teacher resources
Welcome Teachers and Parents!
Here is a collection of lessons and activities you can do in school or at home with your students. Just click on the links to take you to the lesson or activity. Let us know if there is something else you are looking for and we will see what we can do. We will be adding to this page as we develop and collect more content.
We are available to help with questions from teachers, parents, and students at [email protected]. If you are stuck on a question, contact us!
Lower Elementary
Insects
Upper Elementary
Birds
Teaching about birds is a great way to get kids excited about the outdoors. Birds aren't like bears and wolves since there are always birds around and they are always doing a different behavior. These activities are focused on upper elementary, but could be adjusted for middle school.
Middle School
Birds
Birds are a topic that is good for any grade. Check out the resources above too.
Here is a collection of lessons and activities you can do in school or at home with your students. Just click on the links to take you to the lesson or activity. Let us know if there is something else you are looking for and we will see what we can do. We will be adding to this page as we develop and collect more content.
We are available to help with questions from teachers, parents, and students at [email protected]. If you are stuck on a question, contact us!
Lower Elementary
Insects
- Insect Body Parts - Students add the body parts to the insect.
- Insect ID - Not everything that is creepy and crawly is an insect. After teaching what makes an insect an insect the students will circle the correct insects.
- Insect Bingo - Send the students outside to search for insects. Encourage them to look under rocks and logs with an adult's assistance. Remind them to be kind and gentle to the insects. There will be more to find later in the spring.
- Habitat Needs - Students will circle what a deer needs to survive.
- Design a Habitat - Students will draw a suitable habitat for a Minnesota species.
- Animal Signs - Match the animal to the sign they could leave behind.
- Wildlife Crossword
- Forest Bingo - After teaching about habitat and what an animal needs to survive, send the students outside to see what they can find. If they are able to take a walk in a local park they will find more, but a yard or walk down the street will find a lot too.
Upper Elementary
Birds
Teaching about birds is a great way to get kids excited about the outdoors. Birds aren't like bears and wolves since there are always birds around and they are always doing a different behavior. These activities are focused on upper elementary, but could be adjusted for middle school.
- Bird Activities - A long list of suggested bird activities divided into topics. This includes links to online videos, online games, and worksheets.
- All About A Bird - A worksheet where students will visit the All About Birds website, choose a bird, and answer questions and draw a picture on that species.
- Observe a Bird - A worksheet where students will need to find a bird to observe for a few minutes. They will then record their observations and write a short story about that bird.
- Birds Crossword
- Wonderful Wetlands - Students will read a one-page description of what a wetland is, what the different types are, and why wetlands are important. They will then unscramble wetland words and answer a few questions.
- Ecosystem Factors - Students will list abiotic and biotic factors and think about how an ecosystem functions.
- Leaf Sorting - Start your students thinking about tree identification by sorting leaves into different categories based on leaf appearance
- Leaf Parts - Students will label a leaf diagram based on the description of the part.
- Leaf Adventure Using a basic dichotomous key, students will try to identify a leaf they find.
- Video on the rotation and orbit of the Earth - Crash Course Kids
- Video on the Moon phases - Freeschool
- Moon phases - A worksheet from education.com where students color in the right part of the moon to match the phase.
- Constellation Stories - Your students can read the stories of The Big Dipper, Cassiopeia, and Orion.
- Create Your Own Constellation - A worksheet where students connect the stars into their own unique constellation and write a story about their constellation.
- Spring Sounds Scavenger Hunt - Take this on a walk or hang it in your house to keep track of the sounds of spring.
- Town Walk Scavenger Hunt - Can you find all these items on a stroll around town. Items should be left where you find them. Especially the car!
- Nature Walk Scavenger Hunt - Take this on your next walk through a park. Items should be left where you find them.
- Nature Bingo Challenge - Can't think of what to do outside today? Choose a square from Nature Bingo and work to get 4 in a row. Or even blackout!
Middle School
Birds
Birds are a topic that is good for any grade. Check out the resources above too.
- Flap to the Future game link - An interactive game about the evolution of birds.
- Continue the learning with Jump, Glide, Fly: Exploring Bird Evolution link. This lesson plan, composed of three activities, explores modern birds and their dinosaur ancestors, adaptations for flight, and the relationship between structure and function. This free lesson plan is perfect for students grades 6-8 and those learning about evolution or adaptations!