Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Centipede or Millipede?

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students discuss millipedes and centipedes in terms of their classification as arthropod. Using a diagram, students categorize and compare and contrast the characteristics of millipedes and centipedes based on their discussion of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Termite Trail Marking Behavior

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine termites and their trail-marking behaviors. They draw lines on paper with various ink pens and experiment to see which types of ink the termites follow--or which inks do and do not elicit trail marking behavior.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What's in Our Woods?

For Teachers K - 12th
Young scholars observe their local forest and document the change that occurs over the school year.  For this forestry lesson, students utilize a GPS to mark a certain area of the woods as their study area for the remainder of the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"For the Birds" [part I]

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Students identify birds that appear in Chinese and Japanese art, learning about their physical characteristics, classifying them according to scientific principles, and exploring their habitats and migration patterns. This is part one...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

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
Curated OER

Writing a Book About Farm Life

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders listen to the book, Pigaroom carefully. They create lists of animals that may be on the farm and then write their own books about farm life. They proofread their stories using editing checklists and exchange their paper...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Rat Experiment

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders observe two albino rats and write their observations in a science journal for two weeks. In rotation groups, they complete the necessary tasks to keep the rats fed and clean. They discuss the importance of eating healthy...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Polar Food Web Comparison

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders practice the evaluation component of the scientific method while comparing and contrasting the similarities and differences of the food chains and webs of polar animal life. They study about classification and ecology...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Catch as Catch Can

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Students investigate insects. In this insect analysis instructional activity, students catch insects using nets they make. They identify the insects they catch and create a chart to show the numbers and varieties. This instructional...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bears

For Teachers K - 1st
Students complete a variety of bear-related activities. They sort and graph teddy bears, distinguish between real and non-real bears and research bear life cycles and habitats.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Human Body Corp.

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Learners investigate body systems by participating in a role-play activity. Third, fourth, and fifth graders pretend that they are an organ or system of the human body, and they must write a letter to the body "corporation" discussing...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Desert Plant Detectives

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Learners examine and categorize plants in their own schoolyard desert garden and then observe other plant areas of their schoolyard.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Appearances Are Deceiving

For Teachers 6th
Young scientists study creeks around their area to see how clean the water really is. One way to tell is by the invertebrate populations that are present. This lesson introduces a game which learners simulate a variety of species found...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Plant Diversity and Distribution

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Students construct a defined plot on school grounds and observed patterns in plant life. They count trees, shrubs, cacti and record on a data sheet. They compare data and generate a plant diversity overlook for their school.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bird Banners

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners create banners for their classroom that contain the same information as field guides.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bat Ecology

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Students, through hands on games and activities, discover how bats live and how bats benefit ecosystems. They play a game designed to show them how echolocation works and another to show how mother bats locate their young through their...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Big Cat Locations

For Teachers 1st
First graders explore different environments while studying the habitats of big cats.  In this big cats lesson, 1st graders draw pictures of their favorite cats, learn about the areas where cats live, design a zoo habitat and make a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Adaptations to Environments with Mammals

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders, after viewing a PowerPoint on different mammals, analyze what a biome is. Then they choose a mammal to research and go outside to feel the grass and leaves and hypothesize about which biome they live in as well as its...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mr. Bones

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students play CD-ROM game My Amazing Human Body, and participate in relay game in Phys. Ed. where they put together skeleton on which body parts are labeled.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Embryology as Evidence of Evolution

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Students observe the two major developmental pathways (protostome and deuterostome). They analyze data regarding differences in nucleotide sequences and construct a phylogenetic tree. They observe the similar evolutionary history shared...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Reading on the Farm

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders study farm life. In this writing instructional activity, 2nd graders listen to "Pigaroo" and write their own story about farm life.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Leaf Collection

For Teachers 6th - 7th
Students collect leaves to create a dichotomous key.
Lesson Plan
EnLiST

Trap Your Own Insects: What’s in Your Backyard?

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Young entomologists construct three types of insect traps—pitfall, pollinator, and panel—before setting their traps out and observing what they caught. They then observe what types of insects the different traps attract.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Differences

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students observe and compare a variety of living things and pictures of living things to note their similarities and differences.