The Study of Life
Elementary Life Science Full-year Course textbook
Life Science for Middle School textbook
High School Biology Textbook
Online Biology Classes AP biology and non-major’s biology (Very nicely done, check it out)
Online Biology Textbook from Maricopa Community College
e learning interactive lessons M
Real Things in Nature 1903 textbook, google pdf
Nature Detective Activities (need to download something in order to see the activities–I didn’t want to, so I haven’t seen these)
The Study of Life U worksheets, activities,
Chemistry of Life U worksheets, activities
Math – how it is used in biology
Nature Explore You can download a kit to start a nature group, but the materials include sheets for guided nature walks.
Virtual Tour of the National Arboretum
(See Handbook of Nature Study on the “Ambleside” page, year 1 under “Nature Study”)
See animals under “Zoology”
Fall Lapbook and Notebooking Pages L
Earth Day Lapbook links
Human Body
Virtual Textbook of Interactive Histology (for senior students)
Read about the technology used by doctors to see inside your body U
Entire workbook on the human body M — lots of diagrams and activities
Think Quest’s Body Quest for 11 to 16 year olds
Anatomy Coloring Book U 200 pages
Human Body Interactive Book L (reads to the student)
How the Body Works L/M video, articles, quizzes, activities (I’ll put these up individually later, but for now…)
Human Anatomy study guide M/U fill-in the blank by Ellen McHenry
Build a Body put in all the pieces, can do them all or one system at a time, you just have to get close and it will put it in the right place
Body Browser see the different systems in a body
Body Bingo Ellen McHenry
Anatomy T-shirt Ellen McHenry
The Case of the Physical Fitness Challenge a 1-hr. SCI Files episode, learn about muscles and bones and staying fit
Anatomy Arcade games for the body systems
Obesity: The Plague of the 21st century high school, video, 1 hour
Point of Care Diagnostics high school, video, 1 hour
- Bones
1. Info
Labeled diagram L/M – Enchanted Learning
Get a Narrated Tour of the Skeletal System and Build Your Own Skeleton M
Put the bones in place tells you the bone names
Read about the skeletal system L/M (written to students in an interesting way)
Bone Structure M/U Website, overview with vocab words in bold for you to research more about, idea for making a paper model of your skeleton.
Bones video on the structure of bones and broken bones, about 10 minutes
Broken Bones M/U
If you have a student who wants to learn ALL the bones… (PSU)
2. Printables
3. Activites
Here are four activity/experiment ideas All simple things that can be done by any age (some appropriate for older students if they haven’t already seen it) At first this seems like it’s hard to read and see what you’re supposed to do but scroll down and you’ll see the ideas.
Observe: Ask the butcher for bones still attached and make observations (bones, joints, tendons, ligaments)
Online Activity M/U Perform knee surgery, hip surgery,
- Brain
1. Info
Neuroscience for Kids U I know this is called for kids, well, maybe some pages, but there are lots of very detailed pages here to keep your “upper” student busy for a LONG time. Pretty readable with lots of diagrams.
Get a Narrated Tour of the Brain M
2. Printables
Label the Parts of the Brain — worksheet with short descriptions of each part
Brain – Control Systems — graphic organizer
3. Activities
Brain hat M – Make a parts-of-the-brain hat out of paper
Brain and Nervous System crafts (a bunch of printables) lots of good stuff
Match a Brain online game
Perform virtual brain surgery
Brain Game U Ellen McHenry
- Cells
Middle School Biology Curriculum 23 page pdf
Cells Alive website
Tree of Life molecular structure
Cell Craft online game
Cell Shot online game
Cells U worksheets, activities, and more
Cell inner structure U video
- Circulation
Systematic Circulation — graphic organizer
Pulmonary Cirulation — graphic organizer
Aortic Surgery U edheads
Circulatory System Game U McHenry
- Digestive System
Get a Narrated Tour of the Digestive System M up close and personal diagrams, see if you can put everything in its place
Digestive System Printout — no need to turn this into a t-shirt, just print it out on regular paper
Digestive System Experiments simple
Read one mom’s description of how they made their own digestive path (mixer to bowl to stocking…) Scroll down to below the colorful diagram of intestines.
- DNA
Build a model of DNA directions
DNA, genetics, genetic engineering… U online interactive lesson
DNA and RNA U worksheets, activities and more
Mitosis and Meiosis U worksheets, activities and more
Genome Sequencing Center series of videos, high school
DNA song Ellen McHenry
Thingdom care for and raise your things and then mate them to create certain biological outcome (dominant and recessive genes)
There is a worksheet/lesson on dominant and recessive genes in The King Will Make a Way unit study.
Genetics U worksheets, activities and more
Genetics Lessons and Participate in Data Collection
- Ear
Parts of the Ear L/M click on the parts
How Hearing Works M animation/lesson
The Case of the Barking Dogs 1 hr. SCI Files episode about how humans and animals hear (comes with teacher guide)
- Eye
Eye Anatomy and Virtual Eye Dissection
Cow Eye Dissection and eye facts and eye interactive diagram
- Heart
Hands on Heart and Lung lessons
Get a Narrated Tour of the Heart and Watch an Animated Heart at Work M
Perform heart surgery. U edheads
- Immune System
Immune System Game M/U This is made for a large group to be played on a grid on the floor, but it seems like maybe you could make a grid on paper and play with game pieces instead of human bodies.
The Case of the Biological Biosphere 1 hr. SCI Files episode — I think this is about getting sick (comes with teacher guide)
Model of an Infectious Disease
How a Virus Attacks, animated video ()
- Muscular System
Muscular system L/M video Kid’s Health
Poke a Muscle online game
If you want to learn ALL the muscles (technical stuff)… (PSU)
- Nervous System, see brain
- Nutrition
See Health on the Extras page
- Organs
Internal Organs M – Body Bingo
- Respiratory System
Label the respiratory system Online Activity
Hands on Heart and Lung lessons
Lung Model M/U Build and learn
Lung videos and activities (crossword, word search, jigsaw) U
- Reproduction
Population Biology U worksheets, activities, and more
- Skin
Plants
(see Lay of the Land on the Ambleside page, year 7, science)
The First Book of Plants Dickinson ebook (read online or download)
The Leaf that Longed to Be Red a short story for children
Wildflower Identification website
Tour a Botanical Garden (virtually)
Nature Detectives L/M website
Microorganisms and Carbon Dioxide video, high school
Watch grass grow on a cellular level U video
***
Plant Unit Study L hands-on activities
Chromatology — study the color of leaves experiment one, experiment two
Great Plant Escape (made for 4th and 5th grade, but a young student could do this with a parent) There are 6 “cases” in this online activity. This could be done in one week or each case could be done over the course of a week and take six weeks to do this.
Natural Resources (says K-4) seeds, plants, food (by NASA)
The Case of the Prize-Winning Plants 1 hr. SCI Files episode on what makes plants grow (comes with teacher guide)
Bill Nye on Flowers (video) Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 (all together under 30 min.)
Dendrochronology M How to tell how old a tree is–online activity, this is more than just “count the rings”, very interesting
Mold L/M Experiment
Osmosis — graphic organizer
Strawberries L/M Lapbook and more
- Biomes/Habitats/Ecosystems
Grasslands L/M
Rain Forests L/M Plants
Amazon Rain Forest Virtual Tour
Temperate Deciduous Forests L/M
Plant Adaptations (what plants grow where) L/M Read and sing then play this GAME to math the plants to their biomes. Click on “lesson plans” for hands-on ideas.
Communities and Biomes U worksheets, activites and more
- Gardening
All About Gardening Website
My Garden Lapbook L (lapbook lessons)
The Seed Site made for kids
Gardening with Children lots to learn, lots of activities to do (BBC)
- Germination
Watch and Grow L/M Learn what plants need to grow, watch a seed germinate, click on “lesson plans” for experiment ideas
Germination L/M (Draw the stages using downloadable stencils)
Watch a video of a bean sprouting (youtube)
- Identification
Leaf Identification Game M Ellen McHenry
Carnivorous Plants L (pictures to color)
Botany Scavenger Hunt A (Learn botany vocab) ellen McHenry
- Parts of a Plant
Info L Scroll down to see it all (there’s vocab on this page) Read the sidebar then play this online Game.
Parts of a Plant L online lesson with animation
Parts of a Plant, Inside a Flower M online lesson with animation
Grow a Flower and Label its Parts L Online activity (BBC)
Diagram of a Plant M (Enchanted Learning, see note below)
Label the Parts of a Flower Printable with words and definitions (enchanted learning–free, you can copy the image and paste into another program and drag the corners to enlarge it)
Label the Parts of a Flower Online Activity
Diagram of the Parts of a Tulip
Experiment L Turn a white carnation blue as it drinks up food coloring
Experiment change the flavor of celery by letting it soak up sugar water
- Parts of a Leaf
Comparing Plant and Animal Cells M online lesson with animation
Plants Cell Parts Game M Ellen McHenry
Cholorplasts (learn how they circulate in plant cells by making a flip book) M Ellen McHenry
- Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis L/M (PBS)
Photosynthesis worksheet L/M the basics
Photosynthesis L online lesson with animation
Photosynthesis M online lesson with animation
Photosynthesis Relay Race (learn the formula for photosynthesis) M/U Ellen McHenry
Photosynthesis U (Chapter from book)
Cellular Respiration and Photosynthesis U worksheets, activities and more
- Pollination
Learn about Pollination and Pollinators L/M Read, watch, listen, click on “lesson plans” for hands-on ideas
Life Cycle of a Fern M online lesson with animation
- Seeds
Different Types of Seeds L online lesson with animation
Parts of Seed M lesson, experiment, worksheet
Read, Watch, Explore Seed Dispersion L/M Click on “lesson plans” for hands-on experiment ideas
- Soil
Soil Facts for Kids younger
The Dirt on Soil older has an online activity
The Earth’s Soil (talks about millions of years)
