Lesson Plan
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Classification

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students complete an animal classification activity. In this classification lesson, students learn about the seven classification levels of animals. Students are given several animal sheets in which they separate 12...
Lesson Plan
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Forest Friends Forever

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Pupils investigate how to use the senses to gather information about objects such as size, shape, color, texture, sound, position, and change (qualitative observations are utilized throughout this lesson plan). They investigate and...
Lesson Plan
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Sorting and Using Materials

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
Learners practice sorting and classifying objects. In groups, they choose a variety of materials and describe how each one looks and feels. They must agree on how to classify each object and share their groupings with the class. They...
Lesson Plan
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School Yard Park/Ecosystem

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders observe and categorize different sections of a park and it's ecosystem. For this categorizing lesson plan, 5th graders collect different facets of nature from a nearby park (without disturbing the ecosystem). They map,...
Lesson Plan
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Is There A Fungus Among Us?

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders classify fungus into two different groups. In this fungus lesson, 6th graders collect as many pieces of fungus as possible. Students then classify these pieces of fungus as saprophytic or parasitic. 
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Inside Out: An Up-Close Look At Foods We Eat

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders identify the origins of meats and vegetables consumed by humans on a daily basis. They classify foods (meats, dairy products, grains...) and create a food pyramid.
Lesson Plan
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Big Cats Sounds

For Teachers 1st - 4th
Students explore the sounds of big cats. In this animal science lesson, students listen to the sounds of the big cats, such as lions and tiger, on a suggested website. Students research how the big cats use their sounds and write a...
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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
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Birds of the Northeast

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students identify several common birds through field observations, preserved specimens and personal experience. They classify the species and choose one to research. They draw a migration map and participate in a project that benefit...
Lesson Plan
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Tree Lesson

For Teachers 3rd - 7th
Students compare and contrast characteristics of conifer and hardwood trees. After collecting samples of branches around the school, they classify the branch as hardwood or conifer. Groups of students identify given twigs. They go...
Lesson Plan
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Animal Kingdom: Phylum Chordata

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Young scholars use a dichotomous key to classify various vertebrate jar speciments into classes. They examine the speciments for general characteristics of each class and fill in a corresponding chart and then complete a few final...
Lesson Plan
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Invertebrate Classification

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers discuss the recent disovery of the "furry lobster" to peak interest in the animal kingdom. They classify various speciments using invertebrate dichotomous keys, identifying major animal phyla and classes. Thy the complete...
Organizer
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Science – How Living Things are Grouped

For Students 3rd - 5th
In this classification of living things instructional activity, students respond to 7 short answer, 10 true or false, 4 multiple choice, and 4 graphic organizer questions regarding how living things are grouped.
Lesson Plan
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For Creative Minds

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students study pictures of plants, animals, and minerals. Students classify the pictures into the three groups. In this rock identification lesson, students complete a rock finding lab experiment by finding, cleaning, identifying, and...
Lesson Plan
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Ocean Creature Classification

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students develop their own system for classifying a group of objects or organisms using observed similarities and differences. They investigate the process of scientific classification, and explain how marine organisms are classified by...
Lesson Plan
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Pond Safari

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
Young scholars investigate organisms and animals by examining a nearby pond. In this ecosystem lesson, students participate in a field trip to a local pond where they utilize a net to gather animals, plants and pollution items, Young...
Lesson Plan
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Dichotomous Keys

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders practice using dichotomous keys. They discover why scientists use them and why it is important to classify animals. They use candy to practice classifying objects and move on to classifying animals.
Lesson Plan
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Living and Non-Living

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders are divided into small groups and collect 4 objects from the playground. They take 5 to 10 minutes to classify their groups and discuss their findings including the terms "living" and "non-living". As a class they discuss...
Lesson Plan
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Seasons

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Learners name the 4 seasons, discussing the weather, plant life, animal life and and activities of each. Students read the book titled, "Hello Arctic," and and discuss changes in seasons that accompany the story. Learners complete...
Lesson Plan
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Creepy Critters

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars classify imaginary newly discovered organisms. In this classification lesson plan, students are given cards showing imaginary organisms that have been recently discovered. They must classify the organisms based on their...
Lesson Plan
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Species Diversity and Phylogeny

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars explore the classification system of organisms: taxonomy. They examine prepared slides of Protozoans and record information on a Taxonomy Recording Sheet. Two additional classifying activities are also included in this...
Lesson Plan
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Species at Risk: Recovery Teams to the Rescue!

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders discuss how certain species and plants are deemed endangered. They work together in conservation recovery teams to research an endangered species. Then they explore efforts to make sure that the existence of these species...
Lesson Plan
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It's Alive

For Teachers 1st
First graders critically analyze living and nonliving objects, then develop a list of characteristics to classify objects on a science walk. They make a book to close out the lesson.
Lesson Plan
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What's in Our Woods?

For Teachers K - 12th
Students observe their local forest and document the change that occurs over the school year.  For this forestry lesson, students utilize a GPS to mark a certain area of the woods as their study area for the remainder of the year....