Lesson Plan
Pennsylvania Department of Education

Animal Classes and Their Ecosystems

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Young scholars explore animal characteristics by participating in an environment identification activity. In this animal habitat lesson, students discuss a range of different wild life and the ecosystems that they are a part of. Young...
Lesson Plan
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Shaun Ellis: Leader of the (Wolf) Pack

For Teachers 2nd - 8th
Students react to a statement about living with wolves, then read a news article about Shaun Ellis and his time living with wolves. In this current events and wolves lesson plan, the teacher introduces the article with a discussion and...
Activity
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Make A Farm

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students use legos to create a farm. In this farm lesson plan, students create farm animals, a fence, a barn, trees, and more.
Lesson Plan
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Habitat

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students are able to define habitat. They are able to identify the four things that living things need to survive. Students are able to describe how living things are adapted to their habitats.
Lesson Plan
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Threatened, Endangered & Extinct Lesson Plan

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Students examine the basic needs of living organisms. In this science lesson, students study ecosystems and discover that organisms have basic needs that must be met.
Lesson Plan
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Wolf Habitat

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners identify their own basic needs for food, water, shelter and space in a suitable arrangement. They generalize that wolves and people have similar basic needs.
Lesson Plan
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Kincaid Creatures

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Students brainstorm a list of nocturnal and diurnal wild animals they see in their community and discuss how the animals would be different if they were living during the Ice Age. Using a handout, they discover how archeologists record...
Lesson Plan
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Food Webs in the Bay

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners get acquainted with a type of ecosystem and how different organisms of that ecosystem compete with one another for resources. They analyze the submerged aquatic vegetation of a bay ecosystem. Students study plants.
Lesson Plan
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Ecosystems

For Teachers 3rd
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.
Lesson Plan
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Survival of the Fishes

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
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.
Lesson Plan
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A Trip To the Animal Fair

For Teachers K - 5th
Students share their experiences they have had with animals. Using photographs of their own pets, they create a booklet out of construction paper in which they identify the pets needs. They also compare and contrast what they need to...
Lesson Plan
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Plants

For Teachers K
Students review the needs of animals, hypothesize the needs of plants, and set up experiments to test hypotheses.
Lesson Plan
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Earth Epochs

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students explore earth epochs, i.e, Permian, Precambrian, Cambrian, Ordivician and through pictures they see what life on Earth and animals looked like. They organize Earth Epochs according to years going from greatest to least...
Lesson Plan
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Buffalo

For Teachers K - 1st
Students complete a journal entry for the uses of the buffalo by the "Salish with Flathead" and Pend d'Oreille Indians. They understand that people depended on the buffalo for their survival.
Lesson Plan
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Investigation 4 - Plot Studies

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders use a plot map to study the plants and animals living in a small area of their environment.
Lesson Plan
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Digging Detectives

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Students demonstrate basic procedures for archeological excavations. They explore an archeological site, students using various archeological methods and techniques to determine some of the aspects of past life and culture.
Lesson Plan
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Wind Distribution of Weed Seeds

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students investigate how many seasons it would take for wind to disperse seeds one mile downwind from an initial growth of one spotted knapweed plant. They construct and use a wind tunnel as part of their experiment and graph their results.
Lesson Plan
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Adaptations To the Environment

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars design and construct an imaginary animal that is perfectly adapted to a particular type of biome. They give the animal a scientific name, place it in a phylum and write descriptions about its behavior, reproduction,...
Lesson Plan
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Birds of Wisconsin

For Teachers 1st
First graders explore the job done by ornithologists. They role play identifying the characteristics that make a bird a bird. They discuss what makes each bird species unique. Students are introduced to Wisconsin's most common and rare...
Lesson Plan
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Paleoindian Hunter

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders utilize their prior knowledge of the Woolly Mammoth to hypothesize what life was like for the Paleoindians. They write a story about a day in the life of a Paleoindian hunter.
Lesson Plan
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How - To - Posters

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students investigate the skills needed to survive for the early colonial settlers and Native Americans. They conduct research, develop a list of skills, and create a how-to poster demonstrating a survival skill.
Lesson Plan
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Agriculture Counts

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students focus upon the agricultural economy found in Oklahoma. Upon the completion of research they write an essay with the topic of "Agriculture Counts". The lesson includes an extensive introduction for teachers and students to create...
Lesson Plan
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Cave Mentality

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students identify and define vocabulary associated with caves and rock formations. They construct a cave out of paper and fill it with a geode they crerate. Students write and present orally reports about caves and their importance to...
Interactive
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Quiz: "Deep Impact"

For Students 4th - 6th
In this "Deep Impact" quiz worksheet, students answer a set of multiple choice questions about the film. Students may click on an "answer button for immediate feedback.