Lesson Plan
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How to Hide in the Ocean

For Teachers K - 8th
Learners observe the advantages of camouflage. They design a well camouflaged fish of their own.
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Etosha: Poppin' Out at You

For Teachers 10th
Tenth graders research an African animal of their choice and relate the concepts of population, climate and biodiversity to their animal. They examine how population interacts in an ecosystem.
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What Is Happening To My Species?

For Teachers K - 5th
Learners select and research an animal that lives in the rainforest of Manu, Peru. They watch and discuss a video, create masks and costumes to role-play various rainforest animals, conduct research, and write a short story of their...
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Trout Cookies

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students explore the external anatomy of a fish. In this anatomy and adaptations instructional activity, students look at an image of a trout and identify its various external features including fins, eyes, spots, parr marks and lateral...
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Camouflage

For Teachers 1st
First graders learn how plants and animals adapt to their environments.  In this camouflage lesson plan, 1st graders watch a movie that explains animal camouflage, design a butterfly that blends into a classroom habitat, create a...
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Whale Watcher Game Lesson

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Students participate in an online whale watching game. They identify the reasons for migration and describe the route. They make predictions on what would happen if the ways did not migrate.
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Mimics Survive -- Camouflaged Reptiles

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students examine mimicry as a survival strategy in repiles. They examine examples of the Mexican milksnake and the coralsnake in attempt to distinguish the differences in them. They discuss other species that use mimicry.
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Kure Waste Chase Game Lesson

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Students work together to identify marine debris. They explain the effect of the debris on various ecosystems. They draw different types of ocean currents as well.
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How Can I Hide In Namib?

For Teachers 5th - 9th
Students examine how various species survive in the Namib Desert. They watch and discuss a PBS video, and in small groups determine which colors are most effective in concealment in rocks, sticks, and sand, and compare the activity with...
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Make it a habitat

For Teachers 6th - 12th
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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Food Chains

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders study food chains, producers, consumers, and decomposers. They play a food chain game and create food chain mobiles or posters. They take a nature hike around the school and observe various parts of a food chain.
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Oh, What a Tangled Web We Weave

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders investigate the food chain by viewing video clips. In this food web activity, 5th graders investigate populations and ecosystems by viewing a video in class as well as visiting web sites. Students utilize the Internet to...
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Hide and Survive: A Natural Selection Activity

For Teachers 5th - 10th
Students explore the theory of natural selection given certain scenarios. In this biology lesson, students graph data taken from the experiment. They explain the factors that contribute to the survival of the fittest.
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Got Plants

For Teachers 2nd
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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Food Chains & Food Webs

For Teachers 10th
Tenth graders examine how energy is lost through different trophic levels.  In this trophism instructional activity students construct a food web and view a video. 
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Animal Adaptations

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students expand their knowledge of animal features and behaviors that can help or hinder their survival in a particular habitat. They participate in classroom discussions and visit a website to research animals
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The Big Hideout

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students identify the types of camouflage used by animals in the desert. They work together to create their own animal creating their own type of camouflage. They determine how well the camouflage works.
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Management of Wildlife Resources

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Young scholars investigate how wildlife management policies affect the size of large animal populations. They develop a spreadsheet that incorporates a mathematical model to predict big game herd sizes, and using worksheet data manage a...
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Who Eats Who?

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
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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Create a Critter Collage

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students create a collage. In this animal classification instructional activity, students discuss why and how scientists classify animals. Students view pictures of different animals and decide which class each animal belongs to....
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The Behavior of Ants

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students use the steps of the Scientific Method to develop and test their own ideas through experimentation with ants.
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Co-evolution of Plants and Pollinators

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars explore biological evolution and natural selection and its evolutionary consequences. They also explore how organisms are interdependent on one another.
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Camouflage

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders collect insects and various bits of the insects' habitats in order to develop an understanding of how camouflage makes the insect fit to survive in its environment.
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What is a Raptor?

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Students explore, analyze and discover the characteristics of raptors and generate a word bank for owls and raptors. They identify attributes shared by raptors and practice various key vocabulary words to master and utilize in sentence...