Try a twist on the old finch beak and chopsticks activity by using M&Ms on a Twister mat. Spoons, knives, forks, and chopsticks represent beaks and are randomly assigned to your little birds, who must collect as much food as possible...

Discuss the importance of wildlife conservation. Learners talk about the animals and plants on the US Fish and Wildlife Services list of endangered and threatened species. Then, they engage in a detailed discussion of the reasons these...

Focusing on the wildlife in their area, learners identify endangered and threatened species and what these animals need to survive. While this lesson involves animals in the Long Island area, it could be adapted for use with any area.

Students create a postcard about endangered species. For this biology lesson, students identify how human activities endanger other species. They research and recommend ways to help protect them.

Students explore how predators help control the growth of prey species for a more balanced ecosystem.

Seventh graders investigate the concept of evolution and how it was a mechanism for the foundation of life on Earth. They conduct research and attempt to make cognitive connections with the evidence to agree with the presupposition of...

Students view and discuss a video about the challenges facing wildlife on the planet Earth. They define key terms, watch the video, and answer discussion questions about the film.

Students create their own land or water environment. They make their environment livable for all the different animals they collect to put in it. Students research the types of animals that they can have in their environment, and how...

Students use an interactive web-based food web game to gain familiarity with tropic levels and interactions. They already understand that in an ecosystem there are four basic tropic levels: producers, primary consumers, secondary...

In this ecology community status worksheet, students research their state's ecosystem, make a chart of the biodiversity, analyze the chart and identify issues with wetland species.  This page has several links to helpful web resources.

Students transfer examples (names) of primates from their location in an outline hierarchy of primate groups into a set of nested boxes reflecting that same hierarchy. A cladogram can then be drawn illustrating how these groups are...

Second graders compare and contrast animate and inanimate objects. In this environmental science instructional activity, 2nd graders create simple food webs. They observe their environment and create a collage about it.

Students build a Colossal Classroom Cladogram of vertebrate evolution. After putting it together, they show the gradual, mosaic accumulation of the traits which we, as humans, possess.

Students receive a realistic introduction to the intricacies of the endangered species problem. Students examine and refine personal concepts of non-utilitarian value and biocentric stewardship. Students examine what, if any, duties the...

In this biology worksheet, students identify and match various classes of species found today. Then they explain why biodiversity exists today on earth and define evolution. Students also describe who a paleontologist is and what they do.

In this relationships and biodiversity learning exercise, students investigate the relationships between 4 plants sample using 7 different tests. These include looking at structural characteristics of the plants, seeds and stems, using...

Students construct a web of life. In this ecosystem lesson students are introduced to ecosystems and life cycles. Insects are the main focus.

Students examine the role earthworms play in building soils. They discuss worms and what they do with soil, make predictions and draw pictures, and observe their worms in soil over a two week period.

Building a scientific vocabulary is important for all students and this presentation provides a list of words typical to 4th grade science curriculum. Tip: Adding images to this resource will make the vocabulary more accessible to ELLs...

Students classify Archaeopteryx using pictures of actual fossils and scientist representations of how the animal might have looked. They compare Archaeopteryx's characteristics to those of the five extant vertebrate groups to...

Students hypothesize dinosaur size and speed by looking at dinosaur track way or by measuring a dinosaur models water displacement. In addition, techniques to help students become familiar with the ways paleontologists study fossils can...

Students study the Evolution in the Light of Fossils. Activities in this lesson range from quantitative measurements of hominoid skulls to the comparison of hominoid bone structures. They hypothesize dinosaur size and speed by looking at...

Students read journal entry from a Gal??pagos field researcher, find examples of five ecological relationships (competition, predation, parasitism, mutualism, and commensalism) and take notes on the details they find in the entry using a...

Young scholars create a calendar of endangered species. In this preservation lesson, students research endangered species of plants and animals around the Lake Pontchartrain Basin. Young scholars gather facts about the endangered species...