Lesson Plan
Science 4 Inquiry

The Classification of Living Things

For Teachers 6th - 12th
It's a classification sensation! Demystify why we classify using an inquiry activity that helps your class sort things out. Groups begin by classifying a variety of shoes before they research organisms and design their own dichotomous...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Classifying Objects

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders classify living things according to similarities and differences through guided and independent activities. They place objects into groups according to their characteristics and then make a collage of living things...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Plants, Animals and Our Environment

For Teachers K
Students draw and label the basic needs of animals. They draw and label the basic needs of plants. Students understand the basic needs of plants and animals are not only the same, but are interrelated. They know that the environment...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Interactions Among Living Things

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students role play predators and prey, classify organisms as predator or prey, and describe factors that affect population growth and size.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Who Am I?

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Students classify organisms into one of five categories: producer, consumer, decomposer, predator, or prey. Students play a "Who Am I" game. Signs are hung on the backs of fellow students They must ask questions to determine what...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"Five Little Seeds"

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders complete various activities related to the plant life cycle. They read the book "The Tiny Seed," read and discuss the poem "Five Little Seeds," complete a "Plantenstein Mystery" and other online activities, write and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Plants

For Teachers 1st
First graders learn the basic needs of plants, label the major parts of a plant and name their uses. They also use a KWL chart.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Desert Plant Detectives

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Learners examine and categorize plants in their own schoolyard desert garden and then observe other plant areas of their schoolyard.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"Fossil" of a Carbonized Plant

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Students use leaves to make model of a carbonized plant and classify leaves by shape and margin type.
Unit Plan
University of Southern California

What Lives In The Ocean?

For Students 4th - 8th
One of the most diverse environments on Earth is the ocean. Young scientists explore the living things found in the ocean during an exciting seven-lesson unit. Their study includes organisms from plankton to invertebrates...
Lesson Plan
Cornell University

Classification

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Explore the scientific method of classification. An interactive activity asks learners to create a classification system for a group of objects and develop a flow chart to communicate their systems. In addition, individuals use a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bird Ecology Unit

For Teachers 10th
Tenth graders conduct various activities utilizing the scientific method to formulate a hypothesis, conduct a controlled experiment, collect and analyze the data and communicate their results through a poster. They also identify...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Biodiversity in Sixth Grade

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders explore the nature of habitats on an ABC hike. In groups, they collect items that make up habitats including plants, feathers, and leaves among other materials. Students then classify and organize the collected materials...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Creepy Critters

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners classify imaginary newly discovered organisms. In this classification activity, students are given cards showing imaginary organisms that have been recently discovered. They must classify the organisms based on their...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Invasive Aquatic Plant Identification

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students observe aquatic plants and animals and identify their systems. In this plants and animals lesson plan, students compare systems of organisms and orally express how plants and animals rely on each other.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

From One Seed Grow Many Seeds

For Teachers 1st
First graders practice identifying plants by singing a song.  In this plant life lesson, 1st graders sing the song "Parts of a Plant" which is based on the anatomy of sunflowers.  Students discover agriculture techniques while...
Unit Plan
Curated OER

Everything in Its Place: Science Classification

For Teachers 5th
Students investigate the system of classification for living things through the sixteen lessons of this unit. The five kingdoms of monerans, protists, fungi, plants, and animals form the basis of several experiments as the similarities...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Species Diversity in Ecosystems with Different Techniques of Land Management

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students visit numerous places to help in their understanding of Ecology. In this biology lesson plan, students will learn about characteristics and how to identify numerous plants and animals. This lesson plan allows for many field trip...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Introduction to Classification

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders design a classification system to categorize animate and inanimate objects. They discuss the advantages of grouping things as they classify buttons, leaves, shells.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Classifying Living and Non-Living Objects

For Teachers K
Students investigate living organisms and define the properties of a living species.  In this life characteristic lesson, students examine plants in their class and discuss whether or not they are alive.  Students create a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"Garden Springs Gardeners"

For Teachers 1st
First graders ponder the question of how plants help their lives. They observe and compare properties of several different plants. Differentiate between living organisms and nonliving objects.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

It's Challenging Being Green!

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Young scholars influence the plant life cycle as they take care of plants.In this caring for plants lesson, students understand the parts of the plant and their functions in keeping it alive. Young scholars participate in experiments...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Circle of Life

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders examine how the different organisms living in an ecosystem affect one another. In groups, they research a specific ecosystem and present their findings to the class based on the type of organisms found in it. To end the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Turning the Tide on Trash: Marine Debris Curriculum

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Seven pages of fascinating reading on marine debris preface the activities in this lesson plan. Four different activities are employed to simulate how the debris is distributed in the ocean and along beaches. Early ecology learners...