What an impression fossils make! In this activity, aspiring paleontologists view fossils and construct a timeline to further understand how the lack of natural adaptation caused historical organisms to become extinct. While they...

Students investigate nearby forests and record their interactions with trees as well as wild life.  In this ecology lesson, students read the book, In the Woods: Who's Been Here?, and attend class observational field trips through...

Students explore the forest. In this ecosystems instructional activity, students rotate through sensory activity centers, brainstorm, and read about temperate forests.

Students plot the Kaibab deer population from 1905 to 1939 and analyze the changes over time. In this populations lesson plan, students investigate the causes of changing populations of the Kaibab deer and they find the carrying capacity...

Comprehension questions for the last chapter of Jeanne DuPrau's book The City of Ember assess factual recall, sequencing skills, and inference about the text. Note: One question about point of view is based on a sentence not related to...

Examine wood bugs and their habitat. Learners gather wood bugs and examine their bodies. Then discuss their body parts and how they help them survive. They also predict where they think wood bugs live to then graph the class results.

People could take a page in ingenuity and survival from the Powhatans. Deer skins became clothes, and the members of the Native American group farmed the rich Virginia soil and hunted in its forests for food. Using images of artifacts...

First graders explore the work of conservationists and how they make sure animals and people are safe in their habitats. They identify the rules, laws, jobs, and people who help them feel safe and keep them healthy. Students explore who...

Third graders study ocean mammals. They explore various websites and databases to answer questions and record answers about whales and dolphins. Finally they use the information obtained to write a report about them.

Students become familiar with the temperate rainforest.  In this forest ecosystem lesson, students identify the producers, consumers and decomposers in the forest ecosystem.  Students sort cards and identify the trophic level...

Where does a cow live? Language learners engage in a series of activities that asks them to match animals with their habitats.

After cutting down a forest to make a farm, how long would it take the environment to turn an abandoned farm back into a forest? Scholars study this exact scenario while they interpret many charts and graphs of the changing ecosystems as...

Aside from the amazing animals in Gorongosa National Park, what else is there to discover? The sixth installment in an eight-part themed series contains an interactive map where scholars can learn more about the geographic features of...

Students explore the four characteristics of an old growth forest. In this forest lesson plan, students research old growth forests and their inhabitants. Students work in four separate groups and create a mural for their characteristic...

Young scholars research the structure and function of the eye. In this anatomy lesson, students write a report about the eye and draw an illustration. They research a particular animal's eye then present their findings to the class...

Students examine forest food chains and create a forest habitat in the classroom. They are introduced to the concept of interdependence in Nature. They define a simple forest food chain and develop inquiry process skills.

Students discover that life occurs on or near the surface of the Earth in land, air, and water. They read the literature selection, 'Whose Forest Is It?' and discuss with students that there are examples of of many living things that...

Young scholars identify how the different plants and animals work together to cause the changes in the log. Students discuss the sequence of events in the life of the tree and log. Young scholars plant a seed to take home and care for....

In this rainforest fact worksheet, students learn about rainforest weather by participating in a question/answer group activity. There are 8 questions on small cards and 8 corresponding answers. Students with questions circulate...

Emerging ecologists examine endangered species by visiting the US Environmental Protection Agency website. They consider human contribution to the decline of different species. They research an endangered animal and then craft a poster...

Students investigate the decomposition process. In this ecology lesson, students participate in a play, "Up the Treehouse" where the main idea focuses on a decomposing tree and how food chains are effected by decomposition. After the...

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...

Your clever kindergartners will enjoy a series of activities based on the West African folktale, The Clever Monkey, adapted by Rob Cleveland. They sequence the story with pictures, copy sentences, illustrate idioms about cats,...

Students investigate rainforests. In this rainforest instructional activity, students brainstorm on a KWL chart about what they already know about the rain forest. Students are shown pictures of the rain forest and describe what they see...