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Teaching resources
Suitable for 5 to 18 year olds, ARKive’s free fun-packed teaching resources cover a range of key science and biology subjects including: adaptation, endangered species, food chains, Darwin and natural selection, classification, identification, conservation and biodiversity.
These teaching resources include: classroom presentations, activities and handouts, teachers' notes as well as links to ARKive species profiles and scrapbooks.
Teaching resources for 5 – 7 year olds
Nocturnal Animals
Explore the array of senses used by nocturnal animals to find their way around their habitat in the dark.
Penguin Diversity – Mask Making
Through this fun and creative activity, students learn about the different types of penguin species and how they are adapted to live in different environments.
Teaching resources for 7 – 11 year olds
What is an Endangered Species?
This activity challenges students to think about what it means to be an endangered species and what causes a species to become endangered.
Sizing Up Species
Combining skills in mathematics and art, students will learn about species heights and lengths while practicing estimation, measurement and comparison skills.
Seasons in the Woods
In this activity students explore the concepts of migration, hibernation and adaptation to the cold as mechanisms to survive the winter.
Butterflies and Blooms
This activity challenges students to think about the relationship between summer flowering plants and the butterflies that depend on them.
Endangered Species Bingo
Introduce students to the concept of endangered species through a fun game of Endangered Species Bingo.
Marvellous Mini-beasts – Design a Species
By creating and designing a new species of mini-beast, students learn how different species of invertebrate are adapted to survive in particular habitats.
Dinner at the Reef
Quick Start GuideThrough this fun and interactive game explore food chains in a marine environment, predator-prey relationships and the fine balance of an ecosystem.
Adaptation – Design a Species
By creating and designing a new species, students learn how animals are adapted to survive in particular habitats.
Teaching resources for 11 – 14 year olds
Adaptations for Movement
Students will learn about how different species are adapted to move successfully through different habitat types.
Who Wants to be a Zoologist?
This fun and interactive quiz challenges students to use their knowledge of animal classification and their powers of deduction to identify mystery animals from photos.
ARKive on Tour
In this creative writing activity students learn about different habitats, the species that live there and the threats they face through researching and writing their own travel article.
ARKive Geographic - Exploring the World's Biodiversity
Challenge students to become ‘species experts’ for an endangered species and explore biogeography concepts using species fact cards and maps of the continents.
An Introduction to Endangered Species
In this activity, students learn how to define endangered species and explore threatened animals and plants around the world through playing Endangered Species Bingo.
Classification
Students learn about why we classify species and the key characteristics of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and insects.
Guess Zoo
Guess Zoo is a fun animal guessing game that can be used to introduce or support several lesson themes, for example species diversity, adaptations, habitats and classification.
Biodiversity Hospital
Quick Start GuideWorking in medical teams, students balance competing priorities for the conservation of an endangered species and devise a ‘treatment’ plan.
Adaptation – Design a Species
By researching and designing their own species, students learn how animals are adapted physically and behaviourally to survive in particular habitats.
Sexual selection – The Dating Game
The Dating Game teaches students about sexual selection and the difference between intrasexual and intersexual selection.
Darwin's observations
An introduction to the life and work of Darwin and the observations he made that led to his theory of evolution by natural selection.
Animal classification
Compare the similarities and differences between species to help classify them into different animal groups.
Darwin's finches
Learn more about species variation and the use of identification keys by scientists.
Identification keys – sharks and rays
Use this species identification key to identify some of the world’s most amazing sharks and rays.
Teaching resources for 14 – 16 year olds
Biodiversity and Evolution – Darwin’s Finches
Explore the importance of biodiversity and how observing variation in the beak shape of Galapagos finches helped Darwin to formulate his theory of natural selection.
Design a conservation programme
Quick Start GuideBy designing a conservation programme, students learn about the importance of biodiversity as well as the economic benefits and services ecosystems provide.
Darwin and natural selection
An introduction to the four observations and two deductions that led Charles Darwin to form his theory of evolution.
Evolution and adaptation
Explore how different species are adapted to their way of life, and how common characteristics are used to classify them into groups.
Primate evolution – family ties
Learn more about how all present-day primates, including human-beings, have evolved from a common ancestor.
Natural selection – the peppered moth
Investigate a famous case study for evolution - the peppered moth.
Teaching resources for 16 – 18 year olds
Biodiversity and Evolution – Darwin’s Finches
Explore the importance of biodiversity and how observing variation in the beak shape of Galapagos finches helped Darwin to formulate his theory of natural selection.
ARKive News: Galapagos Conservation
By researching, scripting and presenting their own news bulletin students learn about species and conservation issues in the Galapagos Islands.
