American Museum of Natural History
Ask a Scientist About Our Environment
Scientists respond to 26 question posed by learners. These experts answer in easy to understand language, include photos to illustrate the issue, offer suggestions for how young people can make a difference, and supply links to resources...
ARKive
Biodiversity and Evolution – Darwin’s Finches
Teens experience natural selection firsthand (or first beak) in an activity that has them act as finches foraging for food. Using different household items to act as different beak styles, your little finches will collect as much food...
Curated OER
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...
Curated OER
The Game of Life
Students describe what it means for a marine animal or fish to be threatened or endangered after playing game simulating extinction.
Curated OER
Animals Multiple Choice Words Worksheet
Looking for some simple multiple-choice questions for an upcoming biology unit on animals? This instructional activity features 7 clearly worded questions, each with 4 possible answers. Topics include adaptation, camouflage, ecosystems,...
NOAA
Endangered Species Origami
Make sea turtle or whale origami in a hands-on activity that provides instructions for folding and facts for learning about each.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
The Anthropocene: Human Impact on the Environment
Will human existence define an epoch? Many scientists think we are in a new epoch, the anthropocene, defined by humans and our impact on the environment. An online interactive demonstrates the immense impact humans have had on every part...
Curated OER
Relationships and Biodiversity
Students examine diversity on the planet and the differences within a species. In this investigative lesson students complete a lab that allows students to better understand the relatedness between plants.
Curated OER
The Game of Life
Young scholars explore the game of life which refers to what happens to a species when most of the population is gone. In this endangered species activity, students describe what it means for a marine animal to be endangered. Young...
Curated OER
Coral Reefs Endangered
Students research where in the world coral reefs are located. In this ecology lesson, students create food chains and food web. They simulate growing coral reefs to understand their characteristics better.
Curated OER
It's all Interconnected
Students participate in a number of activities to investigate the food web, species extinction, predators and prey, and biological diversity.
Curated OER
Martha Who?
Students explore how the number and types of organisms an ecosystem can support depends on the resources available and on abiotic factors, such as quantities of light and water, a range of temperatures, soil composition. They are...
Curated OER
Centennial: Mammoths to man
Students research and investigate woolly mammoths in order to determine what caused their extinction in Utah. They research how Utah changed in the time after the mammoth disappeared.
Curated OER
Forest Food Web Activity
Learners gain knowledge of food webs and ecological interconnections in the forest, and place different life forms in their proper place in a food chain. Students appreciate the balance of nature and how humans are affected by extinct...
Curated OER
Relative Dating - Telling Time Using Fossils
Students use fossil range charts to explain relative dating. They graph for ammonites, marine organisms that went extinct at the same time as dinosaurs.
Curated OER
Regulating the Harvest
Students study the effect of trapping in the Illinois Territory in 1805 and compare it to trapping today. They participate in a role playing activity in which they discover how practices in early Illinois Territory led to wildlife...
Curated OER
Population Density In Fish
Students investigate how a population of fish multiplies in an ecosystem and the kinds of things that must be done to maintain a healthy population balance with other organisms that live there. They conduct an experiment to test the...
Curated OER
My Spelling Words: Spelling List #169
In this spelling worksheet, students read and write twelve spelling words. Afterward, they solve a crossword puzzle using the words. All words are related to the ecosystem and endangered animals.
Curated OER
Gray Whales on the Move
Young scholars study whale migration and their natural history. In this migration lesson students plot whale migration on a map and describe their ecosystems.
Curated OER
Species on the Edge
Students examine sea turtles. In this endangered species lesson, students analyze sea turtle habitats. Students hypothesize why sea turtles could go extinct.
Curated OER
Sounds of the Wetlands
Students identify the sounds of different bird calls. For this biology lesson, students create a sound map. They explain how this method is important in tracking wildlife.
Curated OER
Indicator Species
Students explore the ecological foundation of India's and ways to save the forests, water and the India tiger. After a lecture on identifying a healthy forest and the importance of the animals, students participate in activities to...
Curated OER
Why Care About Amphibian Population Decline and Malformations?
Students examine the reasons for preserving wildlife. They look at reasons for amphibian malformations and write an essay about the ethical issues that this brings up. They listen to the teacher read quotes about extinction and how the...
Curated OER
Biodiversity: El Imposible National Park, El Salvador
Fifth graders explore the concept of how the more diverse an ecosystem is, the more interdependence of species exists within that system. The complex relationships among diverse species are difficult to identify. As species disappear or...