Curated OER
Natural Selection and the Peppered Moth
Students study natural selection and its process in the peppered moth. For this evolution lesson, students read about the concept of natural selection as suggested by Charles Darwin. Students then complete a natural selection simulation...
Curated OER
Pheed the World: Edible Phyla
Students discuss the contributions of different organisms to our world. In this biology instructional activity, students research countries with limited food supply. They create an improvement plan for a fictitious country assigned to them.
Curated OER
Animal-mania
Students explore the concept of scientific classification systems using a guided Internet research activity. They answer specific questions on the classification of animals by exploring a different Internet link for each question.
Curated OER
Whales
First graders investigate two different types of whales; toothed and baleen. They describe what the different types of whale eat. They listen to a cassette of Dyan Sheldon's, The Whale Song before making stick puppets to dramatize the...
Curated OER
Time Machine: Evolution, Geology
Students are taken on a simulated "voyage" backward in time, to the beginning of our planet. They "witness" that beginning, the origin of life, and a number of key events from then to the present.
Curated OER
No Bones About It
Students conduct Internet research on the different parts of the skeletal system. Then they create a model arm that demonstrates how muscle and bone work together to create movement.
Curated OER
Animal Brochures
Fourth graders work in pairs to research an animal. They fill in an animal data form in order to become experts about the animal they choose. They use the listed criteria to design a six sided brochure that includes graphics of the...
Curated OER
All About Reptiles
Students examine different kinds and characteristics of reptiles, and demonstrate reading comprehension skills, including reading strategies, inference, literal meaning, and critical analysis.
Curated OER
Dinosaur Time Capsule
Third graders research prehistoric life using educational software. They design a prehistoric life while showing the use of appropriate scale and names for the prehistoric life. They follow an internet link to participate in a virtual...
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Animal Diversity
Students use the Animal Diversity E-Sheet to access the Where Can Animals Live? online book.
Curated OER
Classified Information - Part 1: Shapes
Third graders investigate how and why scientists use classification. They discuss classification strategies using animals, and as a class fill in a flowchart with their responses. Next, in small groups they cut out a variety of shapes...
Curated OER
Dive In: Biology At The Beach
Continue the spirit of summer by studying marine life in your classrooms.
New South Wales Department of Education
Invertebrates
Of all invertebrates, insects by far are the most numerous. Scholars discuss invertebrates and then use a key to classify them. They see different examples and must describe features of each organism based upon the key.
Teach Engineering
Live Like an Animal
When your parents say that your room's a pig sty, tell them about biomimicry. The sixth installment of a nine-part Life Science unit has scholars research the shelters used by animals in the natural world, like turtle shells. Using the...
Curated OER
Dining Out With Fishes and Birds of the Hudson
The class will make observations to determine how environment has shaped the way particular birds and fish eat. They will view a series of photographs, read two short articles, and then consider how food availability has determined how...
Curated OER
It's All Relative
Students find pictures of living things and arrange them in collages, categorizing them according to which they think are more closely related to which.
Curated OER
Mr. Bones
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.
Curated OER
Bat Ecology
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...
Curated OER
Creating a Classification System
Students create classification system for Arctic-dwelling animals, the Arctic hare in particular.
Curated OER
Invertebrate Research Project
High schoolers keep a scientific research notebook on an invertebrate detailing its behavior and responses.
Curated OER
Ocean Creature Classification
Students develop their own system for classifying a group of objects or organisms using observed similarities and differences. They investigate the process of scientific classification, and explain how marine organisms are classified by...
Curated OER
Fabulous Fossils
Seventh graders investigate how fossils are formed and discuss how scientists determine the appearance of ancient plants and animals. They make fossils of everyday objects for others to identify. They make spreadsheets to display fossil...
Curated OER
Ride the Tide
Students examine the cause-and-effect relationship between tides and the rocky coast ecosystem. They complete a worksheet that illustrates the intertidal zone.