Zoology Projects, Lessons, Activities (Page 8)

Is Coral a Plant or Animal?

Lesson Plan Grade: 2nd-6th

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NGSS Performance Expectations:

4-LS1-1. Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.

Ladybug Spots and Breeding

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Ladybugs are common insects in North American gardens that prey upon aphids, making them all the rage in biological pest control. Ladybugs can be bred in captivity making them a good insect to study. Just chop off an aphid infested plant stem for food, make a water soaked cotton ball for water, and add to a small plastic container with a lid to make a breeding box. You can use ladybugs collected from the wild, or buy ladybugs from your local nursery. The most common species is the 12-spotted… Read more

Respiration and Gills: What Factors Affect Respiration in an Aquatic Environment?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

During metabolism, organisms experience physical and chemical changes. All animals need some way to exchange chemical waste generated during metabolism for fresh nutrients. One way that these metabolic chemicals are exchanged is during respiration, the process by which used carbon dioxide gas is exchanged with fresh oxygen and circulated throughout the body. How do organisms living underwater respirate? They use gills, which filter oxygen from the water and pass the oxygen into the… Read more

The Touch Response

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

All animals need to respond to changes in their immediate environment. The sensory structures of animals are each made to respond to distinct types of sensory stimuli: touch, taste, sound, light and smell. How are these stimuli received? Different animals have different strategies for receiving stimuli and develop specialized structures for doing so. Antennae, ears, noses, tongues, eyes, eye spots, hairs and bristles are all examples of sensory structures used by different animals to sense… Read more

Water Striders: Survival Adaptations

Lesson Plan Grade: 3rd

How do water striders skip across the surface of the water? What advantage does this give them over other insects that helps them survive in their environment? Your students will find out in this lesson as they build their own insects from pieces of wire, and see which ones sink and which ones float. Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

3-LS4-3. Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.

What Are You Blubbering About?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Baby Beluga may swim in the deep blue sea, but the song does not mention how cold it is out there! Find out in this science project how a bit of blubber can be a useful adaptation when the water is ice cold. Brrrr! Read more

What Are You Blubbering About?

STEM Activity

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Have you ever wondered how whales and other marine mammals survive and keep warm in the cold oceans? Warm-blooded mammals can live in these chilly conditions because their bodies have some cool warmth-saving adaptations, thanks to generations of natural selection. In other words, to pass on characteristics (via their genes), the predecessors of modern marine mammals had to overcome different challenges to reproduce, and their descendants received the genes that allowed for their survival.… Read more

Biomimicry: Echolocation in Robotics

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th

Students use ultrasonic sensors and LEGO© MINDSTORMS© EV3 robots to emulate how bats use echolocation to detect obstacles. They measure the robot's reaction times as it senses objects at two distances and with different sensor threshold values, and again after making adjustments to optimize its effectiveness. Like engineers, they gather and graph data to analyze a given design (from the tutorial) and make modifications to the sensor placement and/or threshold… Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-ETS1-4. Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved.

Build a Bird Feeder to Discover What Animals Need

Lesson Plan Grade: Kindergarten

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In this lesson, each student will create a bird feeder from recycled, bird-safe materials. While designing their own bird feeders, students will discuss what basic needs an animal has and how they can meet these needs with the structure they build. Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

K-LS1-1. Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive.

Could Climate Change Impact the Mosquito-Human Disease Ecosystem?

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-12th

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Scientists are concerned that climate change could cause the spread of mosquito populations that carry diseases like malaria, West Nile virus, Zika virus, and dengue fever. In this lesson plan, your students will access real-world data on mosquitoes at different locations throughout the United States, and examine the effects of temperature on mosquito populations. Remote learning adaptation: This lesson plan can be conducted remotely. Students can work independently on the Explore section of… Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-LS2-4. Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
HS-LS2-1. Use mathematical and/or computational representations of phenomena or design solutions to support explanations of factors that affect carrying capacity of ecosystems at different scales.

Zoology Projects, Lessons, Activities (84 results)

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