Students demonstrate the interrelationships of animals and plants. In this ecology lesson, students discuss the things plants and animals need for survival and study the glacier food chain. Students simulate the web of life by using a...

Students study genetics and evolution. They evaluate a group of organisms and estimate their genetic relatedness. Then they use an online program to check the accuracy of their estimations and make a branching phylogenetic tree which...

Dead trees provide nutrients for the soil, food for animals, protection and a home for organisms, a seed-bed for new trees, and a place for nitrogen-fixing bacteria to live. In the activity, pupils collect decaying logs, expose them to a...

Many scholars study phylogenetic trees without understanding how they are made. Through an online game, young scientists use the given data to create phylogenetic trees of increasing complexity. They rely on the trees they create to...

Addressing the idea of intelligent design, as well as a number of creation myths, this presentation gives a measured and scientific perspective to the beginning of the world.  It includes a graphic on the Big Bang Theory, evolution,...

Individuals analyze tree rings to determine the health of an ecosystem. They then look at otoliths of fish, hard calcium carbonate structures located behind the brain, in the same manner. 

Help young scientists connect with nature and learn about trees with a fun life science activity. Heading out into the school yard, children choose a tree to adopt, taking measurements, writing descriptions, and drawing sketches of it in...

Get caught in a web of learning. Classmates play a game to build a web to model the interaction of species that live in a specific ecosystem. They each assume the role of one species and work together, passing a ball of twine to indicate...

Are chickens and crocodiles really related? Young scientists compare the bone structure of current domestic chickens to other animals throughout evolution. This helps them understand the branches that separate crocodiles and birds as...

High schoolers solve a mystery of the identification of a unknown organism by comparing its morphological characteristics to those in a tree of life classification poster. They compare the observable characteristics of the specimen and...

Upper elementary schoolers investigate philanthropy and selflessness by reading a children's book. In this ethics lesson, they read The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, and research Mahatma Gandhi's troublesome, yet inspiring, life....

Producers, herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, decomposers. To begin a study of the forest ecosystem, learners examine the connections among the members of ecological communities.

Open with a discussion on weather and climate and then explain how tree rings can provide scientists with information about the earth's past climate. Pupils analyze graphics of simulated tree rings from various US locations for the...

All trees are not created equal. A set of three wildlife conservation lessons has learners examine the characteristics of individual trees. They look at the life cycle of the tree using a story and reference a field guide to identify...

Fourth graders study the tree identification cards, identifying conifers sheet, and western forest cards. From the information gathered from these resources, each team help create a tree riddle book of 12 trees of Washington State.

The life of a tree is the focus of a packet consisting of several activities all covering a different subject. Second graders measure shadows, make pinecone critters, write poems, count rings, complete a word search, play tree tag, and...

Ardipithecus ramidus shares features with both humans and chimpanzees. Learn about where Ardi, humans, and chimps fit in the tree of life by comparing anatomical features including the foot, pelvis, and teeth. After exploring those...

In this lineage learning exercise, students pick a tree to research and write its lineage and where it originated from. Students complete the lineage of a tree with 14 blanks.

Interestingly enough, movement is not a characteristic of living things. The first activity in a series of 20 introduces learners to the concepts of living versus non-living things and then focuses on biologists and what they study....

How can kids use math to learn about marine life? Combine math skills with science lessons in a resource featuring activities about life in the sea. Kids graph and calculate data, solve complex word problems, measure geometric shapes,...

Examining tree rings shows more than just age. The third installment of a five-part Family Nature Program unit has learners examine all parts of trees including tree rings to tell stories about the life of the tree. They then use their...

As a review or note taking guide, this resource wraps up a unit on the tree of life. Biology bigwigs define phylogeny and answer questions about the subsequent classification of organisms. The instructional activity takes a...

In this classification of life worksheet, students use an on line source to answer questions about how species are classified, named and grouped. They give the classification of a bear, an orchid and a sea cucumber.

Young scholars explore different types of trees with their senses. In this nature lesson, students play a game in which pairs use their senses to explore trees, blindfolded. Young scholars then must find the tree they found when...