Lesson Plan

Lab dissection of a representative of Class Bivalvia. Supported by several Shape of Life segments, students interpret bivalve adaptations as a radical case of divergent evolution: A simple ancestral snail with a mobile lifestyle, single dome-shaped shell, bilateral symmetry, and a head (“cephalization”) transformed into a headless, double-shelled, sedentary filter-feeder whose bilateral form is obscure.

Lesson Plan

Lab dissection of a squid, a member of Class Cephalopoda (along with the octopus and nautilus). Supported by several Shape of Life segments, students interpret squid adaptations as a radical case of divergent evolution: A line of ancestral snails abandoned the life of sluggish grazing and foraging in favor of a new niche as speedy open water predators.

Lesson Plan

A list of questions about the characteristics of Molluscs to use after viewing the video Molluscs: the Survival Game.

Lesson Plan

Engaging Students with Echinoderm Phenomena, Adaptations, and Art

Lesson Plan

There are three separate lessons here based upon questions.A list of questions about the characteristics of echinoderms to use after viewing the video Echinoderms: The Ultimate Animal.A Shape of Life Echinoderms: The Ultimate Animal worksheet. Students make sketcfhes and write short answers to questions about the amazing world of echinoderms. This was created by Rachel Miller from Science from Scratch.A Powerpoint with questions to use while watching the video Echinoderms: The Ultimate Animal.

Lesson Plan

Students explore the evolution of the phylum Chordata by constructing a "family tree" - a diagram of evolutionary traits and animals.

Lesson Plan

There are three separate lessons here based on questions.A list of questions about the characteristics of chordates to use after viewing the video Chordates: We're All Family.A Shape of Life Chordata worksheet. Students make sketches and write short answers to questions about the amazing world of chordates. This was created by Rachel Miller from Science from Scratch.A Powerpoint with questions to use while watching the video Chordates: We're All Family.

Lesson Plan

Antoni Gaudi, the famous Spanish architect, found his inspirations from nature. From trees to light to whale bones, Gaudi used solutions from nature for structural support or decoration. He is not unique in using natural engineering to solve problems in our daily lives. In this lesson, we will investigate how, through the process of evolution, animals have solved their engineering problems and how people have mimicked those natural solutions.

Lesson Plan

After note taking during the phyla episodes of the shapeoflife.org, student pairs will randomly pick an invertebrate from the hat. After doing more in-depth research on their chosen invertebrate, student pairs will design and create a flyer that will promote the invertebrate’s special abilities. Furthermore, the students will find at least one video clip of their invertebrate from the shapeoflife.org website to present to the class as evidence of their claims. Finally the student pair will argue why their invertebrate should be crowned the “World’s Most Awesome Invertebrate.”

Lesson Plan

In this activity students explore how animals are classified. For centuries taxonomists have been classifying the diversity of animal life based on observations and measurements of animals’ body plans. And now, with DNA sequencing, scientists have for the most part confirmed the work of earlier taxonomists. Students will learn the characteristics that define five of the major invertebrate phyla by watching videos, reading and sorting animal cards. The phyla are: Cnidarians, Annelids, Arthropods, Molluscs, and Echinoderms.