This resource accompanies our Rethink 2nd Grade Science Structures & Functions of Living Organisms unit. It includes ideas for use, ways to support exceptional children, ways to extend learning, digital resources and tools, tips for supporting English Language Learners and students with visual and hearing impairments. There are also ideas for offline learning.

In this short video, join Emily and Emma from the Prairie Ridge Ecostation in Raleigh to take a look at some birds and learn about how we can observe all kinds of wildlife in our everyday lives.

In this lesson, students will explore the life cycle of the monarch butterfly. They will go outside and observe milkweed plants and identify the stages of monarch that are seen on the plants. Students will also make a pop-up book of the life stages.

In this activity, students match baby and adult animals and identify similar characteristics shared by parents and their offspring.

The lesson plan for teaching the life cycle of a sea turtle is included. Read alouds and a video are attached. A template for drawing the life cycle is attached.

This technology-based lesson will teach students the basic characteristics of different types of butterflies. Students will use approved Internet sites to locate illustrations and facts about various species of butterflies. Students will work together and with teacher assistance to create a slideshow presentation that combines all of the species of butterflies the students locate. A rubric is provided for assessment of student work.

In this lesson, students will illustrate the life cycle of a butterfly and compare the butterfly life cycle to that of a different insect or animal.

In this activity, students play a simple card game based on the stages of metamorphosis in insects.

Students understand the changes that a blue crab goes through during molting, and why it is important for scientists to understand these changes.

This resource supports the English language development of English language learners. This resource contains an article about ants, explains the life cycle of an ant with pictures, the colony life cycle, and has a coloring page of the life cycle (p.28), among others.

This resource supports the English language development of English language learners. This page has numerous pictures showing complete and incomplete metamorphosis. Some of the organisms included are frogs, butterflies, and mosquitoes. The articles are available in Spanish, also.

This Project GLAD unit will address the life cycle.  It is an integrated science and ELA unit for 2nd grade.  Students will learn to summarize the life cycle of animals including birth, developing into an adult, reproducing, aging and death.

In this lesson, students learn the concept of metamorphosis in an organism's life cycle by studying the growth and development of butterflies, frogs, and dragonflies.

Lesson is posted with permission from the Perkins School for the Blind.

In this unit, students will research insects and dive into writing juicy paragraphs with main ideas and supporting details. They will create their insect out of various materials to get ready for the gallery opening.

2nd-grade students went on a field trip to learn about the animals and their life cycle at Merchant Mill Pond in Gates County. They told the teachers what pictures they would like to have. Once back in school, they researched information on the animals to create a Thinklink. There are videos, photos, and links.

Students watch a time-lapse video of the monarch butterfly life cycle. They illustrate and label the life cycle, and then research and take notes on survival techniques and preparation for migration at each stage.

This activity has students learning all about Frogs!  Students will watch a brief video about frogs and complete a tree map that includes headings for "Where They Live," "What They Look Like," and "What They Eat."  These can be changed to meet the needs of your students.  Next, students will label the different parts of a frog's body.  Students also have a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast frogs with toads.  There is an interactive Frog Life Cycle, where students will use images to place different aspects of the frog's life cycle in order.  Early finishers can enjoy a final activity - learning how to draw a frog.

In this short video, students will learn how female loggerhead sea turtles make their way to beaches all along the Atlantic Ocean to lay their eggs.

In this short video, students join Emily and Dr. Bronwyn Williams from the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences as they head to three different North Carolina locations to explore the world of crayfish!