Lesson plan

What lives in our local park or garden?

Summary
In a local outdoor space, find familiar and not so familiar plants and animals in the earth and/or water. Investigate them further to learn new things about them.
Science content
Biology: Features, Adaptations of Living Things (K, 1, 3, 7)
Biology: Indigenous People's sustainable use of Living Things (K, 2, 3)
Biology: Classification of Living Things, Biodiversity (1, 3)
Biology: Life Cycles (2)
Biology: Food Webs, Ecosystems, Biomes (3, 4)
Materials
  • outdoor space with rich life
  • materials in the chosen activities
Procedure

Once the local area has been chosen, choose activities that explore the animals/plants in that area more deeply.
The activities listed are the ones I have tried - many more can be used for this lesson on local life.

The pond dipping and stream chemistry activities can be run at a lake or stream. The pond dipping finds the living things, then stream chemistry investigates the chemistry of the stream that supports that life.

The nurse log study needs a forested area.

Native plant bingo can be adapted for any area with native plants.

Wood bugs and soil animals can be found and then studied more deeply in a variety of habitats, from gardens to forests.

Notes

Eton Arrowsmith tacked a chicken observation onto this lesson.

Grades taught
Gr 1
Gr 2
Gr 4
Gr 5
Gr 7