students prepare a PowerPoint or other...

Students create graphic organizer webs that illustrate their thinking about seasonal physical and biological changes caused by changes in sunlight. They identify the central role of sunlight in living systems.

Students explore DNA structure using materials such as Twizzlers, small colored gumdrops and/or toothpicks.

Students examine the interconnectedness of living and non-living things that constitute an ecosystem. They examine fallen trees,insects, living trees, leaves, food webs, and forests. They conduct various activities and write poems about...

Young scholars use the Internet and other resources to find insect common names that begin with each letter of the alphabet. They write a brief description of each insect, focusing on what the insect eats and where the insect lives.

Fifth graders examine animal adaptations and how they meet their needs in a variety of environments. They discuss how they might adapt to their own environment before discussing how an animal could adapt. Next, they complete an...

Students use their personal knowledge and the Internet to discover where and how spiders live. In groups, they discuss their experiences with spiders and how their lives differ from other insects. They use new vocabulary to discuss their...

Young scholars identify and discuss the adaptive characteristics and behaviors of fish. They view slides of fish, and design and create a model of a fish of the future, listing the ways their fish adapt to survive.

Fifth graders relate population of animals to its available food supply. They participate in an experiment and gather information. They use the data to draw conclusions.

Students conduct an experiment to demonstrate how fruit fly populations are controlled by spiders. They observe a variety of environments with fruit flies and spiders and consider how vital spiders are to controlling the insect population.

Students explore the physical characteristics, distribution and habitat of termites. The lesson focuses on the termite as a social creature contrary to most other insects.

Students predict the effects of water, light, and soil on the development of a plant and then design an experiment to test their predictions.

Students complete a unit of lessons on animals and animal conservation. They observe a square meter of ground outside the school, set up a model environment, analyze an owl pellet, grow bread mold, and explore various websites.