Chicago Botanic Garden
Leaf Litter Ecology Lab
Some organisms spend their entire lives in leaf litter. The third in a series of six is a great lesson exploring the community of leaf litter. Groups gather and then spread leaf litter over white paper and remove leaves/twigs while...
Curated OER
A Monster of a Metaphor
What do Jeep advertisements and Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath have in common? They both employ the art of the extended metaphor! Using the Six-Trait Writing model, learners begin to work on their own extended metaphors. Development...
Curated OER
Exploration of "Pillbugs"
Fifth graders define vocabulary terms, identify the characteristics of a pillbug, and create a dichotomous key. Then they examine the pillbugs and make observations and record these observations. Finally, 5th graders observe specific...
National Wildlife Federation
Habitat Web
Young scientists weave together an understanding of ecosystems with this fun collaborative activity. Taking on the roles of different living and non-living elements of specific habitats, learners use a ball of yarn to create...
Curated OER
Break the Tension
Learners experiment with the concepts of surface tension. They participate in a number of different experiments that introduce them to surface tension. They work in a small group in order to conduct these experiments.
Gwinnett County Public Schools
Analysis of the Tuck Everlasting and The Birchbark House Text Exemplars
Looking to introduce some text-based questions into your ELA lessons? Practice the kinds of skills the Common Core demands with the seven text-based questions and the essay prompt provided here. Designed to be a three-day lesson, day one...
ARKive
Butterflies and Blooms
The Northwoods of Wisconsin are lovely in the summer,and they are also home to many flower and butterfly species. Investigate the ways in which seasonal flowers and butterflies are interdependent on each other for survival with a fun...
Curated OER
Prairie Mural Project
Seventh graders construct a large mural of a praire showing plants, and animals that would live there.
Curated OER
Wetland Pictionary
Students create a game for reviewing vocabulary. They make cards with definitions of the words. Then the cards are used to play the game of Pictionary or a modified game. The teacher could have the students generate their own game in...
Curated OER
Symbiosis and Co-evolution
By choosing a species and researching an adaptive symbiotic relationship it shares with another species, your students are able to investigate a symbiotic relationship in a lab setting. They create a presentation using a variety of...
Curated OER
Preserving Buds and Blooms
Students learn how to preserve flower buds and blooms. In this gardening lesson, students explore the methods of air drying, using drying agents, and pressing plants to preserve them.
Curated OER
Six Plant Parts
Students create a harvest burrito out of fruit, flowers, roots, stems, and more. In this plants lesson plan, students go out into the garden and identify the 6 plant parts.
Curated OER
Stellaluna Lesson: Increase Oral Language Development and Story Comprehension
To be used with the BRAIDY system, this lesson works to increase oral language and reading comprehension. Special needs pupils review parts of a story, sequence of events, and create a Venn diagram showing the differences between birds...
Curated OER
Web of Life - Role-Playing
Students role-play how organisms adapt to their environment. They play 20 questions with plant and animal habitats. They create a web of life to demonstrate how each plant and animal relies on the other for survival.
Curated OER
Life Cycle of the Monarch Butterfly
Third graders access prior knowledge of the monarch butterfly and discuss what they would like to know. In this Monarch Butterfly lesson,students read Monarch Butterfly and discuss the life cycle of the butterfly. Students gather...
Curated OER
The Froggy Page
Students investigate the cycle of life by observing tadpoles. In this biology lesson plan, students utilize the Internet to read stories, observe pictures, and listen to sounds of frogs. Students create a poster board collage...
Curated OER
Hide In Plain Sight
Young scholars view video clips and use the Internet to look for hidden animals. They then use the Internet to print out animal shapes and color them. They create environments on construction paper in which their animals can hide.
Curated OER
Predator Or Prey?
Students study the concept of predator/prey by researching specific examples of birds. They participate in a concept map/webbing activity to determine different characteristics of birds. They engage in a class discussion about...
Curated OER
Mini-Ponds
In this mini pond worksheet, students create a mini-pond ecosystem with soil, water, and plant life. Students let their ecosystem sit for a day and they observe a sample the next day. Students identify all the pond water microorganisms...
Curated OER
Yuckiest Site on the Internet
Learners investigate the worm and the cockroach. In this organisms lesson, students visit suggested websites to identify the characteristics of worms and cockroaches. Learners dissect a worm and observe a live cockroach. Students...
Curated OER
Hunting Invertebrate Fossils in the Classroom
Students acquire a general knowledge of fossils and paleontology, the study of evidence of life in the past and identify the major invertebrate groups (phyla) commonly found in the fossil record.
Curated OER
Minibeasts and Reading Strategies
Fourth graders explore reading strategies through roleplaying. In this reading lesson, 4th graders read Wings, Stings, and Wiggly Things by Martin Jenkins. Student groups pretend to be a law firm and identify words as their evidence to...
Curated OER
Hatched From An Egg
Students discover how animals are born/hatched. In this life science lesson plan, students listen to a book entitled Chickens Aren't The Only Ones, and discuss animals that are hatched or born. Students receive a picture of an...
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...