Zoology and Biomimicry
an innovative, full year, 1 credit, high school lab science

After an introduction to the characteristics of living things, taxonomy, classification, and biomimicry, students will learn about animal characteristics and behaviors, habitats, diets and food webs, life cycles, anatomy, and adaptations of various animals within each branch of the animal kingdom. Students will study the main branches of the animal kingdom including invertebrates (insects, myriapods, crustaceans, arachnids, worms, mollusks, porifera, cnidarians, and echinoderms) and chordates (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals). Students will also learn about endangered species and conservation efforts.

Students will study zoology and biomimicry through readings, videos, hands-on experiments, dissections (pickle, clam, starfish, owl pellet, and frog), field trips that you choose (examples: zoo, aquarium, veterinarian clinic, animal shelter, horse farm, aviary), nature studies, art, and photography. They will also have research activities and presentations to prepare and share.

The following units will be studied…

1. Introduction to Zoology
2. Introduction to Kingdom Animalia
3. Kingdom Animalia – Life in the Animal World

Invertebrates

    4. Phylum Arthropoda (Insects & Myriapods)
    5. Phylum Arthropoda, continued (Crustaceans & Arachnids)
    6. Worms – Phylum Platyhelminthes (Flatworms), Phylum Nematoda
        (Roundworms), Phylum Annelida (Segmented Worms)
    7. Phylum Mollusca (Mollusks -Gastropods, Bivalves, & Cephalopods)
    8. Phylum Porifera, Phylum Cnidaria, and Phylum Echinodermata

Chordates

    9. Phylum Chordata Class Agnatha, Chondrichthyes, Osteichthyes (Fish)   
    10. Phylum Chordata Class Amphibia (Amphibians)
    11. Phylum Chordata Class Reptilia (Reptiles)
    12. Phylum Chordata Class Aves (Birds)
    13. Phylum Chordata Class Mammalia (Mammals, part 1)
    14. Phylum Chordata Class Mammalia (Mammals, part 2)

    15. Endangered Species

 

These units, combined with the following materials, create a yearlong 1 credit high school lab science course on Zoology and Biomimicry:

• Animal: The Definitive Visual Guide by DK (purchase separately, not included)
• Made in Heaven: Man’s Indiscriminate Stealing of God’s Amazing Design by Ray Comfort and Jeffrey Seto (purchase separately, not included)
• Beastly Bionics: Rad Robots, Brilliant Biomimicry, and Incredible Inventions Inspired by Nature by Jennifer Swanson (optional, purchase separately, not included)
• Links to free online Video Resources
• Dissection Kits / Materials for Labs: Advanced Dissecting Tools kit and dissecting pan, pickles and clementines for an introductory/terminology dissection, live worms for experimentation, Clam Dissection kit and guide, Starfish Dissection kit and guide, Large Owl Pellet with guide and key, Synthetic Frog Dissection Kit (purchase separately, not included)

 

Students will be reading Animal: The Definitive Visual Guide as the science spine. For each lesson, they will also watch related videos and answer questions / fill in note sheets, recording key learnings in their notebook. Students will also be assigned to read from Made in Heaven: Man’s Indiscriminate Stealing of God’s Amazing Design. You will need to borrow or purchase both books to be able to fully utilize this curriculum.

What will you receive in this resource?

Each unit includes…

• daily schedule with assigned readings and links to online videos
• sheets to fill in notes about each topic (Specific to the readings and videos)
• opportunities for biomimicry research, research of an animal, taking nature photos and drawing animals
• vocabulary review
• study guide
• test
• answer keys for all notebook sheets, the review, and the test

 

For each semester, the following are also included…

• 8 ½ by 11 overview chart for each animal phylum
• project presentation descriptions and rubrics
• step-by-step lab sections for dissections and experiments
• review at the end

Blank pages are built in to make it easier to print double sided.