The purpose of these activities is to help older grade-school students to hone their observation skills and understand plant and animal life cycles, ecological concepts, and phenology.
Birthday Phenology Game
Grades: 3-5
Your students will gain awareness of local phenology and each other by playing a game connecting their birthdays with local phenology and seasonal phenomenon.
Indoor Activity: 20-30 minutes
Plant and Animal Life Cycle Drawings
Grades: 3-5
Instead of the traditional circle-shaped life cycle drawings that you see in many books, this activity shows you a way to have your class use their species observation to draw a life cycle for one or more species.
Indoor and Outdoor Activity; 6 class periods
Species Life Cycles: Match... or Mismatch?
Grades: 3-5
This activity can be used independently or as an extension of the Plant and Animal Life Cycle Drawings activity. Your students will draw life cycle timeline calendars for two species that are interdependent for food, pollination, reproduction, or habitat, and consider what happens if the timing of the phenophases of one of these species shifts.
Indoor and Outdoor Activity; 6 class periods
Start a Local Phenology Program
We have the resources you need for your students to track seasonal changes with Natures's Notebook