HyperSlides are digital lessons/units that help students learn the material in a way that is engaging and inquiry-based. Students will work together to complete a HyperSlides unit centering around animal adaptations for standards in grades 3-5. Students will work creatively and collaboratively with a variety of Course of Study standards that engage students through using Google Slides and Hyperlinks to assist in the understanding of animal adaptations. This project will take several class periods to complete. After an introduction to the Hyperslides, students are encouraged to work at their own pace, but Hyperslides can be assigned on a daily basis.
This Lesson Plan was created in partnership with the Birmingham Zoo.
In this lesson, students will explore animal adaptations for a variety of animals. Students will select one adaptation and create a wanted poster describing the specific adaptation for that animal and how it functions to help the animal survive, grow, behave, or reproduce.
This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.
The students will investigate camouflage and countershading as an example of penguin adaptation. Then students engage in an experiment to demonstrate the effectiveness of blubber as an insulator against the cold temperatures penguins typically experience. Students will learn about a variety of external penguin structures and explore the insulating value of an internal structure, blubber.
This lesson was adapted from the NSTA at this link.
In this learning activity, students will watch a video of crabs exchanging shells. Then they will be challenged to design and construct a shell for their own Hermit Crab using specific criteria and constraints given by the teacher. Finally, they will complete an exit slip explaining what factors make their shell desirable for a hermit crab.
This activity is a result of the ALEX Resource Development Summit.
Students listen to a book about a jackrabbit that wishes for horns so that he can be fierce. After listening to the read aloud, the students discuss animal adaptations for survival, including physical characteristics, habitat, and diet.
This activity results from the ALEX Resource Development Summit.
Students will demonstrate their knowledge of animals with bioluminescent characteristics by collaboratively creating a sea animal out of glow in the dark slime. Students will then display their sea animal for the class and explain why their animal uses bioluminescence to survive.
This activity was created as a result of the Arts COS Resource Development Summit.
In this activity, students will watch a video to introduce them to the Red Mason Bee. During the video, they will gather evidence about the lifestyle, life cycle, growth, and reproduction of the Red Mason Bee. Students will then create a bee hotel to encourage Red Mason Bees to pollinate in their area.
This activity should be completed after teaching a lesson on animal adaptations and camouflage. Students will choose an animal and create an artwork by using a series of patterned dots to "camouflage" or blend their animal into the landscape. After completing their artwork, students will examine their artwork and demonstrate their scientific knowledge by answering reflection questions in their science journal.
Steve Trash teaches kids about science with fun and magic. The show is filmed in Alabama
Join Steve Trash for a deep dive into the world of plants. Learn what goes on inside plants, how they turn sunlight into energy, and why they are SO important. After that, explore how sound moves from one place to another as Steve demonstrates the secrets of sound waves.
In these Hero Elementary activities, children learn about plant parts. As they observe different plants, they notice how the parts are alike and not alike. They compare plant parts and notice patterns. Children gather and record information about the parts of plants. They describe how the parts work to help plants live and grow.
Players are challenged to complete a series of missions to photograph mountain plants and animals in the Canadian Rockies, in this interactive game from PLUM LANDING™. Through the clues that Plum provides, players learn about mountain ecosystems, the plants and animals living there, and how they are adapted to mountain life.
Players are challenged to complete a series of missions to photograph rainforest plants and animals in Borneo, in this interactive game from PLUM LANDING™. Through the clues that Plum provides, players learn about rainforest ecosystems, the plants and animals living there, and how they are adapted to rainforest life.
Players are challenged to complete a series of missions to photograph desert plants and animals in the Australian outback, in this interactive game from PLUM LANDING™. Through the clues that Plum provides, players learn about desert ecosystems, the plants and animals living there, and how they are adapted to desert life.
Players are challenged to complete a series of missions to photograph coastal mangrove plants and animals in Belize, in this interactive game from PLUM LANDING™. Through the clues that Plum provides, players learn about coastal ecosystems, the plants and animals living there, and how they are adapted to coastal life.
The shape of a bird's beak says a lot about what the bird eats. Whether long or short, broad or narrow, each type of beak is perfectly matched to a particular type of food. This collection of images shows a wide range of beak types and the kinds of food each might be used to eat.
Baby animals have been captured and it is up to the Kratts to use their knowledge of animals and power suits to rescue the creatures. Players will figure out which powersuits are needed to get through the maze.
The ear is specially designed to change sound waves into signals the brain can understand, allowing you to hear. That is not all they do, though. Your ears also help you balance!
This classroom resource provides a video that will describe the structures of the ear and how they work together to allow us to hear. After utilizing this resource, the students can complete the short test to assess their understanding.
Investigate a prairie inhabitant—the bee. Students gather information about a bee’s internal and external parts and use this information as evidence to make a claim about how the bee’s internal and external parts work together as a system to ensure survival. The lesson supports diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility by focusing on an insect familiar to learners in most environments and providing contextual definitions for vocabulary as well as illustrations and video, helping learners from areas without prairie to engage with and understand the lesson.
This NET Nebraska student lesson uses the photographs, observation notes, and online blog from the Nature Conservancy’s Science Director, Chris Helzer. Helzer's photography is featured in his book, Hidden Prairie: Photographing Life in One Square Meter.
In this lesson, students will examine the various parts of flowers through the use of dissection. At the end of the lesson, students will play a quick game of pollinator tag to help students understand how pollination works.
Roots do more than just draw water and nutrients into a plant. They also anchor it to the ground. Stems help distribute water and nutrients all over the plant and also support the plant’s leaves and flowers.
This resource presents a short slide show about the function of roots and stems in plants. After utilizing this resource, the students can complete the short test to assess their understanding.
Gymnosperms are the oldest seed-bearing plants. There are four types of gymnosperms: gnetophytes, cycads, conifers, and ginkgos. Learn about gymnosperms’ distinctive appearance and unique life cycle here.
The classroom resource provides a video that will describe the function of seeds in seed-bearing plants. After utilizing this resources, the students can complete the short test to assess their understanding.
Mosses and ferns fall into two types: vascular and non-vascular. Vascular means they have tubes running throughout that can carry water and nutrients. Non-vascular plants, like liverworts, do not have tubes, so they are much smaller.
This resource presents a short slide show about the reproduction of mosses and ferns, which use spores to reproduce. After utilizing this resource, the students can complete the short test to assess their understanding.
Plants produce seeds in order to reproduce. Gymnosperm seeds develop in cones, and angiosperm seeds develop in fruit. When a seed is fertilized, in the right conditions, it will germinate, starting the life of a new plant!
The classroom resource provides a video that will describe the process of reproduction in plants with seeds. After utilizing this resource, the students can complete the short test to assess their understanding.
Angiosperm plants reproduce by producing seeds inside a flower. There are two kinds of angiosperms: monocotyledons and dicotyledons.
The classroom resource provides a video that will describe the process of reproduction of flowering plants. After utilizing this resource, the students can complete the short test to assess their understanding.
Plants that reproduce without seeds use several different methods, like budding, plant runners, and spores.
This resource presents a short slide show about the process of reproduction in plants that do not have seeds. After utilizing this resource, the students can complete the short test to assess their understanding.
In this activity, students make a meerkat model while identifying unique body characteristics. Students learn how adaptations are crucial to a meerkat's survival.
This resource provides guides and examples to help start your own school garden.