Lesson Plans

Lesson Plan

The "Exploring Ocean Mysteries: From Dynamic Shores To the Deep Sea" curriculum consists of Lesson Plans and Resources that make it easy to teach the seven principles of Ocean Literacy.

Lesson Plan

This lesson begins with students engaging in the practice of science -- observing the phenomena, describing their observations, and making sense of what they see. They observe annelid behaviors using a Shape of Life video with the audio turned off. They try to figure out what the phenomenon (the behavior) is, how it might help the organism survive, and how it might impact the environment. Working with a partner, they make hypotheses about what they are observing and organisms' adaptions that allow it to perform the behavior.

Lesson Plan

In this hands-on activity, students study the beautiful shells not as objects of beauty but as artifacts born of an evolutionary arms race.

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 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

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

Lesson Plan

The paleontological evidence of the first animal to hunt is tiny trails that have been fossilized in rocks. To start this lesson, students will consider the tracks and traces left by modern animals and what they can learn about an animal from its tracks.

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

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

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.