ARKive
Adaptation: Design a Species
Adapt is what an animal does to ensure it will survive in a specific environment; maybe it's more complicated than that. Your young animal experts can view this handy presentation to better understand animal adaptations and also complete...
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Who Eats Who?
Students recognize that some animals eat plants, some eat meat and some both. In this who eats who lesson, students chart animals in a food chain. Students research information from reading articles. Students chart what...
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Make it a habitat
Students consider the adaptation of life forms through natural selection to fill various niches and accommodate changing environmental conditions. They select an ecosystem and conduct research to provide as much detailed information as...
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Animals and Engineering
Students study animal classification and their interactions. In this animals and engineering lesson students study animal communities and how engineers use this knowledge to create new technologies.
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Snug in the Snow
Students explore how snow helps animals survive in the wild. In this animal science lesson, students review key vocabulary words and discuss types of animal adaptations. Students construct shoebox to simulate the snowy environment where...
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Night Creatures of the Kalahari
Students conduct an experiment to demonstrate how fruit fly populations are controlled by spiders. They observe a variety of environments with fruit flies and spiders and consider how vital spiders are to controlling the insect population.
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Food Chains and Food Webs
Fourth graders study intertidal organisms and their role in the food web. In this food web lesson, 4th graders read the book The Sea That Feeds Us and discuss food webs. Students study pictures of intertidal creatures and discuss their...
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Arthropods at Home: Spider, Isopod, or any Arthropod
Second graders observe, discuss, and record the requirements of a healthy environment for both arthropods and people by designing and maintaining an artificial habitat for an arthropod, and considering the requirements for a healthy body...
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Web of Life
Young scholars construct a web of life. In this ecosystem lesson students are introduced to ecosystems and life cycles. Insects are the main focus.
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Got Plants
Second graders discover that all living things need food in order to live. In groups, they examine the interconnectedness between animals and plants. They identify which animals eat plants to survive and which animals eat animals that...
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Wild Where?
Students investigate why the urban environment is considered a hostile environment; define the concept of endangered species; describe and identify a Peregrine Falcon; describe and identify the eating habits of the Peregrine Falcon.
Ask a Biologist
The Many Faces of Ants
Though they be but little, they are fierce! Young biologists read about eight different species of ants, and discover how the anatomy of their heads can explain the way they live and what they eat.
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Water's Edge Café
Students observe water birds feeding at a local wetland, record what they see, and construct an appropriate menu for a "Waterfowl Cafe." They also play a "flocking" game.
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March Market
Pupils role play a living wetland food web. They trace the food web associated with the items in their lunch.
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Adaptable Mandibles
Students define adaptation and highlight example of adaptation in birds and other animals. They study feeding techniques of seabirds and investigate the effect that trash has on wildlife.
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Dull Duck, Dashing Duck
Students learn about animal camouflage. In this animal adaptations lesson, students discuss the patterns and adaptations animals use to help them survive, discuss the uses of camouflage, visit a local wetland if possible, and...
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Food Chain Chant
Students memorize a poem using various reading strategies to reinforce the concept of the food chain and the terminology associated with it.
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Scales, Scutes, and Skins
Students identify the various adaptations of reptiles and amphibians. After distinguishing between reptiles and amphibians, students discuss the ways in which their adaptations aid in their survival. They participate in a hands on...
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Animal Camouflage
Students investigate how animals adapt to their environment. In this animal science lesson, students participate in an experiment using patterned paper and plain paper to simulate how animals blend into their surroundings. Students...
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Drawing Fish
Learners practice creating art by imitating the camouflage of fish. In this animal characteristic lesson, students identify certain fish and their ability to change colors in order to survive in the wild. Learners utilize coloring...
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Writing About the Zoo Trip
Second graders practice writing. In this five senses writing lesson, 2nd graders describe their experience on the field trip they took to the zoo. They work as a class and independently to come up with different things they saw, smelled,...
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Populations and Ecosystems
Sixth graders examine the factors that influence the stability of ecosystems. They construct a miniature ecosystem in a jar that includes plants, small fish, and snails, record the population changes over a period of four weeks, and...
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Keys and Webs
Students explore and classify organisms found in a Rocky Mountain Ecosystem. Through discussions, students examine the effects upon an ecosystem if a component was removed or a new component was added. As a class, they survey reasons...