Mammals

This page includes links to resources to go along with my Mammals Unit! Find the Mammals Unit and other nature-based learning materials in my Shop!

1.) Mammal Research Project: suggested resources (external links)

• I created a list of Department of Wildlife websites for each US state. These websites usually include info on native species. States with deserts include Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Nevada, California, and Utah (these states also contain other biomes, so make sure to pick a desert animal).
• Websites for National Parks, State Parks, and other Natural Areas often have information on local species, including Mammals. Find the website for a park near you. Or, as an example, see these mammal pages from the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Great Basin National Park, and Rocky Mountain National Park
• The Mammal Society has pages with info on a variety of UK mammal species.
• The National Wildlife Federation has a list of US mammals by category
• View the mammals category in this animal database – from the San Diego Zoo website

2.) Related freebies from Wild Earth Lab

3.) Additional lesson plans and free activities – for educators (external links)

• Marine mammal lesson plans from the Smithsonian Ocean website (lessons for various grade levels, elementary through high school)
• Make and Armadillo with Texas Parks and Wildlife (grades K-2)
• Science and Literacy about Mammals, from Ohio State University’s Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears website (grades K-5)
• Teacher guide for Awesome Opossums activities (grades 3-8)
• Hanging Around with Bats – from Texas Parks and Wildlife (grade 4) plus links to bat house designs for building your own bat house
• Activity related to Tagging and Tracking Marine Mammals – from PBS NOVA Teachers online (grades 5-8)
• Learn about challenges facing bats with this Bat, What Can We Do? Lesson plan from Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife (grades 9-12)
• Convergence: Marsupials and Placentals – background reading plus discussion questions from PBS Learning Media (grades 9-12)

4.) References (external links)

These include reference websites, books, and materials I used to fact check the information within the Mammals Unit as well as websites you may find helpful when gathering background information on this unit’s topic. Use the links below to enjoy the wealth of information these references have to offer!

• American Museum of Natural History (n.d.). Batodonoides. Available: https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/extreme-mammals/meet-your-relatives/batodonoides
• Ferner, K., Schultz, J. A., & Zeller, U. (2017). Comparative anatomy of neonates of the three major mammalian groups (monotremes, marsupials, placentals) and implications for the ancestral mammalian neonate morphotype. Journal of anatomy, 231(6), 798-822. Available via Wiley Online Library: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/joa.12689
• Osterloff, E (n.d.). Manatees: What is a Sea Cow? Natural History Museum. Available: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/what-is-a-sea-cow.html
• San Diego Zoo (n.d.). Porcupine. Wildlife Alliance: Animals & Plants. Available: https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/porcupine
• San Diego Zoo (n.d.). Three-banded Armadillo. Wildlife Explorers. Available: https://sdzwildlifeexplorers.org/animals/three-banded-armadillo
• Thomas, L. (2017). Monotremes, Marsupials, and Placentals. UC Santa Cruz. Available: https://norriscenter.ucsc.edu/collections/mammals/monotremes-marsupials-placentals.html
• University of Hawai’i at Manoa (n.d.). What is a Mammal. Exploring our Fluid Earth. Available: https://manoa.hawaii.edu/exploringourfluidearth/biological/mammals/what-mammal
• Wible, R. (2022). DO ANY MAMMALS LAY EGGS? Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Available: https://carnegiemnh.org/do-any-mammals-lay-eggs/
• World Wildlife Foundation (n.d.). Meet the Biggest Animal in the World. Available: https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/meet-the-biggest-animal-in-the-world

For the Mammals Unit, I also used an OpenAI tool to assist with editing my writing to ensure all text was at an appropriate level for an elementary school-aged child:

• OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (September 25 Version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com

5.) More units from Wild Earth Lab