animal research project for 5th grade

• ELEMENTARY TEACHING , INTEGRATED CURRICULUM ACTIVITIES

Animal Research Project for Kids at the Elementary Level in 2024

Whether you are doing a simple animal study or a fully integrated science, reading, and writing unit, this animal research project for kids includes everything you need. From the graphic organizer worksheets and guided note templates to the writing stationary, printable activities, projects, and rubrics.

Thousands of teachers have used this 5-star resource to have students complete self-guided animal research projects to learn about any animal they choose. The best part is, the resource can be used over and over again all year long by just picking a new animal! Learn all about this animal research project for kids at the elementary level below!

What is the Animal Research Project?

The animal research project is a resource that is packed with printable and digital activities and projects to choose from. It is perfect for elementary teachers doing a simple animal study or a month-long, fully integrated unit. It’s open-ended nature allows it to be used over and over again throughout the school year. In addition, it includes tons of differentiated materials so you can continue to use it even if you change grade levels. Learn about what’s included in it below!

What is Included in the Animal Research Project

The following resources are included in the animal research project :

Teacher’s Guide

The teacher’s guide includes tips and instructions to support you with your lesson planning and delivery.

Parent Letter

The parent communication letter promotes family involvement.

Graphic Organizers

There are graphic organizers for brainstorming a topic, activating schema, taking notes, and drafting writing.

Research Report

There are research report publishing printables including a cover, writing templates, and resource pages.

There is a grading rubric so expectations are clear for students and grading is quick and easy for you.

Research Activities

The research activities include a KWL chart, can have are chart, compare and contrast venn diagram, habitat map, vocabulary pages, illustration page, and life cycle charts.

Animal Flip Book Project

There are animal flip book project printables to give an additional choice of how students can demonstrate their understanding.

Animal Flap Book Project

There is an animal flap book project printables that offers students yet another way to demonstrate their learning.

Animal Research Poster

The animal research poster serves as an additional way to demonstrate student understanding.

Poetry Activities

The resource includes poetry activities to offer students an alternative way to demonstrate their learning.

Digital Versions

There is a digital version of the resource so your students can access this resource in school or at home.

Why Teachers love the Animal Research Project

Teachers love this animal research project because of the following reasons:

• This resource guides students through the research and writing process, so they can confidently work their way through this project.
• It is a great value because it can be used over and over again throughout the school year because the pages can be used to learn about any animal.
• It offers several ways students can demonstrate their learning.
• It includes a ton of resources, so you can pick and choose which ones work best for you and your students.
• It is printable and digital so it can be used for in-class and at-home learning.

This animal research packet is great because it can be used over and over again using absolutely any animal at all. The printables in this packet are ideal to use with your entire class in school, as an at-home learning extension project or as a purposeful, open-ended, independent choice for your students who often finish early and need an enrichment activity that is so much more than “busy work.”

The Research Report Process

This animal research project packet was designed in a manner that allows you to use all of the components when studying any animal. Because the printables can be used over and over, I will often work through the entire researching and writing process with the whole class focusing on one animal together, This allows me to model the procedure and provide them with support as they “get their feet wet” as researchers. Afterwards I then have them work through the process with an animal of choice. You may find it helpful to have them select from a specific category (i.e. ocean animals, rainforest animals, etc) as this will help to streamline the resources you’ll need to obtain.

Step 1: Brainstorm a list of animals to research. Select one animal.

During this stage you may want to provide the students with a collection of books and magazines to explore and help them narrow down their choice.

Step 2: Set a purpose and activate schema.

Students share why they selected the animal and tell what they already know about it. Next, they generate a list of things they are wondering about the animal. This will help to guide their research.

Step 3: Send home the family letter.

To save you time, involve families, and communicate what is happening in the classroom, you may want to send home a copy of the family letter. It’s so helpful when they send in additional research materials for the students.

Step 4: Research and take notes.

The two-column notes template is a research-based tool that helps the kids organize their notes. I added bulleted prompts to guide the students in finding specific information within each category. This method has proven to be highly effective with all students, but is especially useful with writers who need extra support.

I have included two versions of the organizers (with and without lines). I print a copy of the organizer for each student. I also copy the lined paper back to back so it is available to students who need more space.

Step 5: Write a draft.

Using the information gathered through the research process, the students next compose drafts. The draft papers were designed to guide the students through their writing by providing prompts in the form of questions. Answering these questions in complete sentences will result in strong paragraphs. It may be helpful to give them only one page at a time instead of a packet as it make the task more manageable.

Step 6: Edit the draft.

Editing can be done in many ways, but it is most effective when a qualified editor sits 1:1 with a student to provides effective feedback to them while editing.

Step 7: Publish.

Print several copies of the publishing pages. I like to have all my students start with the page that has a large space for an illustration, but then let them pick the pages they want to use in the order they prefer after that. I have them complete all the writing first and then add the illustrations.

Finally, have the children design a cover for the report. Add that to the front and add the resources citation page to the back. Use the criteria for success scoring rubric to assign a grade. The rubric was designed using a 20 point total so you can simply multiply their score by 5 to obtain a percentage grade. The end result is a beautiful product that showcases their new learning as well as documents their reading and writing skills.

In closing, we hope you found this animal research project for kids helpful! If you did, then you may also be interested in these posts:

• How to Teach Research Skills to Elementary Students
• 15 Animals in Winter Picture Books for Elementary Teachers
• How to Teach Informative Writing at the Elementary Level

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Investigating Animals: Using Nonfiction for Inquiry-based Research

• Resources & Preparation
• Instructional Plan
• Related Resources

Young children are fascinated with the world around them, showing intense interest and curiosity about animals and their lives. Through the use of nonfiction, students can be encouraged and challenged to learn more about favorite animals and to document their findings with graphic organizers. Students begin their inquiry by comparing fiction and nonfiction books about animals, using a Venn diagram. They list things they want to know about animals on a chart. As a class, students vote on an animal to research. They revise their question list, and then research the animal using prompts from an online graphic organizer. After several sessions of research, students revisit their original questions and evaluate the information they have gathered. Finally, students revise and edit their work and prepare to present their findings to an authentic audience.

Featured Resources

Animal Inquiry Interactive: Students can use this online to tool to help them focus and organize their research about animals.

From Theory to Practice

This lesson focuses on teaching primary students doing research with nonfiction, informational material how to document their discoveries. In her Planning for Inquiry: It's Not an Oxymoron! , Diane Parker poses a series of questions that make inquiry-based learning seem essential for elementary grade students: "Do we want them simply to memorize facts and procedures in order to pass a test? Or do we want them to want to know, to seek to know, and ultimately, to understand themselves and their world more deeply as a result of their knowing?" (5). Certainly our youngest students deserve the kinds of richly engaging learning experiences that well-designed inquiry instruction can bring them. Further Reading

Common Core Standards

This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.

State Standards

This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.

NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts

• 1. Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
• 3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
• 4. Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
• 7. Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.
• 12. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

Materials and Technology

• Access to the Internet
• LCD Projector for full-class use of online Interactives
• Quality nonfiction, informational picture books and videos
• Chart tablets, journals, markers, and other writing materials

Preparation

• Bookmark the Websites about animals from the Resources section as well as any other sites of your choosing.
• Assemble supplies listed above. Ask your school librarian for help gathering books and videos. The Nature Series videos such as “A First Look” distributed by Diamond Entertainment Corporation and the National Geographic Kids videos series are good options.
• Prepare a chart with the heading: “What We Wonder about Animals.” Students will later add headings and supporting questions to define the scope of their research.
• Choose an audience so that the students have a clear idea of exactly who they will be sharing their findings with. Examples might include visitors to a science fair, family members at an open house, and another class of grade-level students. Good writing comes when children research and write on a topic they care about for an authentic and interested audience with whom they want to share their findings.
• Arrange for adult volunteers to serve as scribes or keyboardists as needed.
• Because the Animal Inquiry student interactive will not allow students to save work, for the research phase of the project, print out blank forms from the interactive. Click the Print tab on the opening page and choose the pages you want to print. You can also record these headings and supporting questions on your “What We Wonder about Animals” chart. This will be the basis for the graphic organizers students will create using the interactive to document the findings of their research.
• For a few days before beginning the inquiry lesson, give students an opportunity to experience a variety of informational texts through a genre study of nonfiction by exploring nonfiction, informational texts about animals during read alouds, shared reading, guided reading, and independent reading during reading workshop.
• Test the Animal Inquiry student interactive on your computers to familiarize yourself with the tool and ensure that you have the Flash plug-in installed. You can download the plug-in from the technical support page.

Student Objectives

Students will

• identify the characteristics of nonfiction texts.
• pose questions.
• participate in research.
• document and record discoveries.
• share their findings.

Session 1: Introducing the Genre and Beginnings of Inquiry

• Share a fiction book about animals, such as The Three Bears or The Three Little Pigs , with the class .
• Ask students to compare and contrast this type of fictional book about animals with the nonfiction books from recent reading workshop sessions. Have some nonfiction books on hand for prompting or verifying student responses with concrete examples.
• True versus make-believe
• Facts versus fiction (stories)
• Photographs and sketches versus drawings, collage, and paintings
• Working as a whole group, decide on the questions students want to explore to learn more about real animals. At this point, the questions need to be general, not specific to any one animal.
• Record students’ questions on the chart, under the “What We Wonder about Animals” heading. Usually questions will include questions about what an animal looks like, how it moves and acts, what it eats, where it lives, what its babies are like, etc.

Session 2: Defining the Scope of the Investigation

• Workings as a whole-class, choose an animal to study. Encourage the students to think of animals that they would really like to know more about and have them discuss various animals they might choose.
• Record the list as students brainstorm animals which they have a sincere interest in investigating.
• Give students small pieces of paper and have them sketch or write about the animal they would choose to investigate.
• Make a graph of the votes, and select the animal with the most votes as that which the class will investigate together.
• Review the “What We Wonder about Animals” questions generated during the previous session.
• Ask students if there are any questions they want to add now that they have selected a specific animal, or any questions that they want to eliminate or change. Revise the list according to their responses.
• On an Internet-connected computer with an LCD projector, lead students through a demonstration of the Animal Inquiry student interactive .
• Use the prompts built into the interactive to organize and refine the questions from the “What We Wonder about Animals” chart.
• Be sure students understand how the interactive works since they will be using it during a future session.

Sessions 3–5: Participating in Research

• With students, begin to sort through the books, Websites, and other materials you have collected, and choose those that contain information about your chosen animal.
• If desired, take a trip to the library to collect more information about the animal, introducing students to the process of collecting quality sources. Consult ReadWriteThink Lesson Research Building Blocks: Hints about Print for support in working with students on issues such as these.
• From the very beginning of the research process, emphasize the importance of audience so students have a clear picture of who their audience will be. If several classes are doing animal investigations, it is fun to share the results and be one another’s audiences.
• Help your students understand the needs and interests of their audience, thinking of ways they can choose to present their findings effectively. See ReadWriteThink lesson Teaching Audience Through Interactive Writing for support in teaching students about audience.
• Different groups of readers can explore various texts in guided reading or during paired or individual reading time.
• Help students record information that they find in the appropriate boxes on previously printed-out blank sheets from the Animal Inquiry student interactive. An adult volunteer can help with this process as well.
• As you share the nonfiction, informational texts you have collected, have students record their discoveries. Record from these readings and from students’ other research on their sheets.
• Explore appropriate videos and Websites and record this information as well.
• During the fourth session, have students look at what they have recorded and assess their progress so far.
• What information still needs to be collected?
• Are any boxes still empty?
• Is this information you want to keep hunting for or is this something you are no longer interested in or want to include on your chart?
• What information is interesting, but doesn’t really fit in any boxes?
• Did you find any information that contradicted information you had already recorded?
• How could you find out which is correct?
• The focus of an investigation can change during the course of research. You may find out things that you didn’t even know about and decide to add new questions that you want to explore.
• You can eliminate questions that aren’t interesting or challenging.
• Sometimes you can’t find the information you are looking for with the sources that you have. You might leave those questions for a later time or you might have to find other sources.
• Sources are not equally reliable. Some may give less than accurate information. You need to see what several good sources say and record details that most sources agree upon as the answer to a question.
• Using their observations to shape the direction of their research, have students decide what still needs to be done, and allow time and support to complete their interactives.
• Use adult volunteers to help students type in their findings using the Animal Inquiry student interactive.
• Encourage students to discuss their findings and report what they have learned through their research.

Session 6: Sharing the Findings

• Ask students how they want their information to look in its final form. Since students will be sharing what they learned with their chosen audience, they need to decide how to revise and edit so that the information can be shared effectively with their audience.
• Display large sheets of chart paper with labeled headings and captions reflecting the graphic organizers filled in with the results of the research. Individual students can use their smaller copies from the interactive for their personal journals and then can illustrate and write about a favorite fact that they learned about their animal. Other options might include art created by the students about the animal that would also be displayed. Adult volunteers can help students copy their writing to the larger charts.
• Have students divide up the information to present orally to their audience, present in small groups, or come up with other ways to share the results of their research.
• Once students have experienced a whole-group investigation of a favorite animal, match each student to a fourth or fifth grade buddy and let each pair research an animal of their choice using the same process. Ensure that the older buddies understand the process your class has used in the whole-group investigation. Provide each pair with the graphic organizers complete with headings and captions that your kindergarten students developed, so everyone understands what is to be researched and how the information will be recorded. Make sure that the pairs have a clear sense of the audience with whom they will be sharing their findings. Older students will be able to identify the steps of the writing process being used and may compare this with their own research writing. Book Buddy Biographies is a similar lesson, pairing students to investigate each other’s backgrounds.
• Three other examples of writing reports can be found in the ReadWriteThink lesson Writing Reports in Kindergarten? Yes!
• Older students can extend the animal study to mathematics with the ReadWriteThink lesson plan Bridging Literature and Mathematics by Visualizing Mathematical Concepts , which uses picture books to talk about size and ratio.

Student Assessment / Reflections

• Encourage students to assess their the processes and evaluate their work on an ongoing basis. Urge them to decide what is going well and what needs further attention.
• At the end of each day, encourage students to reflect on what they learned and accomplished, and to share those thoughts either orally or in their reflection journals.
• Use mini-conferences as you move around the room during independent reading to talk with individuals or pairs as they explore nonfiction texts. Encourage them to share what they found exciting or interesting.
• posing questions
• participating in research
• documenting and recording discoveries
• sharing their findings
• the animal inquiry graphic organizer
• the journals
• the writing
• identifying nonfiction by its characteristics
• using nonfiction to learn about a topic
• using graphic organizers to record and share their findings
• effectively sharing their findings with an audience

This reflection can easily be done as a celebration as students and teacher share what they noticed, felt, discovered, and learned during this lesson, reflecting on what they accomplished and shared. This is a time to CELEBRATE the learning!

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• Student Interactives
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This interactive tool allows students to create Venn diagrams that contain two or three overlapping circles, enabling them to organize their information logically.

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Writing Unit of Study: Animal Research Project

This free animal research project will provide you with a writing unit of study that will help you build excitement about writing informational text in your classroom.

You can download this free animal research project to help your writers develop their research and writing skills.

This project will be a great fit for your first, second or third grade writing workshop.

This is another free resource for teachers and homeschool families from The Curriculum Corner.

Why should I introduce my students to research through animal study?

Animal research can be a great topic for writing informational text because students tend to be curious about animals.

Nothing seems to spark interest in most kids like learning about animals in our world. Turn their enthusiasm into an engaging animal research writing project.

They can take the time to learn about different habitats and diets.

You can also encourage students to expand their vocabulary by having them create a glossary to accompany their writing.

About this animal research project

Within this post you will find over 30 pages of anchor charts, mini-lesson ideas, writing planners and graphic organizers.

The unit will help guide your students through the complete process. In the end, you will be helping to teach your students how to write their own pieces of informational text.

The intended end product for students is an animal booklet that they can staple together to share with others.

Students who are ready for more advanced work, can create a larger project with less direction.

A description of the mini-lessons

Lesson 1: introduction.

• Begin the unit by having the students brainstorm a list of animals that they might see everyday.
• Then, have them brainstorm a list of animals they see when they visit the zoo or walk in the forest. You can do this on the blank anchor chart provided or on cart paper.
• Another option is to place students in groups. They could work to create a list together.  
• You might assign each group a continent and have them find animals that live there.
• Pull the class together and have each group share what animals they found that live on their continent.

Lesson 2: Noticings

• Next you might want to get your students familiar with common characteristics about informational texts that teach about animals.
• Have them work in pairs or small groups to go through some books and record their “noticings” about the writing.
• Then come together in a community circle to discuss those noticings and create a class anchor chart.

Lesson 3: Opinion vs. Facts

• Before getting truly into this unit, you might need to conduct a lesson on opinions vs. facts.
• After a brief discussion you can use the giraffe paragraph provided in our resources to give your students some practice differentiating between the two. This paragraph contains both opinions and facts.
• With your class read through the paragraph and record facts and opinions on the T-chart.
• Discuss both sides and how they are different from each other.
• A black & white copy of this giraffe paragraph has also been provided.  You can have them work in pairs or groups to distinguish between the facts and opinions.
• If you need more resources for your students surrounding fact & opinion check out our   Fact & Opinion Sort .

Lesson 4: Choosing a Topic for the Animal Research Project

• We want to help students to narrow their topic choices by giving them some guidance.
• Gather students and begin a discussion about choosing an animal research topic.
• For this lesson we have provided two pages where students can individually brainstorm the animals they are interested in.
• You might have students work in groups or independently to make their choice. Conference with students as needed to help.
• Don’t shy away from letting more than one student research about the same animal.  This can be a great way to promote group work. It might also help out with some of your literacy center choices throughout this unit.

Lesson 5: Good Places to Find Information about an Animal

• At this age we want students to begin to understand that all they read online about animals isn’t always true. Sometimes writing might sound true without being filled with facts.
• Show students two possible places to find information online about their animal. One should be a trusted site with reliable and accurate information. Another should be a site that perhaps a child has created.  (There are many that you can find if you search.)
• Pose these questions: Is everything on the internet true? Why?  How can you tell? Why is it important for your research writing to contain accurate information?

Lesson 6: Taking Notes

• Sometimes giving students resources and a blank sheet of notebook paper can be too overwhelming for them. Some students will copy word for word. Others might feel overwhelmed.  We need to guide them to read and pull out facts & relevant information to use later in their writing.
• For this lesson we have provided four templates for note-taking that you might choose to use for your students.
• You might need to provide different organizers to students depending on their needs.
• You will want to model the organizers your students are use. Show them how to take notes as they read.
• After initial teaching, you may find that you need to pull small groups for extra practice. Others might benefit from a conference as you take a look at the notes they are taking.

Lesson 7: Word Choice in Research Writing

• To help students think about making their writing more interesting, have them brainstorm words about their animal.
• Together brainstorm words that would be appropriate for animals. They might add words about what they look like, their movement, their habitats, their life cycles, their diets, etc. You can create a class anchor chart on the page provided.  You might even think about using the real life picture of the wolf in the download. This can get the students to begin thinking of more interesting words for animals (fierce, mighty, strong, etc).
• Then, pass out the individual brainstorm pages. Students can use the anchor chart as a guide to begin their own word choice pages about their animal. This might be a good partner activity as well.

Lesson 8: Writing Sketch for the Animal Research Project

• Next, you can model the writing sketch planner for your class.
• One idea to help your students narrow down all of the information they have learned about their animals is to give them a specific number of animals facts that they can focus on.
• Each of these facts can serve as the actual text that they will put on each page of their animal research book. Or the facts could serve as a focus for each paragraph in their writing.
• You might find that this would be a good mini-lesson to do with smaller groups of children.

Lesson 9: Creating a Table of Contents

• Another idea that can be a writing planner AND a page in their animal research book is the table of contents. Pull out one of the Table of Contents pages from the resources provided and model how to fill in the blanks on each page.
• This page will then serve as their Table of Contents (with a focus discussion on what that is and the purpose it serves) and also their writing planner so they know what they will put in the pages of their booklet.

Lesson 10: Creating a Glossary

• There are two pages provided in the resources that might help your students to learn to pull out topic specific words to put into a glossary for the end of their animal research book.
• Be sure to model how you would like for your students to use these organizers (keeping in mind that you may need to copy more than one page if there are more words than the page provides for).
• If your students need a refresher on ABC order check out these links for some added practice/review: ABC Order Task Cards & Fry Word ABC Order Task Cards

Lesson 11: Writing Your Animal Research

• You will decide on the best method for your students to showcase their published animal research.
• You may want your students to use their own creativity in the texts that they write and share. If you’d like a first experience to provide a bit more guidance, we have provided two different sets of pages for booklets.
• One is more guided and the other has less structure and smaller lines for more writing.  15 pages are provided so that you or students can pick what fits their needs.
• This “lesson” may actually become a series of lessons if you choose to model how each page can be used.  (We have also included a page with simple writing lines in case students need less guidance than the booklet pages provided.)

Lesson 12: Labeling Pictures

• One final lesson idea that pairs well with writing informational text is to teach your students how to label pictures.
• Since most nonfiction writing has real photographs, students can find some pictures online to print out and label for their booklet.  Hand-drawn pictures are also great if you would rather encourage some or all of your students in that direction.
• Whatever you choose, show your class how to effectively label a picture so that it teaches the reader more.  You can use the picture of the polar bear provided to model how to add words or even short facts as labels.  (For example if the simple label “fur” wouldn’t add additional information to the book, you might teach them to label it with a short fact such as “dense fur protects the animal’s skin from the weather”.
• To make this idea more user friendly, you might want them to use the page of blank white boxes provided to write their labels for their pictures.  Then all they need to do is cut them out and glue them to a printed picture.

Lesson 13: Writing Celebration

As always, find a way to celebrate your students’ writing.  

Invite guests (younger students or special adults) to read the books with your young authors. You might simply want to pair or group them, or some students might choose to present their book to everyone.  

Provide some light snacks if possible to give it a party atmosphere and pass out the author certificates to each child for his/her hard work.

You can download this free writing unit of study here:

Writing Download

As with all of our resources, The Curriculum Corner creates these for free classroom use. Our products may not be sold. You may print and copy for your personal classroom use. These are also great for home school families!

You may not modify and resell in any form. Please let us know if you have any questions.

Christine E.

Saturday 8th of May 2021

Thank you so much for this resource and the many pages that I can use in my homeschooling. It is exactly what I've been looking for to help me get my kids to write about our animal units! You are doing a great job, keep up the amazing work you do. I appreciate the hard work you put into putting these together.

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How to write an animal report

Your teacher wants a written report on the beluga whale . Not to worry. Use these organizational tools from the Nat Geo Kids Almanac so you can stay afloat while writing a report.

STEPS TO SUCCESS:

Your report will follow the format of a descriptive or expository essay and should consist of a main idea, followed by supporting details and a conclusion. Use this basic structure for each paragraph as well as the whole report, and you’ll be on the right track.

Introduction

State your main idea .

The beluga whale is a common and important species of whale.

Provide supporting points for your main idea.

1. The beluga whale is one of the smallest whale species.

2. It is also known as the “white whale” because of its distinctive coloring.

3. These whales are common in the Arctic Ocean’s coastal waters.

Then expand on those points with further description, explanation, or discussion.

1a. Belugas range in size from 13 to 20 feet (4 to 6.1 m) in length.

2a. Belugas are born gray or brown. They fade to white at around five years old.

3a. Some Arctic belugas migrate south in large herds when sea ice freezes over.

Wrap it up with a summary of your whole paper.

Because of its unique coloring and unusual features, belugas are among the most familiar and easily distinguishable of all the whales.

Key Information

Here are some things you should consider including in your report:

What does your animal look like? To what other species is it related? How does it move? Where does it live? What does it eat? What are its predators? How long does it live? Is it endangered? Why do you find it interesting?

SEPARATE FACT FROM FICTION: Your animal may have been featured in a movie or in myths and legends. Compare and contrast how the animal has been portrayed with how it behaves in reality. For example, penguins can’t dance the way they do in Happy Feet.

PROOFREAD AND REVISE: As with any essay, when you’re finished, check for misspellings, grammatical mistakes, and punctuation errors. It often helps to have someone else proofread your work, too, as he or she may catch things you have missed. Also, look for ways to make your sentences and paragraphs even better. Add more descriptive language, choosing just the right verbs, adverbs, and adjectives to make your writing come alive.

BE CREATIVE: Use visual aids to make your report come to life. Include an animal photo file with interesting images found in magazines or printed from websites. Or draw your own! You can also build a miniature animal habitat diorama. Use creativity to help communicate your passion for the subject.

THE FINAL RESULT: Put it all together in one final, polished draft. Make it neat and clean, and remember to cite your references.

Download the pdf .

More resources

Homework help, science lab, (ad) national geographic kids almanac.

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The Colorful Apple

Animal Research Projects

The students then put their information into a paragraph, each paragraph covering one topic.  We practiced this quite a bit together as a class.  We also discussed proper paragraph format, using an opening and closing sentence.

As students were researching, I noticed that they find quite a bit of information that didn’t quite fit into their 3 topics.  The students wanted to include these interesting facts, but weren’t sure where to put them.  So we created a “Fun Facts” page!

The students also created diagrams of their animal, labeling its parts.

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How to Make an Animal Habitat Project in Elementary School

Are you looking for an exciting way to combine reading, writing, science and technology skills? This exciting project is the perfect combo and is easy for your primary students to navigate on their own.

Background:

To start, I like to get students excited about the project by reading different animal books to the class or watching different videos. Our school uses BrainPopJr , but there are plenty of free options on youtube as well. We talk about different habitats ( read more about the full science unit here ) and then we each pick our favorite habitat that we want to write about.

After students have picked a habitat, I give them 1-2 days to explore all of the animals in the habitat on the National Geographic Kids website . This is a FREE website that allows students to research many different animals, and provides real life pictures and videos of the animals as well. At the end of this period, I have the students pick 3 animals from the same habitat to research. For your purposes, you can have them do as many or as few animals as you want.

I then give students time to research their first animal. This is after HIGHLY modeling the first animal in my book myself. We talk about best note taking practices, as we do not want students to be writing or copying down full sentences. When they complete research, I let them navigate National Geographic on their own.

Writing & Differentiation :

The next day, we turn our research into drafts. We focus on making our sentences interesting, but being sure that we are not telling a story. This can be especially tricky for younger kids, so I am sure to model this process for them.

This project is differentiated for different skill or grade levels. Some students might be able to write 5-6 sentences on an animal’s appearance, whereas others might only be able to write 1-2. The graphic organizers included accommodate for that. Another way I like to differentiate is to allow students to do their research with a partner, assuring that struggling readers have the same access to the resources.

We repeat the research and writing steps for as many animals as we are researching. For second graders, I like to do about 3-4 animals. For your high achieving students, you might offer to let them research as many as possible.

Publishing :

Because we spend so long working on this project, I like to give students as much time as possible to work on publishing. We usually spend up to a week taking our time using our best handwriting and best drawing skills. I also allow students to go back on National Geographic to look at maps, diagrams and photos of the animals. We talk about how the different photo boxes should feature different attributes of the animals.

Sharing and Extensions :

When the project is over, I always like to find a younger group of classmates to share the books with. We also always do this project before our trip to the zoo, so I like to have parent chaperones look at their books before the field trip. Then, we can try to find some of the animals at the zoo.

Another extension that my students LOVE doing either at home or at school is using a shoe box or STEM supplies to build a 3D diagram of their habitat and the animals that they researched. We pay special attention to how these animals co-habitate when creating these diagrams. This is a great project to do at school or at home.

Distance and Independent Learning :

This project lends itself extremely well to independent or distance learning. This project began as a passion project for my ALP students. Simply model one animal either via video or small group, then allow students to complete this process for as many animals as possible. It is very easy for a teachers’ aide, a parent volunteer or a home-schooling parent to help facilitate after the first animal is complete, and it is highly engaging for students.

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Animal Habitat Research Project

Life Science Unit

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Bell Ringers

Independent research projects in upper elementary, independent research projects in upper elementary ela.

Every year, I plan to give my students more choice, voice, and independent project work. Of course, we also have to deal with state testing and loads of other requirements. However, giving your students independent research projects not only helps them demonstrate learning and mastery of standards, it also gives them some choices and ability to share their own unique voice! Here are some independent research projects in upper elementary ELA that your 4th through 6th graders will love!

Genius Hour

You may have heard of Genius Hour or Passion Projects. Genius Hour is considered project-based learning, and it starts with a question. Students choose their own research question about anything really, and they study it at least an hour a week. After reading/researching about their question, their final project can be something as simple as an explanatory slideshow or building their own dollhouse. The possibilities are endless.

Genius Hour can require some scaffolding at the beginning. For example, you may ask your students to research a question related to a certain topic. If you’re reading Watsons Go to Birmingham, for example, they may ask a question surrounding the Civil Rights Movement or the 1960s. The topics can be open-ended to give the students some choice but still have an overarching theme.

Once students get practice researching and coming up with their own final project, they can choose a Genius Hour topic about anything. Some example questions may include:

• How do I promote healthy eating in elementary school?
• How do I prepare for middle school?
• What is the best place to take a family vacation, and how can I plan one for my family?
• How do you start a small business as a student?

Genius Hour gives students choice and voice in the classroom, and you’ll love learning about their passions!

Author Studies

This is one of my favorite projects to use for upper elementary ELA students! I first implemented this project with fifth graders after state testing. This is the perfect time of year for an independent study, and it reinforces reading, writing, and research concepts used throughout the school year!

This project includes almost everything you need for your students to complete a research project on the author of their choosing . It sets them up to brainstorm, research, take notes, plan, and then complete a research paper on their selected authors. I have also made sure to leave some of the note-taking more generic so that you and your students can use as little or as many pages as they need.

Start by giving students the included list of possible authors to research or let them choose their own. This author may already be a favorite or one they want to know more about! Once the author is chosen, your job is to facilitate. Remind them of resources to use for research, note-taking skills and options, and let them learn and explore!

The author study resource includes everything your students need to get started. You’ll have the author examples, note sheets, rubrics, and an example research paper to help guide your instruction and student learning!

Differentiate by having students work in groups to research an author together or study different authors within the same genre. This is also a great way to culminate literature circles by having students research the author they read!

These independent research projects in upper elementary ELA are some of my favorites to provide choice while differentiating for all learners. What research projects have you tried in your ELA classroom?

• Read more about: Upper Elementary Reading

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Animal Research Project - Animal Report Templates - Interactive Research Slides

• Google Apps™

What educators are saying

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Description

Students love learning about animals! This research project allows students to use that love of animals to create a meaningful project they can be proud of. This animal research project creates an opportunity for students to gather information about a specific animal through pre-linked videos and articles. You can decide what slides are appropriate for your class and differentiate as needed. 

Give students ownership through offering choices. Students can choose an animal from the 25 provided with linked videos and articles or allow students to choose a unique animal. Providing student choice within the guidelines of the research project creates more engagement and a stronger understanding of the content. Students will love learning about animals! 

⭐️ Bundle & save for a discount ⭐️

Purchase the Research Bundle to get this resource plus 6 other research projects!

Here's what you'll get:

• 4 options of title page
• 4 differentiated options of Types of Animals activity (linked video & response questions)
• Compare & Contrast Animals activity
• Appearance (5 options + editable)
• Habitat (5 options + editable + interactive world map)
• Diet (5 options +  editable)
• Adaptations (9 options +  editable)
• Life Cycle (11 options + editable)
• Interesting Facts (2 options + editable)
• Photo Gallery (3 options + editable)
• Final Research Slides (5 options + editable)
• Animal Interactive Research Slides 
• Article linked for each animal
• 2 version of linked videos for each animal (Youtube or Safe Share)
• Multiple rubrics (preset and editable)

Your students will enjoy researching animals. This is an engaging research project that creates excitement and engagement with little work for you. Students can work in small groups, partners or even independently. The students will be engaged while using real life applications.

All of these research slides are premade and require little to no additional prep. A quality research assignment with no extra work for you. You are in charge of what slides students complete. Assign more slides to allow for a deeper understanding and enrichment or take away slides for a quick project. 

Prep is quick and easy... Just assign the research project to your students through your learning management system and you are ready to go!

TEACHERS LIKE YOU SAID…

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Kelly W. says, “This was a great end of the year project. We had finished our animal unit and the students loved being able to choose their animal. I l oved the independence and that everything was ready for them in the slides and I didn't have to supplement it.” 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Amanda B. says, "I am obsessed with this research project!! It was perfect for an engaging end of the year writing activity as we continued to practice research. Everything is there for you - links to videos and all! My students LOVED being able to pick an animal and it was so fun to have them all share what they learned about the animals!”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Hollie N. says, "Your products are always so well thought out!  This product in particular had animal passages and video right there for the students to use and you provided several different layouts for each animal research topic.  It was easy to select the slides I wanted my students to use and assign via google classroom.  Definitely use this again even when teaching in person this fall.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Shelby M. says, "I used this with my self-contained sped class. Love that the slides were differentiated ! Very easy to navigate and make individual students projects ! Many animals to choose from - students loved choosing their own animals!”  

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