Curated OER
Life And Death
Students participate in an interactive game to review how living things are classified.
Curated OER
The Great Jellybean Hunt
Students explore natural selection and its influence on the populations to fine tune traits and characteristics. The acquisition of traits developed out of need is examined through a game played in class.
Curated OER
Become an Expert
Students are assigned a separate species of plant or bird to research. Using a worksheet, they are responsible for finding a variety of information on their assigned plant or bird. They also complete a mini-poster and give an oral...
Curated OER
Arizona Plant Booklet: An Introduction to Arizona Plants & Cacti
Young scholars explore variety of plants & cacti in their Arizona community by collecting samples and taking photographs. Can be adapted to other areas.
Curated OER
Classification
Young scholars investigate how to classify items based on similar characteristics. They study the scientific system of classification.
Curated OER
Classifying Living Things
Students identify how to classify living things. They classify various concepts including family members, kinds of clothing, numbers, shapes, and vocabulary words. They discuss how to classify various concepts and classify pictures of...
Curated OER
City Animals
Students, in groups, conduct research, including interviews of people in various animal related occupations, to identify and describe how animal populations of cities have changed over time, to outline the benefits and problems...
Out of Africa Wildlife Park
A Thematic Learning Guide to Lions
Written as an accompaniment to a field trip to the Out of Africa Wildlife Park in Arizona, this is an interdisciplinary, themed lesson on lions. Even if you cannot take your upper-elementary kids to this attraction, there are a few...
Curated OER
Seashell Discovery: A Lesson in Inductive Classification
Students examine the shells, observing texture, shape, pattern and structure. They should come up with any system of grouping the shells they like, and classify the shells.
Curated OER
Galapagos: Beyond Darwin
Middle schoolers identify plants and animals endemic in their local area after learning about the plants and animals of the Galapagos Islands. In this plants and animals lesson plan, students create an endemic garden on school grounds.
Curated OER
Survival
Students identify characteristics of Australia, Africa and Antarctica and compare and contrast them to each other. They work together to identify adaptations that animals have used to survive. They also practice classifying animals.
Curated OER
Animal Classes-Mammal Birds Fish Reptiles Amphibian
Pupils learn about the characteristics of each animal classification. In this animal classification instructional activity students will first learn the characteristics of each classification. Then, they will find animals from given...
Curated OER
Water Will, Water Way
Young scholars test tap water for hardness and mineral content. For this environmental science lesson, students identify the different stages of the water cycle. They classify plant and animals according to the rules of taxonomy.
Curated OER
What Kind Of Mammal Is It?
Students describe the characteristics of a mammal. They also differentiate between a companion and a wild animal. The lesson has an assessment included in it. They have a discussion to tap prior knowledge about what a mammal is.
Curated OER
Pyramid of Biomass
Young scholars interpret data to demonstrate biomass and number pyramids. They use information to draw conclusions and examine an example of biological magnification.
Curated OER
Invertebrate Phyla
Students explore the invertebrate phyla. They discuss the characteristics of the invertebrate Phyla in the Kingdom Animal. Students classify organisms into Phyla based on their characteristics. They distinguish radial symmetry, bilateral...
Curated OER
Classify That!
Students get acquainted with diverse forms of life by using modern biological classification systems to group animals that are related. They explore basic scientific groupings like genus, species, mammals, fish, birds, amphibians, and...
ARKive
Temperate Rainforest in the Pacific Northwest
Explore the amazing temperate rainforest of the Pacific Northwest. Your class starts by investigating the animals and plants of the Northwest, specifically Washington, and then research an animal population common to the area. In small...
Polar Trec
Arctic Smorgasbord!
Two blooms of phytoplankton, instead of just one, now occur in the Arctic due to declining sea ice, which will have widespread effects on the marine life and climate. In small groups, participants build an Arctic food web with given...
Curated OER
Classification and Identification
Students, after exploring and analyzing diagrammatic and taxonomic keys and their association to marine sciences, identify and classify objects and organisms based on visual attributes/characteristics. They research and create their own...
NASA
Mystery Planet
What can one learn about a planet based on a small surface sample? Learners will explore artifacts from a mystery planet and see what they can determine about the planet based on the evidence in front of them.
Curated OER
Coral Reefs
Learners research an inhabitant of a Caribbean coral reef using a list of common organisms that live on or near it. Students then write a description of their organism and draw a picture or a 3-D model of it. Eventually they all work...
Curated OER
A Little Horse Sense
How have horses evolved over time? How do horse skulls reveal this evolution? How have the roles horses play changed over time? What kind of social structure do horse herds have? How should wild horse populations be managed? To find the...