Curated OER
Reconstructing a Fossil Pterosaur
Learners reconstruct the skeleton of the fossil Scaphognathus crassirostis. In this fossil lesson plan, students discuss the Kingdoms of life, geologic history and the history of the skeletons of species. Learners are given 20 minutes to...
Curated OER
Creatures of the Skies
Students create a bird identification game. In this classification lesson, students work in pairs to collect information about a specific bird. They use a bird field guide to aid in the research. They challenge other students in their...
Curated OER
Compare Human-made Objects with Natural Objects
Young scholars examine and observe how many human-made objects get their basic design from things in nature. They listen to the book "Nature Got There First," compare/contrast hollow bones with drinking straws, bird beaks and tool...
Curated OER
Web of Life - Role-Playing
Learners role-play how organisms adapt to their environment. They play 20 questions with plant and animal habitats. They create a web of life to demonstrate how each plant and animal relies on the other for survival.
Curated OER
Trout Cookies
Students explore the external anatomy of a fish. In this anatomy and adaptations lesson, students look at an image of a trout and identify its various external features including fins, eyes, spots, parr marks and lateral line. Students...
Curated OER
Blue Planet: Frozen Seas
Young scholars study the animals from the Arctic and how they have adapted. In this ocean lesson students create a poster about their given animal and present it to the class.
Curated OER
Bird Beak Anatomy
Third graders participate in an activity to determine which tool will work the best to gather food. They create analogies about how the experiment relates to birds. They brainstorm about which adaptation helps or hurts the survival of an...
Montana State University
Everest Extremes: Biodiversity
How many animals can live in a climate as cold as Mount Everest's? Find out with a science lesson all about biodiversity. Activities include research, presentations, group work, coloring maps, and a simulation of a food web.
Curated OER
Connect the Spheres: Earth Systems Interactions
Is everything really connected? Take your class on a walk outside, where they will make observations and write them down on a worksheet. Once they are back in the classroom, learners will work to determine if and how things like birds,...
Curated OER
Birds of Wisconsin
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...
Curated OER
Regents High School Examination: Living Environment 2009
Emerging ecologists need a full understanding of life, from the inner workings of a cell to the complex relationships among organisms. This examination is meant to assess high schoolers after an entire year course on the living...
Curated OER
Regents High School Exam: Living Environment 2008
Tne New York Regents High School Examinations are comprehensive and include various styles of questions, includingmultiple choice and the analysis of graphs. This particular version, the 2008 Living Environment exam surveys a variety of...
Curated OER
Regents High School Examination: Living Environment 2005
The 2005 version of the Regents High School Examination in the area of ecology is as comprehensive as previous years' exams. It consists of 40 multiple choice questions on everything from the structure of DNA to the interactions within...
Curated OER
Regents High School Examination: Living Environment 2003
The living environment, from the interior of a cell to the complex relationships among populations, are queried in this final examination. Learners look at air pollution maps, diagrams of cells, population graphs, and drawing of cells....
Curated OER
It's For the Birds
Fifth graders examine how anatomical adaptations make it possible for a bird to survive in various habitats. They discuss and list birds and their unique characteristics, and create an imaginary bird, illustrating the environmental...
Curated OER
"For the Birds" [part I]
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...
Curated OER
The Selection and Variation in the Egyptian Origami Bird
Learners participate in a contrived natural selection simulation in which they build and modify simple paper airplanes. They study divergent and convergent evolution and how it is isolated in sub-populations.
Curated OER
Birds & Caterpillars
In this biology instructional activity, students explain the use of camouflage as a defense mechanism. Then they list examples of insects that use camouflage to protect them from predators. Students also identify and name other types of...
Curated OER
Academic Raceway: Animals
Race to the finish line with this interactive PowerPoint! Students must answer multiple choice questions about animals to get to the Winners' Circle. Tip: Have students play individually until they can get all of the questions correct.
Curated OER
Animals
Unifying themes in animal anatomy and physiology are displayed slide by slide. The main concepts involve the differentiation in cells and tissues, and details are given about fuel management, metabolism, and some other essential...
Curated OER
Week 8 - Sea Life
Using a magnifier, mini marine biologists examine the barbules of a bird feather. They swirl the it into a mixture of oil and water and then re-examine the feather. After the activity, discuss how the oily feathers pose a problem to...
Berkeley Engineering and Mentors
Darwin's Finches
Try a twist on the old finch beak and chopsticks activity by using M&Ms on a Twister mat. Spoons, knives, forks, and chopsticks represent beaks and are randomly assigned to your little birds, who must collect as much food as possible...
Curated OER
Symbiosis and Co-evolution
By choosing a species and researching an adaptive symbiotic relationship it shares with another species, your students are able to investigate a symbiotic relationship in a lab setting. They create a presentation using a variety of...
Curated OER
Biodiversity
Fifth graders visit the playground to look for signs of life. They search for insects, birds, animal tracks, feathers, nests, trees, soil, etc. They then compose a class list that shows all findings in the schoolyard and post it in the...