Free printable archaeology lessons: Fossils, caves, bats, geology, paleontology

Archaeology is one of the most fascinating branches of science and caves are one of nature's most alluring geological landforms to explore. Caves are a separate biome all their own. They've been used as habitats by animals and people. Bats are cave dwellers and dinosaurs dwelt in caves. Mystics have sought divine enlightenment living as hermits in caves. Ancient people left hieroglyphics on walls of caves, like those at Lascaux, France. Caves yield up a treasure trove of fossils and teach valuable lessons in archaeology and paleontology. Teachers and homeschool families, if you're planning a unit on caves (and you really should) here are free printable lesson plans on cave-related subjects of fossils, bats, archaeology, paleontology, habitats, geology, spelunking and earth science.

The National Parks Service has free printable lessons on the U.S. national park at Carlsbad Cavernsin New Mexico. There's curriculum for elementary school in the free printable booklet About Bats, Caves and Deserts. For middle school students, the NPS Carlsbad Caverns website features free printable archaeology lessons on Caves, Canyons, Cactus and Critters. High school students explore geology, spelunking, Global Positioning Systems and orienteering in the Chihuahuan Desert Lab school. Materials are designed to be used with interpretive visits but some may be used as stand-alone lessons in class. Check out the cool activities on fossils, bats, paleontology and other cave phenomena.

Also from the NPS, are free printable materials on Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. There are free coloring pages, word games, puzzles and lesson plans in the Junior Ranger section. Kids will love the printable Trog Tour booklet (trog is short for super cool fossils called troglodytes) The Making Connections series from Mammoth Cave National Park features books for grades K-3, 4-5 and 6-8. There are 83 pages of free printable paleontology lesson plans for teachers and homeschool parents. And be sure not to let young archaeology students miss the free printable Fossil Identification Guide with coloring pages of fossils to label.

Lascaux Culture has interactive lesson plans on Lascaux cave drawings. Explore paleontology and archaeology with the prehistoric paintings, There are cave maps, images, videos and timelines. The website has interpretive information detailing the images, their purpose and their significance. You can access the site in several languages including English, but the educational "resources" link is available only in French.

Easy Fun School has free cave diorama lesson plan. The diorama is easy to make and uses cheap, household materials.has free printable animal habitat coloring pages. Students can research which animals live or hibernate in caves. This site has other free printable habitats dioramas. Crayola offers a free craft template to show interior cave rock formations.

Cave stalactites grow downward from the ceiling. The word comes from the Greek "to drip" (stalactites resemble icicles). Stalagmites grow up from the cave floor and look like upside down icicles. In Greek, the word means "trickling." Use these activities to demonstrate how stalactites and stalagmites grow. Crystal Cave in Wisconsin offers tours and family activities to explore this famous cave. Here are free printable geology lesson plans on archaeology, paleontology, bats, and fossils.

Free printable biology science activities: Botany, flowers, plant biology

Biology science activities naturally focus on living things. Teach students about botany and plant biology in spring science activities. As students watch nature awakening all around, they observe plant biology and plant structure--seeds, roots, stems, buds, leaves, flowers and fruit--first hand. Teach kids about botany for Earth Month in April. In May and June, students can explore flowers and more mature plant structure. Here are links and websites with hundreds of free printable spring science activities on botany, plants, trees, plant biology and flowers. Get free printable spring science coloring pages, worksheets, charts and diagrams.

The Teacher's Corner has free printable biology science activities and botany lesson plans. Plants and trees cover enormous area to study that you will want to check out these websites and see which have materials specific to what you need. Activities cover edible plants, medicinal plants, toxic and unsafe plants, plant biology, finding and naming plants native to your area, biomes and much more. Visit Enchanted Learning's science homepage for general biology, spring science activities and free printable lesson plans on trees, plants, botany and plant biology.

Lesson Plans Central has free printable science lesson plans and spring science activities. Instead of linking to the page on plants, visit the general science activities page for more extended spring science lesson plans. Edupics is always a superior internet resource for free printable realistic coloring pages. Edupics has many coloring pages of trees, plants and botany coloring pages for spring science. Primary Games has lots of free printable flowers and plants coloring pages. Biology Junction has gobs more free printable plant biology lessons and general biology activities.

Free printable Math Curse lesson plans, Science Verse learning activities

Here are some free lesson plans based on Science Verse and Math Curse by Jon Scieszka.

Read Write Think has free printable Math Curse lesson plans. Then for Earth Day, that same site has free printable Science Verse learning activities on earth science. Here are more free printable Math Curse lesson plans from The Teacher's Corner. Ethemes has other free printable lesson plansfrom Math Curse. Global Classroom has free Math Curse learning activities too. Check out this site for free printable Science Verse lesson plans. Here's a packet of free printable Science Verse learning activities. Probably the best lesson plans on both books are to have children write their own math and science verses or learning activities. Use Science Verse as poem templates or poetry frames. Use the learning activities in Math Curse to create your own math story problems.

Free printable Pi Day activities, Sir Cumference geometry, math lesson plans

Children's literature author Cindy Neuschwander, with illustrator Wayne Geehan has written a math adventure series that is perfect for Pi Day on March 14. In the books, Sir Cumference, Lady Di of Ameter and their son Radius solve math problems, geometry puzzles and medieval mysteries. The name puns are only the beginning of the fun. Children learn about geometry, measurement, counting, algebra, formulas and math lesson plans in charming medieval fairy tales. The Sir Cumference books include:

--Sir Cumference and the First Round Table (A Math Adventure) (1997) Lady Di of Ameter and her son Radius help Sir Cumference figure out the most user-friendly shape for the table to seat his knights for their meetings. Great exploratory book for understanding shapes, angles and geometry.

--Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi (A Math Adventure) (1999) It's Radius and Lady Di of Ameter off to the rescue again to save Sir Cumference who has been eaten by the Dragon of Pi. By visiting the cooks in the kitchen Radius learns how the Greek term Pi works in geometry and uses it to solve this math riddle. Use this one for Pi Day!

--Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland (A Math Adventure) (2001) Radius goes off on a quest with Sir D'Grees to battle a Pair of Lells (dragons). In clever geometrical exploits, they teach math lesson plans on angles and measurement.

--Sir Cumference and the Sword in the Cone (A Math Adventure) (2003) Again brave Radius, assisted by his friend Vertex learn about geometric solids and how to pull out the famous sword Edgecaliber from the cone. There are solid math lesson plans in this fun adventure.

--Sir Cumference and the Isle of Immeter (A Math Adventure) (2006) Radius must help his cousin Per face down dragons and learn about geometry in a game called Inners and Edges, so that Per can rescue her kingdom and become Per of Immeter. Lady Di of Ameter and Sir Cumference lend a hand.

--Sir Cumference and All the Kings Tens (A Math Adventure) (2009) Sir Cumference and his Lady Di of Ameter discover that when planning a birthday party for the King that using a base 10 counting system (or metric system) is the only way to count this growing crowd of guests.

Here are some free printable math lesson plans based on Cindy Neuschwander books. Teacher Vision has free printable Sir Cumference math lesson plans for Pi Day. Check Education World for a complete unit of free printable Pi Day activities, geometry worksheets and math lesson plans from Sir Cumference geometry books. Then, head over to lesson plans for a bunch of free printable Sir Cumference geometry worksheets. Lesson Planet has many free printable geometry worksheetsthat are specific to Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi for Pi Day.

Free printable Holi Festival of Colors activities, Hindu Indian crafts, lesson plans

Holi is the Hindu Festival of Colors and is celebrated on March 24 in 2016. People in Indian celebrate by tossing colored powder or spraying each other with colored liquid. Holi iscelebrated on the full moon, called Phalgun Purnima or Pooranmash. Holi begins with the Holika Dahan--ceremonial bonfires which purge evil spirits, which are lit one day before Holi. Holi comes in the Hindu calendar month of Phalgun. Holi falls in late March to early April in the western calendar. Here are free printable Holi Indian crafts, greeting cards and lessons to help kids understand the Indian Holi Festival of Colors. Teachers, use these free printable Holi activities for social studies lessons. Homeschool parents, why not explore Holi Festival of Colors with kids?

Got Free Cards has free printable Holi greeting cards and Indian crafts. Holi is a happy holiday, so sending cards would be appropriate. It celebrates the triumph of Prahlada (with the help of Lord Vishnu) over Prahlada's jealous father Hiranyakashipu, king of the demons. The Rig Veda--the oldest of the four Hindu Vedic texts--tells how Prahlada loved Lord Vishnu and was made to sit with his demon sister Holika. Holika was consumed and Prahlada was saved. So bonfires are built at Holi to ward of Holika's wrath.

Craftionary has free printable Holi greeting cards in bright colors. They show images of fireworks, colored chalks and powders and other Holi images. These cheerful messages help spread the Holi Festival of Colors joy. Click "black and white" or "black ink cartridge" or "print in grayscale" on your printer preferences menu. Then children can use cards as coloring pages, too. The Color has free printable Hindu Holi coloring pages, featuring bonfires, people spraying each other, as well as Indian Holi foods like balushahi, Printable Colouring Pages has challenging free printable Holi festival of colors Indian crafts andcoloring pages. Several could be used as Holi greeting cards, place mats or party decorations.

The University of Texas has a free printable Holi lessons and Inidan crafts unit with vocabulary, history, Indian crafts, geography, literature and social studies extensions. Mr. Donn has free printable Holi lessons, worksheets, book connections, Indian crafts and kids activities to help children celebrate the Holi Festival of Colors. This website is always a good place to get well-researched, child-friendly age-appropriate content, especially for world holidays. BBC has free printable Holi activities, materials, lessons, worksheets and discussions on Holi. Perfect for history and world religions teachers. Use for units on Hinduism. There are Hindu Diwali materials to explore another popular Indian holiday.

To make your own Holi spray, mix food coloring and water or dissolved gelatin and water. This way it won't stain. To wish someone a good Holi, say "Holi Hai!" But watch out for the colored spritzer!

Free printable coloring pages on The Little Prince, Le Petit Prince lesson plans

Mark Osborne's cartoon feature "The Little Prince" is turning heads in much the same way Le Petit Prince book, by Antione de Saint-Exupery did in 1943. The Little Prince cartoon leads the list at the New York International Children's Film Festival. The modern world may not be as jaded as WWII France. But perhaps the same need exists for the simple truth and beauty in this story.

It's a book about children, but it's for adults who would be as wise as children. There are many lesson plans for grownups in the story. It's good to see this charming tale translated from French and brought to the screen. Time was when every literate kid had a copy of Le Petit Prince or The Little Prince on her bookshelf (both if she was lucky). But the story was all but forgotten in children's literature lesson plans.

Here are free printable cartoon coloring pages from The Little Prince book and movie. Characters are not named but are referred to as a child would, by their characteristics--The Mother, Mr. Prince, the Aviator, the Snake, the Conceited Man, the Drunkard, the King, the Rose and of course, The Little Prince and his friend the Fox. Each of the grownups peoples his own asteroid. Some represent different adult foibles or character flaws. Others Le Petit Prince respects, like the Lamplighter who is simple. It's an allegorical parable and should be required reading in high school literature lesson plans

Hello Kids has some more free printable coloring pages from Le Petie Prince illustrations. This website has a few more free printable coloring pages from The Little Prince. Coloriages, a French site has free printable Le Petit Prince coloring pages from the book. The movie is a 3D stop-motion animated film does some nice things with animation. To show the passage of time, it uses modern cartoon styles for the present and de Saint-Exupery illustrations from Le Petit Prince in flashbacks. This technique could be emphasized in films in literature lesson plans. Here are lesson plans from Spark Notes on The Little Prince.

Free printable connect the dots educational games, dot to dot puzzles

DL-TK Coloring has free printable connect the dots games. Get connect the dots picture puzzles for every letter of the alphabet. There are free printable dot to dot puzzles that count by ones and skip count by twos, fives, tens, as well as connect the dot educational games using letters. Children learn words that begin with certain letters and practice number and letter order as well.

All Kids Network offers free printable connect the dot educational games of varying levels of difficulty. Free printable dot to dot picture puzzles feature vehicle, animal, nature and cartoon characters including Pooh Bear, My Little Pony and several other favorites. After children finish connect the dots puzzles, they can color the picture.

Print Activities has 70 different free printable dot to dot puzzles. There are different levels of number connect the dot educational games with up to ninety numbered dots to connect. There are around twenty free printable connect the dot letter puzzles. There are free printable dot to dot worksheets with animals, seasons, holiday, sports, medieval, princess, pirate, outer space and general picture puzzles. Papa Jan, has 44 free printable connect the dots coloring pages. Scroll through as only four are shown on each page.