Categories
Activity ideas

Fold a Jumping Frog: Step-by-Step Video Tutorial

In this video activity, students will learn to fold an origami jumping frog! Origami is the art of folding paper. Through origami, a simple piece of paper takes on different shapes, and can even be transformed into complex figures such as boxes, flowers, animals, and much more. In this activity, you will fold your own […]

Categories
Activity ideas Botany

Flower Anatomy: the four whorls of flowers and their functions, plus diagram and activity!

Flower anatomy is an important concept in botany! Whether you and your students are studying fruits, pollination, or plant genetics, understanding the basics of flower anatomy is important background knowledge. This post covers the basic parts of flower anatomy: the 4 “whorls” of complete flowers (sepals, petals, carpel, and stamen) as well as other basic […]

Categories
Activity ideas Amazing Wildlife

Bird of Prey Activities: 7 raptor projects for kids to try in your classroom!

Birds of prey, or raptors, are top predators that can be found in almost any type of habitat, from coastal areas to mountains, wetlands to deserts, grasslands to forests. Some of these incredible birds can even adapt to live alongside humans in urban areas! Because they are so widespread, chances are your students have spotted […]

Categories
Amazing Wildlife

What makes a bird a raptor? Five characteristics of birds of prey

What is a raptor? A raptor is a predatory bird, with sharp talons, a hooked beak, and keen eyesight. Raptors are also sometimes called birds of prey. There are many different types of birds of prey, including eagles, hawks, owls, falcons, vultures, ospreys, and kites. Birds of prey come in many different sizes: from the […]

Categories
Earth Science

Common Landforms: how they form, definitions, and examples

Many forces work together to shape the landscape. Plate tectonics, Vocanic activity, erosion, and deposition work slowly over time to form and change our earth’s surface. All these forces working together create some pretty unique and cool landforms! In this post, we’ll take a closer look at 12 common landforms – what they look like, […]

Categories
Activity ideas Earth Science

How to Measure Tree Height: a real-world application of trigonometry and step-by-step guide to make your own inclinometer!

I don’t know about you, but I think math is a lot more interesting when we can apply it to real-world situations! If you’re studying trigonometry, right triangles, or angles, tree height measurements are the perfect applied math activity! In this simple activity you can create your own inclinometer – a device for measuring angle […]

Categories
Amazing Wildlife

Alphabet of North American Animals

For a recent project, I illustrated North American Animals from A to Z (you can find those illustrations here)! During this project, I reviewed many incredible critters that I studied while earning my degree in Wildlife Biology! I wanted to share more about these cool creatures with you! You may already know and love some […]

Categories
Ecology

Food Chains vs Food Webs: definitions, differences explained, and examples

In a rush? Click here to skip to printing the free educational Poster! Maybe you’ve studied a little ecology and come across the terms “food chain” and “food web.” Both help ecologists explain the ways that energy from food travels through an ecosystem. In this post, we will dive into the differences between food chains […]

Categories
Amazing Wildlife Sustainability and Conservation

Aquatic Insects: identification, examples, and use as bioindicators

If you flip over a few rocks in the shallow water at any healthy pond or stream, you’re sure to see a few aquatic insects! Many aquatic insects are the larvae or nymphs of well-known flying insects, like dragonflies and mayflies! They begin their lives in the water, then emerge from the surface of the […]

Categories
Earth Science Sustainability and Conservation

Tree Rings: why they form and what scientists can learn from them

In a rush? Click here to skip to printing the free learning activity! You may have noticed the unique rings that appear on tree stumps – and you might even know that you can figure out a tree’s age by counting the rings! But did you know that scientists can use tree growth rings to […]