Curated OER
Identifying Quincy's Birds
Students compare a variety or bird characteristics. They identify and classify birds within their local area. Students investigate how to examine and scrutinize differences in features of organisms and understand variation in the...
Curated OER
Making a Taxonomic Key
Learners work as a team of abalone taxonomists who examine and classify abalones based on their shell characteristics of the four most common species. They also study the visible details of each species shell, make notes and eventually...
NOAA
Plankton
Dive into the world of plankton. The 17th installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program introduces different types of plankton. Young scientists then use what they have learned to classify...
Curated OER
Nuts & Bolts: is Classification, Arbitrary, Or Not?
Students, in groups, classify furniture, share their categories and rationales, then note how their different schemes vary, perfectly logical and useful, but completely arbitrary.
Curated OER
Taxonomy Project
Students act as a taxonomist and, given a certain situation, classify existing organisms.
Curated OER
Ecology and the St. Lawrence River
Ninth graders complete a unit of lessons on ecosystems, organism interactions, and energy flow. They create a key for known species of fish, diagram the movement of energy through an ecosystem, and create and present food chains and food...