Activity 9: Planet Diversity
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In this activity, students will pretend they are visitors from outer space, viewing life on Earth for the first time. By describing, in minute detail, all the life they find in a small plot of land, they will become more aware of the diversity and abundance of life on Earth and will better understand its importance.
This is one of 96 activities that can be found in PLT’s PreK-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide. To get the activity, attend a training either in person or online and receive PLT’s PreK-8 Guide.
The PreK-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide is a supplementary curriculum that is multi-disciplinary, with an emphasis on science, reading, writing, mathematics, and social studies.
Each activity displays explicit connections to practices and concepts expected by the following national academic standards so teachers can easily see where the materials will fit into their lesson plans:
- Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
- Common Core Toolkit, includes
- English Language Arts (CCSS.ELA)
- Mathematics (CCSS.MATH)
- College, Career, and Civic Life Framework for Social Studies (C3)
Our professional development further demonstrates these connections, as well as to state and local standards, contact your state coordinator.
Bird Count
This book is a fictional narrative about a girl who participates in the Audubon Bird Count each year. The story follows Ava, her mother, and their team leader, Big Al, through a full day of the Bird Count.
Amara and the Bats
Amara and the Bats Grades: K-2 Written and Illustrated by: Emma Reynolds Published by: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2021 ISBN-13: 978-1534469013 Recommended Reading As Halloween approaches, fall is a great time to think about bats and their role in our ecosystems. Bats live all around the world on every continent, with the exception... Read more »
Islandborn
Islandborn Age Range 5-8 years Written by: Junot Diaz Illustrated by: Leo Espinosa Published by: Penguin, New York, 2018 ISBN-13: 978-0735229860 Recommended Reading This book gracefully grapples with challenges of immigration. The main character, a 6-year-old girl named Lola, moved to the United States with her family when she was so young that... Read more »
A Day in a Forested Wetland
A Day in a Forested Wetland Grades K-3 Written by: Kevin Kurtz Illustrated by: Sherry Neidigh Published by: Arbordale, 2018 ISBN-13: 978-1628559125 Recommended Reading A continuation of Kevin Kurtz’s award-winning “A Day In” series once again delights readers with a rhythmic, scientifically-sound look into a typical day for the animals that call the soggy forest... Read more »
Small Wonders: Jean-Henri Fabre & His World of Insects
Small Wonders: Jean-Henri Fabre & His World of Insects Grades 3-5 Written by: Matthew Clark Smith Illustrated by: Giuliano Ferri Published by Two Lions, 2015 ISBN-13: 978-1477826324 Recommended Reading Learn about a quiet village in the French countryside. Learn about a famous naturalist. Learn about the significance of observing species in their natural habitats.... Read more »
Wild Ones, Observing City Critters
Wild Ones, Observing City Critters Grades K to Grade 5 ISBN-13: 978-1584695547 Dawn Publications, 2016 Recommended Reading A new children’s picture book called Wild Ones, Observing City Critters offers readers a tour of wildlife that can thrive in urban areas. The main character is Scooter, a dog who wanders away from home. Readers are invited... Read more »
Hey, Little Ant
Hey, Little Ant Ages 3 to 8. ISBN: 1883672546 Published by Tricycle Press, 1998 Authored by Phillip and Hannah Hoose Illustrated by Debbie Tilley Recommended Reading What would you do if the ant you were about to step on looked up and started talking? Would you stop and listen? What if your friends saw... Read more »
EE Resources
Find the Birds
Find the Birds is a free educational mobile game about birds and conservation. Players explore real habitats and find real birds with images, video, and birdsong from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Macaulay Library. Featuring realistic habitats, birds and conservation quests, Find the Birds is a way to introduce generations, young and old, to the... Read more »
Seek by iNaturalist
The Seek App uses image recognition technology to identify the plants and animals all around you. Earn badges for seeing different types of birds, amphibians, plants, and fungi and participate in monthly observation challenges.
iBiome Digital Games
The iBiome series of educational STEM games invites students to play while learning about environmental science. Build virtual ecosystems to study human impacts on the environment and explore what people can do to help.
PHYLO: The Ecosystem Trading Card Game
A study 20 years ago found that British kids were better at identifying Pokemon than real wildlife. So a Canadian professor of teaching has crowdsourced ideas and created a competitive card game that teaches kids about ecosystems. Learn more about this scientific Pokemon-type card game called Phylo: The Ecosystem Trading Card Game. Download rules and a starter deck... Read more »
Conservation Connect
Conservation Connect is an online video series developed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Conservation Training Center designed to encourage students, ages 8-16, to spend time outdoors, observe wildlife in their local habitat, and learn more about natural resource conservation careers. Topics include endangered species such as Bats and the Monarch Butterfly as... Read more »
Encyclopedia of Life Biodiversity Cards
The Encyclopedia of Life is a biodiversity resource that collects and shares information about living things on earth from microorganisms, invertebrates, and trees. When you share observations on the iNaturalist app, scientists come together to properly identify the species. This live data becomes a part of the Encyclopedia of Life and is made into an EOL Biodiversity Card. You can... Read more »
Environmental Justice – EPA’s Data and Mapping Tool
EJ SCREEN is an environmental justice mapping and screening tool that combines environmental and demographic indicators to provide interesting and important regional data related to public health and environmental quality. By clicking anywhere on the map, users can view an area’s ozone levels, traffic concentrations, lead paint indicators, and more. EJSCREEN can assist in the... Read more »
Climate Change around the World
An article in BBC News that discusses impacts of global warming in countries around the world and in major sectors of society: health, water, food, ecosystems, coasts, and industry.
Earth from Space
This Smithsonian Institution website provides students (and teachers!) access to views of conditions and events on earth that are nearly impossible to document from the Earth’s surface. The site proves interactive; explaining how satellite imagery is gathered and used to better understand the world around us.
EarthViewer App
Have you ever wondered what the Earth looked like 400 million years ago? With EarthViewer, a free iPad application, users can explore the Earth’s geologic history. The app tracks the planet’s continental shifts, changes in climate, and explores biodiversity levels over the last 540 million years. Combining visual analysis withe hard data, the app can help... Read more »
Encounters: Wild Explorer
The public radio program Encounters: Radio Experiences in the North explores the natural history of Alaska and the Far North. An accompanying website offers K-12 teachers links to the episodes as well as resources, such as slideshows, videos, and sound clips, introducing the animals and habitats of the regions: beavers, bears, caribou, humpback whales, boreal... Read more »
WildLab Bird
A free app that can be downloaded onto any Apple device (try iBird Lite for Android). Use WildLab Bird to learn the basics of bird identification. This application uses audio, photographs, maps, and the process of elimination to help identify over 200 bird species. Sightings can also be entered into a national bird watching database for... Read more »
Habitat the Game
The Wildlife Conservation Society and Rainforest Alliance have created a free, new app designed for students 7-12. Habitat challenges students to care for virtual endangered animals while they earn points by completing real-life missions, like recycling or visiting a park zoo.
Biointeractive’s Holiday Lectures on Science
Biointeractive’s Holiday Lectures on Science series brings current research into the classroom, bridging the gap between textbook science and real life science. The Biodiversity in the Age of Humans series asks powerful questions, such as: Are we witnessing a sixth mass extinction? What factors threaten ecosystems on land and in the sea? What are researchers... Read more »
PBS Kids Plum Landing
A PBS KIDS environmental science project, PBS PLUM LANDING offers educators fun and engaging resources to get kids outside and connected to nature. Encourage kids to explore their local water systems, find out what happens to life in the desert, and investigate nature’s sounds and smells. Download PLUM LANDING’s free summer camp resources, including interactive... Read more »
Every Kid Outdoors – Free Passes for 4th Graders
Do you teach 4th grade students? Every Kid Outdoors was created so fourth graders and their families could get a chance to experience our federal parks, lands, and waters and discover our wildlife, resources, and history for free. Educators can visit https://everykidoutdoors.gov/educators.htm to get passes, download activities, or plan a life-changing field trip for your... Read more »
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