Pennsylvania Department of Education
Animal Classes and Their Ecosystems
Students explore animal characteristics by participating in an environment identification activity. In this animal habitat instructional activity, students discuss a range of different wild life and the ecosystems that they are a part...
Curated OER
Animal Inventions
Students name the characteristics of animal groups. Students classify the major animal groups such as: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and insects. They identify the elements of specific habitats that each animal needs in...
Curated OER
Animal Classification
Second graders identify characteristics of and group animals by the five categories of vertebrates.
Curated OER
Animal-mania
Students explore the concept of scientific classification systems using a guided Internet research activity. They answer specific questions on the classification of animals by exploring a different Internet link for each question.
Curated OER
Kids for Conservation: Animal Unit
Students discuss animal needs and characteristics. In this animal mini-unit, students complete three activities studying different animals, their needs, how they have evolved, and how to protect them.
Curated OER
Animal Groups
Learners explore animal groups. In this animal science lesson plan, students use pictures from magazines and classify the animals into five categories. Learners share why they categorized the animals the way they did.
Curated OER
Animal Classification
Students recognize the six groups of animals (Mammals, fish, birds, reptiles, amphibians and arthropods) and their characteristics. In this animal characteristics lesson, students sort animals by their traits. Students cut...
Curated OER
Animals Galore
A well-designed instructional activity which covers the characteristics of the animals found in the six animal groups is here for your young biologists. In it, learners divide up into six groups; the amphibians, reptiles, mammals, birds,...
EngageNY
Reading about Freaky Frogs: “The Glass Frog”
Freaky frogs are the focus of a lesson plan designed to boost reading comprehension skills using text features and asking and answering questions. Informational text and a poem supply scholars with animal-related vocabulary and facts. A...
Curated OER
Animal Categories
Students sort animal picture cards into classification groups such as mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects and fish. They discuss the characteristics that each group of animals shares then arrange the pictures into a clasificatioon...
Curated OER
Animal Alphabet
Second graders identify animals with each letter of the alphabet. In groups, they create a PowerPoint presentation which shows the information they have collected about each one. Using all of this information, they create an animal...
Curated OER
Heating and Cooling a Really Large Lizard
Remind your middle school scientists how fox ear size varies depending on the climate they live in; large ears allow heat loss while small ears keep heat in. Discuss how a cold-blooded animal might try to regulate body temperature. Then...
Curated OER
The Animal Kingdom of Vertebrates
Seventh graders classify fish according to their characteristics. In this classification lesson students learn how to group animals including birds, reptiles and amphibians.
Curated OER
Animal Parenting
Students analyze parenting instincts. In this parenting instincts instructional activity, students view a drawing of animal they studies and describe what they learned about the animal. Students teach the class about their animal and the...
Curated OER
What's Your Classification
Students classify animals. In this animal groups lesson, students watch a video on animal groups and review the six animal groups. Students practice classifying animals using stuffed animals.
Curated OER
Dress Like A Frog
Young scholars recognize amphibian adaptations. In this amphibian lesson students explore amphibian adaptations that provide for successful living in their environments. A volunteer dresses up with all of the adaptations using everyday...
Curated OER
Animal Classification
Students classify animals. In this animal classification lesson, students identify characteristics from each of the 5 categories of vertebrates. Students group animals by categories.
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
A Planet Full of Animals
Learners study animals and practice classifying them through observation activities. For this animal classification lesson, students complete a KWL chart about animals. Learners then sort pictures of animals into chart categories based...
Curated OER
Frog Olympics
Students explore the attributes of amphibians. In this physical frog biology instructional activity, students discover facts about the muscles of frogs and then play 2 games that require them to move like frogs.
Curated OER
Mammals Have Fur
First graders study animals. In this animal classification lesson, 1st graders explore the characteristics (primarily fur) that distinguish animals as mammals. They work in groups at various stations that practice this classification...
Curated OER
Amphibians-Frog Dissection
Students compare the anatomy of a fish to an amphibian and that of an amphibian (frog) to a human. They complete a virtual frog dissection to gain some experience prior to the real dissection.
ARKive
Species Discovery
How many of your students know that even today new species are being found all over the globe? Introduce them to the amazing diversity our planet houses with a creative activity about animal variation and classification. They'll use a...