2. ORGANIZATION OF LIVING THINGS
Elementary
Benchmark 2 "Compare and contrast (K-2) or classify (3-5) familiar organisms on the basis of observable physical characteristics."
Benchmark 1 "Explain characteristics and functions of observable body parts in a variety of animals"- Entomology for Beginners - Organization of Living Things (III.2.E.1&3)
- Entomology is the study of insects. This page provides some basic information on insects. First a quick look at the anatomy of adult insects. Then a short story about the metamorphosis of insects. There is an interactive project of observing, classifying, describing, and reporting results to a classroom in another state. Provides information for the teacher on how to use the site, but is designed for student use.
- Cool Science for Curious Kids - Organization of Living Things (III.2.E.1,3,4,&5)
- The Howard Hughes Medical Institute invites curious kids to explore biology on screen, off screen, and in between. This is a teacher lesson plan. Interactive question for students to answer.
- Student List of Activities - Whales - Organization of Living Things (III.2.E.1)
- This page has a number of student activity worksheets and lessons related to examining whales.
- Excellent site for a whale unit.
- Whole Frog - Organization of Living Things (III.2.E.1)
- This site allows students and teachers to dissect the frog, rotate and examine the frog, and put the frog back together. Students can use this experience to compare body parts with vertebrates on other sites.
- Zoom Butterflies - Organization of Living Things (III.2.E.1&3)
- This site explains all about the butterfly: body parts, life cycle, habitat, diet, senses, and defense mechanisms. It has a Butterfly Glossery. Printouts are available for butterflies, as well as many other animals.
Benchmark 3 "Describe life cycles of familiar organisms"
- Plants - Organization of Living Things (III.2.E.2,4&5)
- A dandelion is explored as an example of a plant with all of its parts: flower, seeds, stems, leaves, and roots. This is a lesson plan with directions, an overhead of plant parts to copy and a Hint Strips quiz you can copy. There are many additional activities that pertain to plants at this site. Excellent teacher resource. Activity #5 after vocabulary.
- Name That Gunk - Organization of Living Things (III.2.E.2)
- This page contains a fun activity for students. They have an opportunity to look at six different bug smears on a car window and determine which of six insect types the smear represent. Students can use their knowledge of measurement and observation to make their hypotheses.
- The Electronic Zoo - Organization of Living Things (III.2.E.2)
- This page provides many links for a teacher to meet the enablers related to animals and animal related topics.
Benchmark 5 "Describe functions of selected seed plant parts."
- Children's Butterfly Site - Organization of Living Things (III.2.E.3)
- Outstanding - This web site is a very informational, student friendly web site. It contains links to butterfly animations, as well as, other interactive links. Contains pictures and descriptions of lifecycles of butterfly and moth. An excellent launching pad for butterfly research.
- Cool Science for Curious Kids - Organization of Living Things (III.2.E.1,3,4,&5)
- The Howard Hughes Medical Institute invites curious kids to explore biology on screen, off screen, and in between. This is a teacher lesson plan. Interactive question for students to answer.
- Entomology for Beginners - Organization of Living Things (III.2.E.1&3)
- Entomology is the study of insects. This page provides some basic information on insects. First a quick look at the anatomy of adult insects. Then a short story about the metamorphosis of insects. There is an interactive project of observing, classifying, describing, and reporting results to a classroom in another state. Provides information for the teacher on how to use the site, but is designed for student use.
- How Do Plants Pollinate - Organization of Living Things (III.2.E.3&5)
- Outstanding - This site is a song (to the tune of "This Land is Your Land"). Kids can manipulate the sound to different stanzas and sing along. There is a lot of appropriate vocabulary. This is a student activity. An excellent site for vocabulary.
- Life Cycle of Fish - Organization of Living Things (III.2.E.3)
- This is a report by a student on the life cycle of salmon. It has several good pictures that depict each stage.
- Monarch Watch - Organization of Living Things (III.2.E.3)
- Outstanding - This site gives the life cycle of the Monarch butterfly, including a microscopic image of a Monarch egg. The Multimedia Gallery contains photos of Monarchs at all stages. Suggests possible research and conservation projects.
- The Miracle of Birth - Chicken or Egg? -Organization of Living Things (III.2.E.3)
- This site is from the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. It shows pictures of an egg being candled and hatched as various stages of development. There is a short video of the actual hatching of a chick.
- Where Do Butterfies Come From? - Organization of Living Things (III.2.E.3) New
- Lower elementary activity making a paper butterfly. Good illustration of the 4 stages of a butterfly.
- Zoom Butterflies - Organization of Living Things (III.2.E.1&3)
- This site explains all about the butterfly: body parts, life cycle, habitat, diet, senses, and defense mechanisms. It has a Butterfly Glossery. Printouts are available for butterflies, as well as many other animals.
- Benchmark 4 "Compare and contrast food, energy, and environmental needs of selected organisms."
- Ants - Organization of Living Things (III.2.E.4)
- This site offers descriptions and pictures of a variety of ants. This includes the environment and food needs of ants. Information for elementary students will need to be sorted.
- Cool Science for Curious Kids - Organization of Living Things (III.2.E.1,3,4,&5)
- The Howard Hughes Medical Institute invites curious kids to explore biology on screen, off screen, and in between. This is a teacher lesson plan. Interactive question for students to answer.
- Plants - Organization of Living Things (III.2.E.2,4&5)
- A dandelion is explored as an example of a plant with all of its parts: flower, seeds, stems, leaves, and roots. This is a lesson plan with directions, an overhead of plant parts to copy and a Hint Strips quiz you can copy. There are many additional activities that pertain to plants at this site. Excellent teacher resource. Activity #5 after vocabulary.
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- Cool Science for Curious Kids - Organization of Living Things (III.2.E.1,3,4,&5)
- The Howard Hughes Medical Institute invites curious kids to explore biology on screen, off screen, and in between. This is a teacher lesson plan. Interactive question for students to answer.
- Exploring the Secret Life of Trees - Organization of Living Things (III.2.E.5) New
- Student interactive book designed to help student (Grades 3 to 5) an appreciation of trees. Explains functions of plant parts. Observe trees in their every day lives and explore wonders of trees.
- Plants - Organization of Living Things (III.2.E.2,4&5)
- A dandelion is explored as an example of a plant with all of its parts: flower, seeds, stems, leaves, and roots. This is a lesson plan with directions, an overhead of plant parts to copy and a Hint Strips quiz you can copy. There are many additional activities that pertain to plants at this site. Excellent teacher resource. Activity #5 after vocabulary.
- How Do Plants Pollinate - Organization of Living Things (III.2.E.3&5)
- Outstanding - This site is a song (to the tune of "This Land is Your Land"). Kids can manipulate the sound to different stanzas and sing along. There is a lot of appropriate vocabulary. This is a student activity. An excellent site for vocabulary.
- How A Soybean Grows - Organization of Living Things (III.2.E.5)
- This site has beautiful pictures of a soybean plant. If you click your mouse on the border of the picture it will enlarge for student viewing. The pictures start with a seed and show the progress of the plant to maturity. The text is too difficult for most elementary students. Information in the site is very detailed. Information for elementary will need to be sorted out.
- Meet the Plant Parts - Organization of Living Things (III.2.E.5)
- The site is an interative activity where you match the picture to the word of plant parts. You drag them to the salad bowl and make a salad. This is a student activity.
- Plants and Our Environment - Organization of Living Things (III.2.E.5)
- This site was made by fourth graders. It has activities, information, and projects. It's really a great model for elementary students who want to demonstrate their learning with HyperStudio or PowerPoint presentations. This site is a general information site.
- The Great Plant Escape - Organization of Living Things (III.2.E.5)
- In this activity, students work with Detective Laplant to solve mysteries. These questions include: What are the parts of a plant? and What are the parts of a seed? 4th and 5th grade students are asked to "help Detective Le Plant and his partners Bud and Sprout unlock mysteries of plant life." Combines Web-based activities with hands-on experiments. The site includes six cases, a glossary, links, and a guide for teachers. Illinois Cooperative Ext. Service.
- Trees Are Terrific - Organization of Living Things (III.2.E.5) New
- Student interactive book designed to help student (6?8 years of age) gain an appreciation of trees. Observe trees in their every day lives and explore wonders of trees. Distinguish plants from one another. Classify familiar organisms.
Middle School
Benchmark 1 "Compare and classify organisms into major groups on the basis of their structure."
Benchmark 2 "Describe the life cycle of a flowering plant."
- Birds of Prey - Organization of Living Things (III.2.MS.1) New
- This site will help students further understand the predator/prey relationship by researching specific examples of birds (predators) and what they eat to survive (prey).
- Brine Shrimp Survival - Organizational of Living Things (III.2.MS.1) New
- This site helps sutents develop an understanding of how growth and survival of an organism depends on physical conditions; student design an artificial environment in which brine shrimp can thrive.
- Classification of Living Things - Organization of Living Things (III.2.MS.1)
- This site is a teacher resource that covers the classification of living things as it relates to the principles of taxonomy with a focus on human classification categories. Web expeditions, an audio glossary and related sites enhances this site.
- Classify That - Organization of Living Things (III.2.MS.1) New
- This lesson is centered around a, "Classifying Critters," website that introduces them to different vertebrates and helps the students see why scientists have classified them into different categories. This would be a general introductory lesson to classifying organisms.
- Classifying Critters - Organization of Living Things (III.2.MS.1) New
- Outstanding - Students match critters based on physical features using multiple choice format. In addition to pictures, the site describes many characteristics of living things. Other activities include classification of plants and flowers.
- Explorer's Club Plants and Animals - Organization of Living Things (III.2.MS.1) New
- This site has information on water, air, plants, animals, pollution, and recycling. It also has student activities.
- Five Kingdoms - Organization of Living Things (III.2.MS.1)
- Students will watch a short movie on the five kingdoms detailing the major characteristics found within each kingdom. Students may take a quiz after the movie. Additional links to more information and extention activities are available.
- Hatching Brine Shrimp - Organization of Living Things (III.2.MS.1) New
- This site helps develop an understanding of how the growth and survival of an organism (brine shrimp) depend on physical conditions. This is accomplished by designing an experiement to determine the optimum salinity of water needed to hatch brine shrimp.
- Kidport - Organization of Living Things (III.2.MS.1) New
- Students are given a quiz using classification skills (vertebrates, invertebrates, animal kingdoms). Once in the main site, teachers select appropriate grade level and quiz type.
- Student Oceanography Site - Organization of Living Things (III.2.MS.1) New
- This site is about marine life and conservation. It has games for students to play and lots of information about marine life.
- Water Critter Key - Organization of Living Things (III.2.MS.1) New
- This website gives students the chance to work with dichotomous keys. Students choose an aquatic animal from the game board. They then answer the questions to determine the identity of their animal by its physical characteristics.
Benchmark 3 "Describe evidence that plants make and store food."
- Pollination - Organization of Living Things (III.2.MS.2)
- This site allows students to go step by step through the life cycle of a flowering plant. From "Pollination" page, click on "the life cycle of the flowering plant." Other links go into great detail on pollination.
- The Great Plant Escape - Organization of Living Things (III.2.MS.2&3)
- Students take a journey with an interactive detective into the world of plants to find clues, perform experiments, and solve problems that will solve various cases pertaining to plants. Extension activities and quizzes are available.
Benchmark 4 "Explain how selected systems and processes work together in animals."
- The Great Plant Escape - Organization of Living Things (III.2.MS.2&3)
- Students take a journey with an interactive detective into the world of plants to find clues, perform experiments, and solve problems that will solve various cases pertaining to plants. Extension activities and quizzes are available.
- The Photosysnthesis Process - Organization of Living Things (III.2.MS.3)
- This interactive site introduces students to photosysnthesis. Starting with the sun, students can read the roles and definitions of each component of the photosysthesis process.
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- Interactive Frog Dissection - Organization of Living Things (III.2.MS.4)
- Using multimedia and other technologies, students can virtually dissect a frog by following along with the step-by-step directions. The "Quick Time" videos do a good job of illustrating the process.
- Kidport Science Grade 5 - Organization of Living Things (III.2.MS.4) New
- Upon arriving at this home page, click on grade 5 and then science. Students can choose one of four organ systems and identify the different parts (skeleton, heart, muscles). This site will enhance students vocabulary and teach them how the different parts of organ systems work together.
- The Heart: An Online Exploration - Organization of Living Things (III.2.MS.4)
- This site gives a tour of the circulatory system. Detailed information as well as pictures and videos make this site a good resource.
- The Living skeleton - Organization of Living Things (III.2.MS.4)
- The Living Skeleton has x-ray images of human skeletons with descriptions and images. For example, students can see a picture of a normal arm bone and then a fractured arm bone, they can also see images of the fractured arm after the surgery to fix it.
- The Science of Aging - Organization of Living Things (III.2.MS.4) New
- This site introduces students to the concept of aging and how scientists study human aging.
- Virtual Frog Dissection Kit - Organization of Living Things (III.2.MS.4)
- This award-winning interactive program is part of the "Whole Frog" project. You can interactively dissect a (digitized) frog named Fluffy, make movies, and play the Virtual Frog Builder Game. The interactive Web pages are available in a number of languages.
Benchmark 1 "Classify major groups of organisms to the kingdom level." High School
Benchmark 2 "Describe the life cycle of an organism associated with human disease."
- Biology4Kinds.com: Kingdoms and Domains - Organization of Living Things (III.2.HS.1) New
- This site walks students through the five kingdoms giving simple explanations at first, then explaining the explanation and giving specific examples of organisms that belong to each kingdom. Very readable text and nice images make this site a pleasure.
- Brain Pop: Five Kingdoms - Organization of Living Things (III.2.HS.1) New
- This animation walks students through each of the five kingdoms and discusses the characteristics of each.
- Introducing Classification - Organization of Living Things (III.2.HS.1) New
- This site was designed by a seventh grade teacher to assist students in understanding classification. The site includes interactive presentations on characteristics of life and five kingdom classification, as well as, classification in general.
- Natural Perspective - The Five Kingdoms - Organization of Living Things (III.2.HS.1) New
- Wow!! Site is organized according to the biological principles of taxonomy, or classification. You can visit a kingdom and learn about its properties and examples of organisms, or go directly to an organism and then be referred to the kingdom information. Beautiful pictures! Very informational site.
- OLogy: The Tree of Life - Organization of Living Things (III.2.HS.1) New
- This site gives students and information and experience with classification and cladograms. The site includes some explanatory text and an interactive cladogram. Ties in with evolution concepts like shared characteristics and common ancestry.
- Phylogeny Taxonomy Look Up - Organization of Living Things (III.2.HS.1)
- Well organized, informational, has hypertext - great support material/glossary/visuals, etc.
- Doesn't categorize all prokaryotes as one (doesn't use the term Monera). A good way to launch open ended discussion/journal entry on human devise systems! Also includes viruses and allows for categorization by eukaryotic types of cells. You would need to add questions and compare to the old five kingdom system (which is the one covered in Michigan Curriculum Framework). Note: once in the site, click on "Express lift to Taxa" for the divisions used in this program, scroll to the bottom, and click on the glossary. The glossary is great because it covers many terms using hypertext to add visuals and explanations. If you click on the category "Introduction to Life", may of the terms under the enabler will be found. It shows students examples of things that they might otherwise not see.
- The Tree of Life - Organization of Living Things (III.2.HS.1)
- The "Tree of Life" is a project designed to contain information about the phylogenetic relationships and characteristics of organisms, to illustrate the diversity and unity of living organisms and to link biological information available on the Internet in the form of a phylogenetic navigator. A rather scientific site that could be used in a number of ways to study the diversity and interrelationships on the Earth's organisms. It can be used for general information or an instructor could create student activities in which their site is used to solve problems. This is a massive and useful site.
Benchmark 3 "Explain the process of food storage and food use in organisms."
- American Lyme Disease Foundation - Deer Tick Ecology - Organization of Living Things (III.2.HS.2) New
- An informational page about the deer tick and its life cycle. This site by the ALDF has concise text and excellent images.
- CDC - Division of Parasitic Diseases - Organization of Living Things (III.2.HS.2) New
- The center for disease control's parasite database has extensive information on nearly all animals that cause human disease. The information is exhaustive and very detailed. The site sorts the database by different criteria and offers sugestions for infection prevention. The database has no parasite images.
- Diseases, Selected Prevention and Program Areas - Organization of Living Things (III.2.HS.2&5)
- This site lists every possible human disease and has a link to the sites which offer prevention information.
- DPDx - Parasite Image Library - Organization of Living Things (III.2.HS.2) New
- This is the Center for Disease Control, Division of Parasitic Diseases' identification and diagnosis image library. The site is organized alphabetically and houses many good images of common (and not so common) parasites.
- Guide to Clinical Preventive Services, Second Edition - Organization of Living Things (III.2.HS.2&5)
- This site offers a list of diseases and disorders and links to find out information to screen for them.
- Homeostasis Tutorial - Organization of Living Things (III.2.HS.2) New
- This tutorial is was created at the university of Sydney. It consists of very readable text and interactive images. The tutorial covers internal and external environments, the movement of substances, temperature regulation, feedback systems and more.
- Parasites and Health - Organization of Living Things (III.2.HS.2) New
- This is the Center for Disease Control, Division of Parasitic Diseases' identification and diagnosis site. The site is organized by the region of the body a parasite inhabits. The site includes well written discription of the parasite's life cycle, sympotms of infestation, and other facts about the parasite. Many of the entries include excellent diagrams of the parasite's life cycle.
- Parasites and Parasitological Resources - Organization of Living Things (III.2.HS.2)
- This site includes a wealth of information on a great variety of parasite-host relationships.
Benchmark 4 "Explain how living things maintain a stable internal environment."
- Brain Pop Immune System - Organization of Living Things (III.2.HS.3)
- This site contains a movie about the immune system. Vocabulary in the movie includes pathogens, T-cells, and B-cells. There are quizzes for students to complete, a place to ask questions, and an activity sheet.
- Brain Pop Homeostasis - Organization of Living Things (III.2.HS.3&4)
- This site contains a movie about homeostasis and how our own bodies remain in a contant stablizing flux. Vocabulary in the movie covers warm-blooded, cold-blooded, etc... There are quizzes for students to complete, a place to ask questions and an activity sheet.
- Metabolism - Organization of Living Things (III.2.HS.3&4)
- This site is essentially a concept map breaking down all of the parts of matabolism, plus it has many links to other sites dealing with metabolic processes.
- Photosysthesis - Organization of Living Things (III.2.HS.3)
- This is a great resource for teachers and students, in that it provides many visuals on complex cycles. Some of the concepts covered are respiration, the Carbon Cycle, the C4 Pathway, and the Light and Dark Reactions. Some of the visuals require permission to use them, but the owners email addresses are provided as links to make it easy. There are also links from the vocabulary to the definitions if the user has questions.
Benchmark 5 "Describe technology used in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases and explain its function in terms of human body processes."
- Brain Pop Homeostasis - Organization of Living Things (III.2.HS.3&4)
- This site contains a movie about homeostasis and how our own bodies remain in a contant stablizing flux. Vocabulary in the movie covers warm-blooded, cold-blooded, etc... There are quizzes for students to complete, a place to ask questions and an activity sheet. You will need a subscription for using the Brain Pop series.
- Metabolism - Organization of Living Things (III.2.HS.3&4)
- This site is essentially a concept map breaking down all of the parts of matabolism, plus it has many links to other sites dealing with metabolic processes.
- Diseases, Selected Prevention and Program Areas - Organization of Living Things (III.2.HS.2&5)
- This site lists every possible human disease and has a link to the sites which offer prevention information.
- Guide to Clinical Preventive Services, Second Edition - Organization of Living Things (III.2.HS.2&5)
- This site offers a list of diseases and disorders and links to find out information to screen for them.
- HIV 2000 - Organization of Living Things (III.2.HS.5)
- This Web site is an activity in which students choose a population, and infect a few in the population with HIV. They proceed through the computer interactions, test samples, learn information on how the body reacts with HIV, and end with treatment and finding out who started out in the population with the virus. This is very informative and will help students realize how HIV spreads and the mechanisms which make it so harmful to the immune system.
- Human Diseases - Organization of Living Things (III.2.HS.5)
- This site provides an alphabetized list of human diseases. The condition is described, and links are available to different sites that provide visuals of the disease and how it effects a particular body system and explanation of treatments. This is a great site for an anatomy class or general biology class to use to do research on diseases and their treatments.
- Medicine Through Time - Organization of Living Things (III.2.HS.5)
- This is an interactive site for students to explore the use of medicine in different time periods. They can take an interactive tour back through time to see how people in the past cured diseases, and compare that to modern practices. There are several quizzes that students can take as well as information on specific diseases. This site is more for young high school students, than for juniors or seniors.