Curated OER
Build Your Own Insect Trap
Learners ask testable questions. They explain the relationship between insect behavior and insect trapping techniques. Students design their own insect traps to collect a new unknown insect, in the same way that entomologists collect the...
Curated OER
Mealworms
Crawl into the world of the darkling beetle with this scientific investigation. Watch as the insects move through the larval, pupal, and adult stages of life, recording observations along the way. Discuss the necessities of life as young...
Rainforest Alliance
Colombia Biodiversity
How diverse is the rainforest? How much more diverse is a rain forest than a temperate forest? Explore these focus questions in a lesson that explores the plants, animals, and insects in forests. After listening to a reading about...
Curated OER
The Insect Files
Students are provided with a physical description of the insect, in words and graphics, including body parts, special adaptations, color, and so on. They explore and report on all four elements of an insect's habitat: food, water,...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Zombie Ants
One of the creepiest and coolest natural occurrences is a great forum for data analysis and discussion! Explore the phenomenon of zombie ants, or ants infected with the Cordyceps fungus, with a series of activities and experiments. Kids...
Curated OER
Feeding Frenzy
Learners examine, through experimentation and simulation, how insect mouthparts are adapted for particular food sources, discuss how various animals have adapted to survive, play Feeding Frenzy game, and complete activity sheets.
Curated OER
Scales, Scutes, and Skins
Students identify the various adaptations of reptiles and amphibians. After distinguishing between reptiles and amphibians, students discuss the ways in which their adaptations aid in their survival. They participate in a hands on...
Curated OER
Diversity And Adaptations Of Organisms
Seventh graders demonstrate the processes of science by posing questions and investigating phenomena through language, methods and instruments of science. They study the body features or systems of several animals.
ARKive
Marvellous Mini-beasts – Design a Species
Here is a creative activity that teaches kids how species evolve different characteristics for survival. The lesson begins as the class discusses and examines the adaptive traits of mini-beasts or insects. Then, in small groups, they...
Curated OER
Wacky Water Critters
Students recognize the biodiversity that exists in a wetland ecosystem. They identify individual wetland organisms. Students define, identify, and comprehend the importance of adaptations. They describe the process of metamorphosis.
Curated OER
Animal Communication
Learners understand that all species have some capacity for communication. Students are exposed to the fact that all species have a capacity for communication. They are enlighten to the fact that communication abilities range from very...
Curated OER
Body Parts of a Butterfly
Students identify the seven major parts of a butterfly. For this butterfly anatomy lesson, students explore three dimensional models of butterflies and discuss the anatomy. Students view a PowerPoint for the anatomical parts of a...
Curated OER
Wanted!!
Fourth graders study insects in their habitats looking at survival characteristics and whether the insect is a predator or an herbivore. They investigate characteristics that improve the survival of a species and its ability to reproduce.
Curated OER
Bugs
Students explore the wonders of bugs. In this bug lesson, students examine various types of bugs. Students make crafts, sing songs, discuss nutrition, and investigate different types of insects.
Smithsonian Institution
Art to Zoo: Life in the Promised Land: African-American Migrants in Northern Cities, 1916-1940
This is a fantastic resource designed for learners to envision what it was like for the three million African-Americans who migrated to urban industrial centers of the northern United States between 1910 and 1940. After reading a...
Michigan State University
Friend or Foe?
What one person thinks is a pest may not be a pest to someone else. Here, scholars examine the characteristics of living things and pests through grand conversation and a variety of activities. Class members play a game of pest or not a...
Curated OER
Night Hike
Learners explore Upham Woods at night and investigate about the special adaptations of nocturnal animals. They identify three nocturnal animals and how they are adapted to the night. Students explain what night vision is and how it works.
Curated OER
Discovering Owls
Students are introduced to different types of owls and owl pellets. They list several adaptations that benefit the owls. Students identify the various species of owl that live in Wisconsin. Students discuss owl pellets and identify the...
Curated OER
Science: Birds in Flight
Students identify and examine adaptations in birds that enable them to fly. They conduct Internet research to relate these adaptations to the physics of flight. Students observe birds in flight and describe their behavior and flight...
Curated OER
What is Cultural Evolution?
Students comprehend what is meant by Cultural Evolution and that it primarily applies at Human Evolution, but that there are examples in higher mammals such as a killer whales, dolphins and great apes of particular groups by exploring...
Curated OER
Frogs: Fact or Folklore
Students discover how frogs are adapted to their environment. They view and discuss a Discovery Channel video on frogs and the myths surrounding frogs. In small, groups they compile data on frogs from the internet to create a Frog Fact...
Curated OER
Arthropod Mouth Parts and Food
Young scholars identify the different types of mouths arthropods have for eating various types of food. Given photographs of the different types of arthropods, students identify which mouth they have and what type of food they can eat...
Curated OER
Salmon in the Classroom
Students list the salmon life cycle stages in order. They draw a stream with the vegetation, animals, and water quality parameters that are necessary for salmon survival. Students explain the connection between animal morphology and...
Peace Corps
Introducing Culture
Growing up within a culture leaves a lot of ideas and values unspoken. Take a closer look at the cultures in which your learners live with a discussion activity that addresses cultural identity and traits of those living within the...