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Colorful echinoderms

lesson plans

Organized by Phyla

Lesson Plans

Chordates

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    Lesson Plan
    Chordates - We're All Family
    Students answer questions based on the video Chordates: We’re All Family.

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    Lesson Plan
    Chordates: We Are All Family questions
    A list of questions about the characteristics of Chordates to use after viewing the video Chordates: We Are All Family.

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General Animals

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    Darwins Tree
    Lesson Plan
    A Pipe Cleaner Model of Animal Evolution
    The evolutionary tree shown here was drawn by Charles Darwin, a scientist who lived more than 150 years ago. It was Darwin, and another man named Alfred Russel Wallace that came up with the idea of natural selection, which is one of the ways that life evolves. Darwin wasn’t the first person to suggest that life evolves, the idea had been around for a while, but he was one of the first to use evidence to explain his observations about life.

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    Lesson Plan
    Preconceptions about Evolutionary Trees
    In this lesson, students will address misconceptions about phylogenetic trees before completing a modeling activity to give them a better understanding of how trees are used to model evolutionary relationships.

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    Lesson Plan
    Cambrian Explosion
    In this lesson, students will watch a short film about the Cambrian Explosion and the extraordinary fossils of the Burgess Shale. Students will address preconceptions and misconceptions about early Cambrian life, and complete a timeline activity that will enable them to better appreciate just how recently—relatively speaking—multicellular life evolved on Earth.

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Climate Change

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    Lesson Plan
    Save Our Coral Reefs
    Using this tool, students will practice and deepen their understanding of coral reef basics, what is contributing to their loss, and what is being done to preserve this resource

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    Lesson Plan
    Carbonated Communities
    Through cutting-edge scientific research, students are introduced to climate change’s effects on the intertidal (ocean acidification and temperature increase) and what is known about how ocean organisms are impacted.

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    Lesson Plan
    Carbon Cafe
    In this lesson students learn about the effects of different diets and foods on our Climate Crisis and how to make positive changes

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    Lesson Plan
    What's the bigger picture
    In this lesson, students combine art and science to interpret and illustrate graphical art. In this way, students will building understanding of the power of data infused art to convey the "bigger picture" of climate change.  "Hot issues such as climate change may not be the subjects of contention within the scientific community, but it seems clear that the science is not being communicated in a way that has the necessary impact. Although art cannot directly communicate science or change minds, it can create a space for dialogue around difficult issues" - Kieniewicz

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Science Process

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    Lesson Plan
    Be a Scientist
    This lesson requires students to do a report on distinct scientific fields using Shape of Life videos, Internet resources and a handout about “Cool Science Careers."

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