Life Science Teaching Resources
Take your students on a life science adventure with hundreds of teacher-created printable worksheets, digital activities and more resources designed to save you time on your lesson planning!
Bring living organisms to the surface, break down the life cycles of plants and animals and teach your students how and why we classify living things with fun and engaging activities created by teachers who have been in classrooms just like yours. Aligned with the NGSS curriculum, resources in this collection have all undergone careful review by an expert science teacher on the Teach Starter team to ensure they're ready for your lesson plans and your students.
Whether you're teaching life science for the first time or just need a quick refresher on some of the major vocabulary so you have it at the tip of your tongue for teaching, we've got you covered. Read on for a primer from our teacher team!
What Is Life Science and Why Do We Teach It?
We have to start somewhere, so why not start with a simple definition of life science?
Life science is the study of living organisms — including plants, animals and humans. We teach this branch of science in elementary and middle school to help our students understand the diversity, complexity and interdependence of life on Earth.
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Identifying the Parts an Earthworm Worksheet
Read, learn and label the parts of a worm with a set of printable animal features worksheets.
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Parts of a Butterfly - Labeling Activity Sheets
Learn about the anatomy of a butterfly with a printable reading passage and butterfly labeling worksheets.
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Animals That Adapt - Research Project & Report
Strengthen your students' understanding of conducting research with an Animal Adaptations research project.
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Amazing Animals With Adaptations - Worksheets
Research and write about amazing animal adaptations with our Amazing Animals Adaptation Worksheets.
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Parts of an Ant - Labeling Activity
Learn about the anatomy of an ant with a printable reading passage and ant labeling worksheets.
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Monarch Butterfly Migration Map
Use a Monarch Butterfly Migration map to introduce your students to a natural phenomenon of migratory animal behavior.
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Adapting, Migrating, & Hibernating Animals Research Project
Set this classroom project for students to explore the topic of how seasons affect animals, and develop a species-specific profile on a chosen animal.
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Three Types of Environmental Adaptations Posters
Teach your students the different types of behavioral, structural and physiological adaptations with a set of 4 printable posters.
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Ocean Animals Word Wall Cards with Pictures
Introduce your students to the amazing animals in the sea with an illustrated ocean animal word wall.
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Ocean & Marine Word Wall Vocabulary
64 marine life word wall vocabulary cards.
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Bird Word Wall Vocabulary
Introduce your students to the features of birds and different bird species with bird related vocabulary cards for a word wall.
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Desert Word Wall Vocabulary
Spark discussion and build academic vocabulary with a desert related vocabulary word wall.
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How Seasons Affect Plants and Animals Sorting Activity
Set up this sorting activity in your classroom to teach students how the seasons affect plants and animals by categorizing them.
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How Seasons Affect Plants and Animals Teaching Slides
Share this informational slide deck with your 2nd grade class to teach students about how seasons affect plants and animals on planet Earth.
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Plant and Animal Adaptations Flipbook
Use this fun flipbook to teach students about adaptations while allowing them to connect to prior knowledge by answering questions on each page.
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Plant & Animal Adaptations Poster Set
Display these informative posters in your 2nd grade classroom to remind students of the five ways animals and plants adapt to seasonal changes in their environment.
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Environmental Factors That Affect Plants and Animals – Interactive Activity
Help your students learn about how environmental factors such as the weather affect plants and animals using this engaging and informative interactive activity.
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Plant Adaptations - Reading Comprehension Worksheets
Read and learn about unusual plants and their adaptations with a pack of printable reading comprehension worksheets.
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Plant Adaptations - Color by Number Worksheets
Learn about the adaptations of plants in the rainforest, tundra, and desert with color-by-number worksheets.
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Plant Adaptations Webquest Activity
Research and learn about the amazing adaptations of eight unusual plants with an interactive webquest research activity.
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What Could Happen? Environmental Change Task Cards
Predict and identify the effects of environmental change on plants and animals with a set of printable science task cards.
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Plant Adaptations - Research Task Cards
Research behavioral, structural, and physiological adaptations with printable plant adaptation task cards.
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Unusual Plant Adaptations (3rd Grade Science Worksheet)
Teach your 3rd graders about unusual plant adaptations with a printable adaptation worksheet.
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Which Environment is Best? - Worksheet
Identify the best environments for different plants to grow with a cut and paste worksheet.
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What Do Plants Need? Plant Habitat Interactive Game
Help some lost plants return to the correct habitat with a Google Slides interactive activity.
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How Does the Environment Affect Plants? Science Experiment
Investigate the effect of the environment on plant life with a no-cut printable science experiment mini-book.
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Animal Adaptations Word Search
Develop science vocabulary skills with a printable animal adaptations word search.
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Life Cycle of an Oak Tree Worksheet
Sequence the life cycle of an oak tree with this cut-and-paste worksheet.
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Why Are Plants Important? Teaching Slide Deck
Exploring the different ways that plants can be beneficial with an interactive slide deck.
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Food Webs - Research Project
Explore the food webs that exist in various biomes around the world with this student-centered inquiry task.
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Swamp Food Chain - Cut and Paste Worksheet
Create a swamp food chain to show how energy flows between organisms with this cut-and-paste worksheet.
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Desert Food Chain - Cut and Paste Worksheet
Create a desert food chain to show how energy flows between organisms with this cut-and-paste worksheet.