California Academy of Science
Parts of an Antelope
There are so many wonderful parts to an animal: fur, antlers, tails, and legs, to name a few. A large diagram of an antelope is used to start a matching game, where the class matches body parts made of the same material. They discuss...
Curated OER
The Rock and Fossil Record
Go deep in your paleontology unit with this spectacular set of slides! It introduces viewers to the types of fossils, a few famous fossils, and the geologic eras. This is done with easy-to-read text, diagrams, photos, and even videos.
University of Southern California
What Lives In The Ocean?
One of the most diverse environments on Earth is the ocean. Young scientists explore the living things found in the ocean during an exciting seven-lesson unit. Their study includes organisms from plankton to invertebrates and vertebrates...
American Museum of Natural History
A Whale of a Tale
What's the most interesting fact about a blue whale? Learners read an interview about the similarities between the Titanosaur and the blue whale displays at the American Museum of Natural History. Pupils learn not only about blue whales...
Curated OER
The Mastodon Kill
Using the book Bandits, Bears, and Backaches, learners develop an understanding of the pre-history of Arkansas. They follow the trail ofthe giants mastodons and paleo Indians who lived there long ago. The emphasis on this lesson is on...
Royal BC Museum
Kids Page - Whales
Read about the physical features of whales and how they are grouped according to their method of eating food. A neat activity is described on the page; consider carrying this out in class. The resource makes a nice addition to a lesson...
Curated OER
Manatee Vocabulary
For this manatee worksheet, students explore the characteristics of the manatee. Students match the correct word to each of the ten facts about manatees.
American Museum of Natural History
What Do You Know About Genetics?
Just what do you know about genetics? The online resource contains 10 questions about genetics. Scholars work through the questions ranging from what DNA stands for to how much of human DNA is similar to that of a fruit fly. Scholars...
Curated OER
Blubber Gloves
The ways that animals adapt to their environments is quite remarkable. In this life science lesson plan, fifth graders take a look at some of the ways that aquatic animals that live in Arctic or Antarctic waters survive. They perform an...
Curated OER
Bats
Students hypothesize and model how the bones in a bat wing are made up. In this exploratory activity students test their hypothesis, develop questions about bat parts and watch a video on bats.
Curated OER
Dolphins
Students investigate dolphins. They complete a Webquest, explore various websites, listen to audio clips of dolphin sounds, play an online puzzle game, answer discussion questions, and read and evaluate newspaper articles about...
Curated OER
Biomes and Ecosystems
Students study biomes and ecosystems. They watch videos on rainforests and the food web and select a country of ancestry or interest to research. They write a report on the flora and fauna of their selected country. They present to...
Curated OER
Reading- Whales (Online Interactive)
In this whales worksheet, students read a short text and learn about different kinds of whales. Students then read 8 sentences and answer "yes" or "no". This is an online interactive worksheet.
Curated OER
You Are What You Eat: Plastics and Marine Life
Students study the different types of plastics and see which ones sink or remain buoyant. In this ocean environmental lesson students complete several handouts, and view a film on PBS.
Curated OER
Classifying into Categories
In this classification instructional activity, students organize their thoughts by classifying the words from the box into the following categories: birds, mammals, reptiles, and fish.
Curated OER
Habitat Hopscotch
Third graders explore animal characteristics by participating in a bat environment game. In this natural habitat lesson, 3rd graders identify the physical anatomy of a bat and discuss their eating and sleeping habits. Students conduct a...
Curated OER
Classy
Students explore the classification system in this seven lessons unit. The diversity of life forms and their characteristics are examined using a microscope. Kingdoms, classes, and families are investigated.
Curated OER
Maintaining Body Heat
Students observe and compare heat loss in different objects with surface-to-volume ratios. They transfer this comparison to the physical characteristics of animals in their environment. They focus on how whales maintain their body heat.
Curated OER
Climate Types
In this climate worksheet, students review how animals deal with different climate types and list the six climate groups in the Köppen Climate Classification System. This worksheet has 11 fill-in-the-blank questions.
Curated OER
Fishes
In this fish worksheet, students will use fish characteristics vocabulary words to fill in the blanks of 3 statements and a crossword puzzle.
Curated OER
Middle and Recent Earth History
In this middle and recent Earth history activity, students are given 20 statements about the changes in the Earth and life on Earth and they determine if they are true or false. If the statements are false, students change the italicized...
Curated OER
Bats About Stellaluna
Students, after listening to Janelle Cannon's picture book Stellaluna, explore a variety of living things through three distinct activities. They make a list of what they know and want to know about birds and bats. Orally and in writing...
Curated OER
Oil Spill Cleanup
Students participate in an oil spill simulation and how to clean it up. In this oil spill lesson plan, students also calculate the cost of the clean up of an oil spill.
Curated OER
Organizing Life
In this taxonomy worksheet, students learn about Linnaeus' system for classifying living things. Students complete 2 fill in the blank and 2 short answer questions based on what they read.