After reading, What if You Had Animal Ears? by Sandra Markle, students will plan, design, and create bat-like ears from various materials for a STEM challenge. Students will test their models and redesign them to improve the effectiveness of their models to increase their own ability to hear by mimicking the external parts of a bat's ear. The students will measure and collect data from tests and compare results between the design and the redesign. This lesson can be completed in two 45 minute sessions or one 90 minute session.
This lesson plan was created in partnership with the Birmingham Zoo.
This is a multi-session interactive lesson plan about animal adaptations for kindergarten through second grade students. The goal of this interactive digital lesson plan is to guide students through activities that help them understand how characteristics such as body covering, body parts, and behaviors help animals survive. These lesson plans also build cooperation and communication skills for students. There are additional resources provided for the teacher to use before or after using the HyperDoc.
This Lesson Plan was created in partnership with the Birmingham Zoo.
This is one of three lessons that can be taught alone, or as the second part of a series, "Solutions from Nature." In this lesson, students explore the structure of plants, and the parts that provide stability. They choose from different materials to construct a house that is sturdy (like the stem) and has a foundation (like the roots). Students test the strength of their design to determine which elements/materials provide increased stability.
This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.
This is one of three lessons that can be taught alone, or as the third part of a series, "Solutions from Nature." In this lesson, students examine outer parts of animals that provide protection (turtles, crabs, pill bugs, snails, etc.). They choose from different materials to construct a “helmet” that can protect an egg from breaking if it is dropped.
This is one of three lessons that can be taught alone, or as the first part of a series, "Solutions from Nature." In this lesson, students explore characteristics of animals that provide insulation. They experiment with different materials to build a "glove" that can protect their hands from a cold ice bath. A YouTube link to a similar demonstration is provided below.
In this lesson, students will be able to explain that wearing a coat helps keep you warm because it blocks your body’s heat from moving away from you to where it’s cold. The teacher discusses whether a thick or thin jacket helps students stay warmer in cold weather. Students see a demonstration in which a container with warm water is placed in cold water. The warm water cools down quickly. Students then design and test a “coat” for the container to keep the water warm longer. Students watch an animation explaining why a coat helps keep them warm in the cold.
In these Hero Elementary activities, children learn about animals’ body parts. This includes humans! Children observe different animals. They notice how animals’ bodies are alike and not alike. They compare animals’ body parts and notice patterns. They find a way to solve a problem by copying how animals use their body parts.
In this lesson, students explore what lions, tigers, and leopards look like and analyze how the animals' coats help them survive in their different habitats. The students will discuss different big cats and their physical features, discuss the habitats of big cats, and how they survive in their habitat.
The teacher will present an informational text from the website, ReadWorks. The students and teacher can interact with this non-fiction text by annotating the text digitally. The students will answer the questions associated with the article as an assessment. This learning activity can be used to introduce students to ways that animals use external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs in their environment. This could serve as a precursor to students designing their own survival solution using materials to imitate how animals have solved similar problems.