Curated OER
The Circle of Life: Food Chain
Students develop a flow chart using computer software to show a food chain combination. In this food chain instructional activity, students are first read The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry, then they create a story map of the story. ...
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Animal Diversity
Students explore biology by completing science worksheets in class. In this animal anatomy lesson, students read the book The Adventures of Marco and Polo and identify the animals mentioned in it. Students examine a real life animal and...
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Keep It Clean!
Fifth graders investigate the how water becomes polluted and how it effects the environment, animals, and humans. They watch a video and conduct experiments.
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Functional Homes
Students observe and reflect on habitats built and used by various life forms. They discover the benefits of the "homes" to the creature and its life and apply the natural designs to human uses.
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Nowhere to Hide
Middle schoolers examine the topic of natural selection. As a class, they write their own definition to survival of the fittest and watch a video. Using the internet, they research how Darwin started to examine this process using finches...
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Reading Miss Lady Bird's Wildflowers
Students discover the impact "Lady Bird" Johnson had on America by reading a short biography. In this historical persons lesson plan, students read a multi page biography of the former first lady and write a summary of her life's work....
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Diversity of Life: Pathogens
Students research bacteria and viruses that carry pathogens. In this diversity lesson, students examine how pathogens spread disease through bacteria and viruses. Students write a report on disease caused by bacteria or virus including...
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Where Does Food Come From?
Distinguish between food and non-food items. Recognize that food is obtained from both plant and animal sources. Identify sources for some common animal foods then construct a simple food path from the farm to the consumer.
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If Peter Pan Can Fly, Why Can't I?
Students redesign a human, using data in research, so that s/he can fly. In this flying lesson, students examine the characteristics and adaptations of groups of animals that can fly. Using this research, students work cooperatively to...
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The Key To Classifying Animals
Explorers of the environment construct a dichotomous key for a variety of organisms and design a key to classify Galapagos animals based on descriptions and images. The lesson includes a link to an animal gallery and the worksheet for...
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Creative Writing Lesson Plan: Combination Creature
Learners navigate through an online interactive virtual zoo to create imaginary animals by combining different parts of real animals. They write a short story about their combination creature.
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Forest Food Webs
Students consider the interdependency of life in a temperate forest by studying selected organisms from an Asian temperate forest and creating a food web.
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How Are Open Ocean Organisms Structured for Their Environment?
Students explore biology by conducting an animal dissection. In this oceanography lesson, students identify the life cycle of a squid and other animals that are involved with commercial fishing. Students dissect a squid in class and...
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Relating Structure to Function in Cells
Twelfth graders investigate specialized structures in both plants and animals. They relate structure to function, as they determine why the specialization is necessary and useful to the living organisms involved. They use microscopes...
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Adventure Writing: Oregon's Landscape as a Setting
Students identify geographical features of different regions encountered by migrants on the Oregon trail. Students research how the Oregon landscape may have affected life and 19th century westward migration. Students write a narrative...
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Fossils!
Students conduct Internet research about different types of fossils, the animals they are from, and some famous paleontologists. They also participate in some interactive activities and hands-on lessons in which they create their own...
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The Desert is Theirs: Adapting to Our Environment
Students determine how animals and people adapt to the desert environment. In this desert lesson, students review vocabulary about the desert and how humans have to make changes to accommodate their environments. They listen to and...
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Local Habitats
Young scholars create dioramas that depict a habitat. In this habitat instructional activity, students use a variety of art items to develop either a marine, freshwater/pond, or forest habitat in a box. They write an expository essay...
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Man's Struggle for Environmental Preservation
Learners examine the way all living things are connected to one another. In groups, they participate in experiments in which they analyze the chemical processes through the biosphere and explain the role of energy. They also brainstorm...
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Caring for a Pet
Students identify the responsibilities of pet owners. In this animal welfare lesson, students read the book Animals As Friends and list the characteristics of a good pet owner. Students use a tally sheet to determine what pets students...
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Filter Feeding in Reef Sponges
Young scholars investigate the role of sponges in our oceans. In this biology lesson, students create a diagram visualizing how sponges bring food into their bodies through a filtering process. Young scholars discuss the connections...
NOAA
Journey to the Unknown
What's it like to be a deep-sea explorer? Tap into the imaginations of your fifth and sixth graders with a vivid lesson, the second part of a six-part adventure. Learners close their eyes and submerge themselves in an expedition aboard...
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Wild Thing!
Sixth graders view several segments of the video, "How Animals Survive." They discuss elements of survival. Students list living and nonliving things found in their backyards and schoolyards. Students work in groups to complete the...
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Going on a Seed Safari
Students describe biology by identifying different plants in class. In this seed lesson, students discuss the process of how a plant grows from seed to leaves. Students attend a field trip to their garden or another park and collect a...