Bucket Buddies is an online classroom project where students (grades 1-5) around the world participate in an environmental study. The project takes place during the fall and spring of the school year. Students will collect samples from local ponds to answer the question: Are the organisms found in pond water the same all over the world? Participants will identify macroinvertebrates in water samples; ... Full description.

Salmon Homing Instincts is an activity that enables learners to experience what it is like to be a returning salmon attempting to find its home by smell. Scientific research suggests that salmon use the smell of water to find their home stream; even after being out in the open ocean as many as six years. The activity allows the entire class to participate in the life cycle of the Pacific salmon and ... Full description.

This lesson plan is part of the DiscoverySchool.com lesson plan library for grades K-5. It focuses on habitats of the Earth and how animals and plants adapt to the conditions in which they live. Students divide into groups and research different habitats and how animals and plants have adapted to live in them. Included are objectives, materials, procedures, discussion questions, evaluation ideas, ... Full description.

This website provides students with an introduction to the history of life and how it resulted in today's biodiversity. There are three tiers of difficulty available for different grade levels. During this tour students learn about geologic time, fossils, ancestral relationships, cladograms, variation, natural selection, and extinction. Students learn that life has been around for a very long time ... Full description.

In this lesson, students will observe, measure, and sort tree leaves. They will examine leaves individually, in groups, and in relationship to the entire tree. As they observe attributes, they will group the leaves according to these attributes and consider any patterns that emerge. In addition, they will communicate what they have learned about leaves in quantitative terms. The activities in this ... Full description.

Pages from this book include a maze, crossword puzzle, word search, and math exercise in addition to coloring sheets. Each of the activities contain an agricultural theme; many of the coloring pages honor the life and work of Dr. Carver. Full description.

Paleontologists seldom have the good fortune to find a complete set of remains of an ancient organism that is wholly intact. For instance, the discovery of a frozen woolly mammoth carcass, preserved hair and all, was a truly rare event. More common are discoveries of incomplete remains, such as bones, teeth, or hair, and trace fossils, such as footprints or leaf impressions, which indicate an organism ... Full description.

Younger students can learn about plant biology. Topics include characteristics of living things, germination and growth, the basic parts of plants, photosynthesis, reproduction, and ecological adaptations of plants. The information presented can also be ordered as a video. Full description.

Paleontologists have been remarkably successful in determining what earlier life forms looked like, as well as how they probably behaved when alive. This interactive feature illustrates a slab of rock containing fossils of several types of creatures that once inhabited the Borden Sea, over 300 million years ago in what is now central Indiana. Clicking on highlighted fossils accesses animations of ... Full description.

This portal is geared toward younger visitors to the American Museum of Natural History website. It offers links to information, activities, games and quizzes in various "ologies," such as archaeology, paleontology, and entomology. The site presents profiles of scientists in each field as well as students who are interested in each field. Students can also collect various "ology cards" as they progress ... Full description.