Biology, Ecosystems, & Lifecycles
Table of Contents
Introduction
Animals can teach us a lot about the world and ourselves. Learning compassion towards animals at an early age helps improve children's social skills, empathy towards other humans, and develop their curiosity about scientific topics from biomes and sociology to genetics, physics, and chemistry.
Animal-Free Education Programs
Having live or dead animals in the classroom comes with a number of complications.
Chicks are neglected each year, imprint on humans, and the survivors are then sent back to the supply companies for disposal, or end up in animal shelters.
Frog harvesting for dissections has caused local extinctions of sought-after species.
Cats often come from shelters which is upsetting to students.
Fetal pigs come from factory farms and can contribute to ecological and health problems including antibiotic resistance.
Toxic chemicals are used to preserve bodies.
Bodies degrade and can only be used once.
Insects
International
Fireflies
Fireflies are found all over the world, and are an important species that help indicate the health of an ecosystem.
Their larval stage requires multiple years in a row of un-disturbed leafy space, and their reproduction cycle requires undisturbed darkness. They help to indicate the presence of healthy ground layer, darkness, and water quality, while providing an important food source for species higher in the food chain.
Focusing on this species not only raises awareness about their current struggles, but it gives a great spring board to jump into discussions about reducing energy use to reduce light pollution, what we can do to protect water ways & wetlands, as well as topics on landscaping practices that allow us to S.H.A.R.E. with nature.
Facts About Fireflies "Interested in learning more about fireflies? Here are a few fascinating facts you may not know."
"Fireflies" Fun, interactive, and educational. Play with online "firelfies", adjust their numbers, their internal clocks, and how they interact with their neighbors to better understand their fascinating abilities. Also available in:
中文 (Chinese): “萤火虫”
Deutsch (German): “Glühwürmchen”
Français (French): “Lucioles”
"גחליליות" :[עברית (Hebrew)]
Magyar (Hungarian): "Szentjánosbogár - Mécsbogár”
Português (Brazilian Portuguese): "Vagalumes”
Pусский (Russian): “Светлячки”
Türkçe (Turkish): "Ateş Böcekleri"
Click the Fireflies button to visit our Firefly page which has videos, studies, apps, and location-specific info so your students can learn about the specific fireflies and glow worms in their own area.
Some species (especially in tropical regions) are surprisingly vibrant colors, some have amazing and shocking antennae shapes, and others have unique flash patterns.
Europe
UK
Butterfly Conservation: Resources & Activities "Explore the amazing world of butterflies and moths with us! Our resources and activities have been designed to help you enjoy, learn and connect with nature. We're always thinking of new things to do so come back and visit again soon."
North America
Bee Smart introduction and toolkit. (They ship to the US and Canada)
USA
Life Cycles of Insects ASL Lesson Plan for deaf and hard of hearing students.
Asia/Europe/North America
North America
Birds
Educational Classroom Kits "Our partners Klamath Wingwatchers, Inc., OSU Extension Service, Klamath County, and Klamath Bird Observatory created a resource to help students learn about birds."
Gulf Coast Bird Observatory: Resources for Teachers includes lesson plans and work sheets.
New York
Moriches Bay Project In Schools "is a local organization dedicated to working within our community to monitor and restore Moriches Bay. We are committed to reestablishing populations of shellfish and eelgrass to this fragile marine environment. We educate and empower the community to help counteract local environmental problems."
Plants
North America
USA
Louisiana
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette: The Ecology Center: K-12 Educational Programs these include a variety of opportunities. For example students can:
"learn about designing scientific experiments"
" Students germinate native plant seeds, and plant seedlings into our coastal prairie habitat. The Coastal Roots program educates students about plant life-cycles, and engages them with local environmental issues and restoration efforts."
"Campers visit the Ecology Center to learn about the history and unique characteristics of the Louisiana “Cajun Prairie” through hands-on activities and presentations."
"The Ecology Center partners with local high schools to provide research opportunities for students."
"As part of their science coursework, students from fifth, sixth, and seventh grades are able to learn about the Louisiana Cajun Prairie at The Ecology Center. Each grade is given a tour of the Cajun Prairie restoration, learns how to process seeds by hand and with the seed blower, and is given individualized activities. Fifth grade and sixth grades focus on learning how to identify native species and are treated to a native insect, grasses, and flower scavenger hunt armed with digital cameras to document their findings. Seventh grade examines and compares the plant and insect biodiversity within the four different ecosystems all in existence at the UL Ecology Center: cut lawn, restored prairie, unmanaged land, and bottomland hardwood. The Ecology Center also partners with the students in an on-going project to create a native butterfly garden habitat on campus at Berchman's Academy."
Pollinators
Birds
Some birds help pollinate plants, particularly small birds such as the hummingbird
Hummingbirds
Mammals
Bats
Insects
The following are among our most important pollinators globally.
Gardening Resources
Starting a pollinator garden, or similar projects can be a great way to engage students in learning about habitats and ecology.
Gardens
Click the Gardening/Landscaping button to learn about the many types of garden, and determine which kind of garden, or garden elements would be most suited for your needs and location.
Seeds
Click the Seeds button to find seed libraries, seed swaps, organic companies, and other ways to aquire seeds for your class projects.
Ecosystems
Am ecosystem is a combination of terrain, climate, and the specific communities of species who live in those places. Ecosystems are fascinating, complex, constantly changing, and can interact in many ways depending on other nearby ecosystems, pollution levels, or other types of interference such as human activities. Click the Ecosystems Education button for class materials, and other resources focusing on helping students learn about the ecosystems around them.
BioBlitz
These are generally one-day events, though they may last for only a short period such as an hour or over several days. They are a great way to get adults and children both out in nature and involved with science.
Fire Destruction & Regeneration
We often think of fire as a purely destructive force and normally do everything we can to prevent it. Currently forest fires are becoming more problematic, torching down increasingly large swathes of land, or even communities.
Throughout history, humans have used carefully controlled fire to gently burn the landscape earlier in the year, to prevent full uncontrol able, raging fires in the hotter months.
Pollution VS Wildlife
Landscaping Pollution
The Landscaping Pollution page talks about different types of pollution commonly caused by landscaping, including noise pollution.
It also offers alternative equipment and supplies to protect people and wildlife.
Light Pollution
Click the Darkness button for information about light pollution, what can be done locally to save wildlife from the growing problem, as well as links to international and smaller scale groups or programs.
Noise Pollution
Noise pollution harms the IQs and wellbeing of students and animals. Noise pollution stresses animals and people out, causing a number of unwanted consequences from hearing loss to depression, or changes in the reproduction of wildlife.
Plastic Pollution
Click the Plastic Pollution button to learn more about this problem and the Plastic Cleanup button to learn about the many ways to help remove plastic from the environment, or even prevent it's escape to begin with.
PFAS
PFAS is an increasingly common ingredient in many products, including food containers, fire extinguishers, cook ware, and more. This class of chemicals are considered "forever chemicals" as they contaminate our food, water, soil, air, even our blood and breast milk.
Though PFAS is very hard to eliminate, we've been keeping a close eye on the methods and scien
Games
Terra Nil This is a video game which is currently free if if you have a Netflix account, or available from Steam for around $20 (USD). The player starts out with a dead wasteland and uses technology to start revitalizing the environment. After basic ecosystems have been started and clean water is available, the gamer can then scan for wildlife and adjust biomes to make them appropriate for keystone species to return. For anyone who enjoys games like Civilization or City Skylines, this has a very similar feel, minus the wars and traffic congestion. Students will learn about everything from humidify and soil toxicity to the environmental requirements of specific species including sharks, penguins, bears, beavers, dragon flies and more. The final stages of each level include the use of drones and recycling facilities to retrieve all the technology for use in the next biome!
Wing Span can be played as a single player or multiplayer game. You can play with a physical board game which comes with bird cards, small eggs, food tokens, and dice with food types instead of numbers, OR you can play with a computer. Options include single or multiplayer, online play or a four-way split screen. Players select the bird species they want to play as, different species have different stats for example some species lay far more eggs per round than others.
Life Cycles
Bees
Bumblebee Lifecycle "Bumblebees are social creatures and have an interesting lifecycle. They live in a nest ruled by a queen who is helped by smaller female (worker) bumblebees."
Lesson Plans & Class Resources
Classroom Activities: Teach "Bring the wonder of space to your students. Explore our universe of science, technology, engineering and math activities and resources." Filter by types, subjects, grades, and topics - Jet Propulsion Labratory, California Institute of Technology, NASA
Dark Skies Rangers "This program educates students on how to identify inefficient lighting, provides alternatives and tools that reduce consumption, keeps energy costs in check, and helps communities regain and safeguard a precious resource - a dark nighttime sky."
World Wildlife Foundation: Educator Kits These cover specific species, groups of animals, women in science, art projects, and more.
Africa
iAfrica Foundation "Our goal is to provide high quality education materials which enable teachers and facilitators to engage and inform children about key conservation topics that affect their daily lives. These topics are not typically well covered in schools, but the environmental and economic short- and long- term effects of this gap in the education of African children needs to be tackled now, so future generations have a better understanding of what is at stake and what needs to change.
We are now rolling out the iLearnabout platform with two topics; Biodiversity and Climate Change, with a third on Wildlife Conservation in development, to any school or organisation, free of charge. Our partners are using these with great effect. If you would like more details on using the teaching materials we would love to hear from you.
In order to expand the full range of resources we are seeking further financial support. Topics will range from Water and Sanitation to Sustainable Agriculture. Having developed the initial infrastructure, further development is cost effective and has a lasting impact.
We are proud that iLearnabout is already being acknowledged as a game-changer. Our aim of creating a generation of sustainable and environmentally aware ambassadors in Sub- Saharan Africa will pave the way for environmental improvements, alleviating poverty and improving conservation efforts."
Europe
Ireland
Irish Peatland Conservation Council: Resources "Bogs in the Classroom. IPCC’s Education Department have published a wide range of resources to help groups and individuals, teachers and educators learn about bogs and introduce bogs to your classroom. The resources are copyright free for educational use by teachers with their class group. The materials presented are taken from the Peatland Education Pack published by the IPCC. This publication and other packs, dvd’s, books, charts and pictures can be purchased from our Nature Shop. If you cannot find what you need please contact us."
National Biodiversity Data Center: Ireland's Biodiversity Learning Platform "Supporting collaborative learning on Ireland's biodiversity"
UK
Butterfly Conservation: Discover & Learn "Discover the wonderful world of butterflies and moths with us. Learn all about their amazing lives, access our curriculum based resources, find out how you can help or simply have fun with our activities and connect with nature."
Sea Shepherd UK Education: Teaching Materials Includes Art, English, Geography, Math, and Science for younger children.
North America
Audubon Adventures "is an environmental education curriculum product created by the National Audubon Society for grades 3 - 5. Developed by professional environmental educators, Audubon Adventures presents standards-based science content about birds, wildlife, and their habitats.
Audubon Adventures introduces young people, their families, and their teachers to the fundamental principles by which the natural world functions. Our print publications and website offer an exciting, science-based exploration of those principles at work anchored in nonfiction reading and outdoor and classroom activities that help kids to care for our planet by helping birds and other wildlife.
Audubon Adventures is used in classrooms, home schools, after-school programs, camp programs, ESL classes, and more."Cornell Lab of Ornithology: k-12 Education: Spanish "The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has several options for resources in Spanish, many of which focus on Latin American countries." (also some resources in French)
Canada
Grizzly Bear Foundation's Unit of Study: The Importance of Grizzly Bears in Our Environment This includes lesson plans, photos, infographics, and talks about many aspects of bears including their ecological, cultural, and economical benefits.
USA
Life Cycles of Insects ASL Lesson Plan for deaf and hard of hearing students.
The Cornell Lab or Ornithology: K-12 Materials and Professional Development for Educators
Alaska
Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center: Free Curriculum & Lessons "has teamed up with Bear Trust International and Inspired Classroom to develop science-based education programs rooted in research and ecology. All lessons meet Alaska and National Science Standards and address STEM goals." Learn about Bears and Bison.
Florida
Florida's Coral Reef Education & Activities "The Coral Reef Conservation Program released updated lesson plans, materials and activities for the Coral Reef Education Trunks program. The lesson plans were designed by three educators local to the reef: Lauren Chesrown (grades K-2 and 3-5), Beatriz Chachamovits (grades 6-8) and Lindsay French (grades 9-12). These resources have been adapted so that teachers can use them even without a trunk.
Southeast Florida Coral Reef Initiative offers lesson plans for different grade levels "such as video series, educational games, and many more art and science activities focused on coral reefs."
South America
Cornell Lab of Ornithology: k-12 Education: Spanish "The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has several options for resources in Spanish, many of which focus on Latin American countries." (also some resources in French)
Ways to Help Wildlife
Faunalytics is a great source of animal-focused research for kids and adults who want to better understand the plights of animals, as well as understand how to help them.
Marine Renewable Energy Educational Resources "Using clean, low-carbon energy sources is more important now than ever. As we combat climate change, marine renewable energy (MRE) has the potential to play an important role. However, we need to understand the impact tidal, wave, and ocean thermal energy devices may have on the environment in order to deploy MRE devices in a responsible manner.
OES-Environmental has compiled educational resources to increase awareness and understanding of MRE and associated environmental effects as well as support the future workforce. The materials and resources on this page can be used by students of all ages and educational backgrounds. Educators, schools, aquariums and zoos, science camps, etc. may also want to use this page for fun, educational content or to develop a classroom curriculum on environmental effects of MRE."
Conservation & Rewilding
Conservation means protecting the nature we currently have, and rewilding refers to bringing back native species to areas where their numbers have dropped or vanished. It can also include cleaning and repairing bodies of water, or other landscape features that many species rely on.
School Yards
These outdoor spaces can be important habitat for various species, and a place where students can safely interact with the ecosystem. Schools can take things a step further by using swift bricks in their exterior walls for nesting birds, or add wildflower patches, trees, bird boxes, feeders, even frog ponds.
If including a pond, ensure kids can't fall in by adding a fence or a metal grate over the top. These can allow frogs and other small animals to use the pond, without giving children access.
School Trips
School trips to conservation areas, wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centers, etc. can help answer questions for curious children as well as get them asking even more questions. Kids who have lived their whole lives in cities are often amazed by the increadible heights of trees in untamed places, or the vastness of wetlands, grasslands, and other biomes. Engaging in their first dipnet study can show kids that even the most peaceful and empty looking bodies of water can in fact be teaming with a huge variety of lifeforms.
Animal Sanctuaries
Animal and wildlife sanctuaries often offer educational tours and other types of programs to help kids engage with animals.
Currently we only have a directory for Farm Animal Sanctuaries, but some of these also help other types of animals including ex-lab animals, wildlife, and even exotic species rescued from roadside zoos, pet owners or even directly from wildlife trade busts.
Tools
Habitat Quantification Tool (HQT) "evaluates both quantity and quality of habitat using a unit called "functional acres." Habitat quality is determined using the best available science on a particular species' habitat needs. By using this tool before, during and after a conservation or development project, regulatory agencies can more precisely assess environmental impacts and generate positive outcomes for wildlife."
Click the link and check the PDFs for different species and biomes in the panel to the right.
Resources by Region
North America
USA
Delaware
Partnership for the Delaware Estuary: Kids & Teachers "The Estuary is an amazing resource. It’s a place where thousands of species live, feed and reproduce—including over six million people. We have lots of wonderful activities, games, videos and websites for you to explore.
Check out our newly compiled Horseshoe Crab Resource page, complete with more activities, books, and videos!"