Curated OER
Life Cycles
Using computers, Students work in small groups and progress through the roles of Explorer, Researcher, Designer, and Evaluator as they study the life cycle of plants, insects, butterflies and frogs.
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Insects and Camouflage
Students create an insect that can be camouflaged in its habitat. They study how camouflage can help insects survive.
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A Home for a Cricket
First graders build a habitat for crickets after studying animal survival needs. They care for and observe the crickets in the classroom habitat.
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Manduca
Students investigate the basic survival needs of both hornworms and humans. They compare and contrast the them by making a class list.
Learning for Life
Lesson 7: Stimulants
Make sure your class is aware and informed of the various types of stimulant drugs that exist. Here, they can learn their alternate names and some of their harmful effects. While this is a very basic direct-instructional lesson, the...
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Ecosystems
Third graders identify and define an Ecosystem and the basic needs of all animals. They collect pond water in a pickle jar. They observe the organisms that are in the jar to keep an ongoing record of the creatures and their population.
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Survival of the Fishes
Students study the aquatic environment in which largemouth bass are able to survive. They participate in a mystery animal activity based on their own basic needs to determine the identity of the largemouth bass.
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Monarch Migration
Third graders investigate the life cycle of the Monarch butterfly. They experiment with various tools to simulate the mouth parts of insects, conduct research, record their observations of butterflies hatching, write a play, complete...
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Butterfly Lifecycles
What a great way to present this topic! While a little difficult to follow, this instructional activity provides great ideas for a second grade instructional activity involving butterfly lifecycles. Learners make drawings of butterflies,...
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The Peppermint Beetle
Learners describe various ways insects use their sense of smell, and examine why some insects use scent marking. They conduct a scent hunt, searching for a particular scent on the trees on school grounds.
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Insects: Grasshoppers
Students examine grasshoppers as they practice following instructions. In this biology lesson plan, students identify the characteristics of grasshoppers and the functions of grasshoppers' external body parts.
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Genetic Disorders with Cultural Roots: International Insects
High schoolers recognize that certain populations have specific genetic disorders that could benefit or harm them in their environment, work out punnett square problems and infer offspring probabilities from results, and provide...
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Going Buggy!
Students study bugs over a four week period. In this insect collection of activities, students observe insects covering basic science concepts and skills, such as classification, observation, and responses to habitat. Students develop...
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Grasshopper Mark and Recapture (GMR)
Young scholars estimate the density of a population of insects (grasshoppers) at a given life cycle stage in a given type of habitat.
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Life-Cycle Sleuth
Students analyze an animal's life cycle and behaviors, and examine what animals need to stay alive and reproduce. They develop theories and hypotheses about the reasons for migrations, using the Journey North online project.
Chymist
Landfills and Recycling
Examine the nature of landfills through experimentation. Scholars build miniature landfills and monitor changes over a six-week period. Observations allow individuals to draw conclusions about the different types of trash and their...
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Elementary Animal Classification
Students investigate eight basic animal groups, and identify the different groups through knowledge of animal characteristics, changes, and life cycles of each group.
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The Spider Beside Her
Second graders expand their knowledge of spiders. By creating a model of a spider, 2nd graders recognize differences between spiders and insects and determine that a spider is not an insect.
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Prairies
Students identify the basic characteristics of the prairie ecosystem, and several commonly known prairie species. They create a classroom mural of a prairie ecosystem; and create reports about what they have found out.
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Major Functions
Seventh graders investigate the basic characteristics and needs of living things. They identify the major parts of plants and animals by making lists. Students focus upon one living thing and speculate how if one part is changed how it...
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Fly Tying
Students practice fly tying and explain water conservation efforts in Iowa. In this ecology, Iowa geography, and natural resources instructional activity, students identify basic equipment and material needed to fish, then tie flies....
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"Bees and Ants"
First graders participate in a variety of activities related to bees and ants.
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Children's Health
Learners learn the basic parts of an insect, where they like to hide indoors, and how to safely get rid of them. They assemble the cockroach body and cut it out of a brown bag. They attach pipe cleaners as legs and attennae. They then...