Who doesn't love animal facts? Invite your Grade 3–8 students to watch wildlife videos from the award-winning BBC series Planet Earth, in which Sir David Attenborough takes them up close and personal with incredible animals across awe-inspiring landscapes. Then, they can see how much they learned with one of these 16 engaging quizzes (we're big fans of our guess the image question type!). The videos are linked under each quiz page. Assign one or assign them all!
Bring your students on an icy exploration of the polar ecosystem! The Arctic and Antarctica may look frozen and empty at first glance, but they’re full of life perfectly adapted to the cold.
✨ Perfect for grades 3–8, here’s what you need to bring ecosystems to life:
- Iconic BBC Videos: Share the clips on this page to introduce the location, plants, animals, and climate of the polar regions. (Don't miss the narwhals and emperor penguins!) Brought to you by world-class BBC programs like Planet Earth, Frozen Planet, and Seven Worlds, One Planet.
- Free Printable: Use the Polar Brochure Template to help students pull it all together in an ecosystem report with facts they’ve learned (and a little extra research).
It’s everything you need to make ecosystems easy to teach and truly memorable for your students.
Dive into the wonders of Antarctica with this multi-grade lesson collection! Tailored for K–2, 3–5, 6–8, and 9–12, each unit includes engaging activities, thought-provoking discussions, and hands-on projects to uncover the mysteries of the frozen continent. Enhance your teaching with stunning BBC video clips showcasing Antarctic wildlife, research stations, and breathtaking icy landscapes. Printable resources like animal fact sheets, scientist journal templates, and conservation challenges bring the learning to life for your students. Perfect for science, geography, and environmental lessons!
Get your students excited about wildlife with this collection of engaging articles! Covering elephants, polar bears, whales, and even the rarest creatures on Earth, these resources are perfect for sparking curiosity. Each article is available at three reading levels, making it easy for you to share with readers of all abilities in your classroom.
Why did the various wildlife species cross the road? To test the new heathland bridge!
It may look like a bridge that’s just unfinished, but the dirt and grass butting up against the pavement is very intentional.
This heathland bridge separating two commons is the first of its kind to include a network of natural routes that encourage species to reunite for the first time in over 40 years. Man, we would not remember ANYONE’S names! The bridge is home to mosses and vegetative grounds, as well as sand that could be a habitat to species like sand lizards, adders, foxes, deer, and bugs. Lots of bugs.
The bridge connects the heathland on either side, which the Wildlife Trusts are working to restore, so the aim of the bridge is to let wildlife move from side to side, building up the population and their resilience. But, it wasn’t as simple as leaving the bridge half-paved. Crews had to create the heathland by distributing acidic sand before adding areas of ground taken directly from larger heathland sites.
Chimpanzees are among the most intelligent animals on Earth — and they just happen to be our closest living relatives. Sharing about 95–98% of their DNA with humans, chimpanzees can use tools, solve problems, communicate with one another, and even pass knowledge from one generation to the next.
Found in the forests and woodlands of central and western Africa, chimpanzees live in complex social groups called troops. They spend their days searching for food, caring for their young, and navigating a world that is increasingly threatened by habitat loss and human activity.
From cracking nuts with stones to using sticks to fish for termites, chimpanzees continue to amaze scientists with their creativity and intelligence. But how much do you know about these remarkable primates?
Whether you're a wildlife enthusiast, an animal expert, or simply curious about our closest cousins in the animal kingdom, this quiz will put your chimpanzee knowledge to the test. Let's see if you have what it takes to become a Chimp Champion!
What happens when a zoo animal gets sick? For most of the history of zoos, that question had an answer most visitors never saw. Now, one of the world's oldest zoological societies is building a facility designed to change that — and what they're planning goes well beyond routine checkups.
The Zoological Society of London is constructing a new wildlife health center that will allow visitors to observe animals receiving medical care firsthand. Some of what they'll see will be routine — weight checks, dental exams, the kind of maintenance that keeps zoo populations healthy. But onlookers may also get a window into surgical procedures, and in some cases, postmortems. It's an unusually transparent approach for an institution that has traditionally kept its medical operations behind closed doors.
Not everyone is convinced. Critics argue the center is more about capitalizing on public curiosity than genuinely benefiting the animals in its care — that making medicine into a spectator sport serves the zoo's revenue more than its residents.
ZSL pushes back on that framing. The center is designed to be more than an exhibit. It's intended to function as a global training resource for wildlife vets, a hub where expertise in animal medicine can be developed and shared across institutions worldwide. The argument is that visibility and conservation aren't in conflict — that showing people what it actually takes to keep wild animals healthy is exactly the kind of thing that builds the public understanding zoos increasingly depend on to justify their existence.
The deeper question the center raises isn't really about one zoo or one building. It's about what zoos are actually for — and whether letting people watch is a compromise of that mission or an extension of it.
Your parents or grandparents probably talk about growing up outside — riding bikes, climbing trees, scraping up knees. Turns out, they were onto something.
The Wildlife Trusts, a UK conservation group, just wrapped up "30 Days Wild," the UK's biggest nature challenge. Millions of people, including tens of thousands of schools, took part by doing one "wild" activity a day — noticing, appreciating, or exploring nature. The Lancashire Wildlife Trust runs a similar effort called The Greenhouse Project, where people learn to grow food and care for nature together.
The idea: the more connected people feel to nature, the more likely they are to protect it. But a recent poll found that while almost all adults have fond memories of playing outside as kids, nearly half now spend just three hours outside per week — less than 30 minutes a day.
The DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo) is a large central African country now facing an Ebola outbreak along with neighboring Uganda. Ebola is a serious virus spread through contact with infected blood or body fluids, causing fever, vomiting, and bleeding. This outbreak's strain has no approved vaccine or treatment.
This isn't the DRC's first health crisis — and it's not bad luck. Three main factors are at play: the DRC borders nine countries with heavy cross-border movement and conflict-driven displacement, making disease spread easy; its health system is stretched thin, so early symptoms (which mimic other illnesses) often go unnoticed; and close contact with wildlife in its vast forests — including hunting and eating bushmeat — raises the risk of animal-to-human disease jumps.
Together, these factors explain why outbreaks keep happening — and why this one deserves close attention.
Birdwatching is taking off in a big way among young people. Reports say that around 750,000 people aged 16–29 in the UK and millions in the U.S. now regularly go birdwatching — turning what was once seen as a “quiet” hobby into a fast-growing trend.
Part of the appeal is how simple it is to start. You don’t need expensive gear or special training — just curiosity and a bit of time outdoors. It’s a low-pressure way to take a break from screens, notice what’s around you, and actually tune into sounds and spaces most people scroll past.
Ironically, social media is helping drive the trend. Birdwatching accounts, short videos, and identification apps are making it easier than ever to learn bird calls, spot species, and share discoveries with others. Instead of pulling people away from nature, platforms like TikTok and Instagram are often pushing people back into it.
Conservationists are especially excited because this kind of interest helps more people connect with wildlife and care about protecting it. Birdwatching is becoming less about binoculars and notebooks — and more about curiosity, community, and noticing the world a little differently.
Travel across the islands of Indonesia with this colorful one-page fact file for Grades 3–8. Students will explore Indonesia’s geography, history, culture, wildlife, and government while learning about thousands of islands, volcanoes and coral reefs, tropical rainforests, unique animals such as Komodo dragons and orangutans, and the traditions of Indonesia’s many cultures.
You can use this fact file to:
- Introduce a geography or social studies unit
- Support nonfiction reading practice
- Compare countries and cultures
- Complete map and research activities
- Prepare students for projects or presentations (use our country report template!)
- Pair with videos, articles, or other informational texts (see Related Resources below)
Explore the culture, history, and modern life of South Korea with this student-friendly fact file for Grades 3–8. Students will explore South Korea’s geography, history, culture, wildlife, and government while learning about mountain landscapes, Korean traditions, K-pop, kimchi, important events in Korean history, and the country’s modern economy and technology.
You can use this fact file to:
- Introduce a geography or social studies unit
- Support nonfiction reading practice
- Compare countries and cultures
- Complete map and research activities
- Prepare students for projects or presentations (use our country report template!)
- Pair with videos, articles, or other informational texts (see Related Resources below)
Who doesn't love animal facts? Invite your Grade 3–8 students to watch wildlife videos from the award-winning BBC series Planet Earth, in which Sir David Attenborough takes them up close and personal with incredible animals across awe-inspiring landscapes. Then, they can see how much they learned with one of these 16 engaging quizzes (we're big fans of our guess the image question type!). The videos are linked under each quiz page. Assign one or assign them all!
Bring your students on an icy exploration of the polar ecosystem! The Arctic and Antarctica may look frozen and empty at first glance, but they’re full of life perfectly adapted to the cold.
✨ Perfect for grades 3–8, here’s what you need to bring ecosystems to life:
- Iconic BBC Videos: Share the clips on this page to introduce the location, plants, animals, and climate of the polar regions. (Don't miss the narwhals and emperor penguins!) Brought to you by world-class BBC programs like Planet Earth, Frozen Planet, and Seven Worlds, One Planet.
- Free Printable: Use the Polar Brochure Template to help students pull it all together in an ecosystem report with facts they’ve learned (and a little extra research).
It’s everything you need to make ecosystems easy to teach and truly memorable for your students.
Dive into the wonders of Antarctica with this multi-grade lesson collection! Tailored for K–2, 3–5, 6–8, and 9–12, each unit includes engaging activities, thought-provoking discussions, and hands-on projects to uncover the mysteries of the frozen continent. Enhance your teaching with stunning BBC video clips showcasing Antarctic wildlife, research stations, and breathtaking icy landscapes. Printable resources like animal fact sheets, scientist journal templates, and conservation challenges bring the learning to life for your students. Perfect for science, geography, and environmental lessons!
Get your students excited about wildlife with this collection of engaging articles! Covering elephants, polar bears, whales, and even the rarest creatures on Earth, these resources are perfect for sparking curiosity. Each article is available at three reading levels, making it easy for you to share with readers of all abilities in your classroom.
Why did the various wildlife species cross the road? To test the new heathland bridge!
It may look like a bridge that’s just unfinished, but the dirt and grass butting up against the pavement is very intentional.
This heathland bridge separating two commons is the first of its kind to include a network of natural routes that encourage species to reunite for the first time in over 40 years. Man, we would not remember ANYONE’S names! The bridge is home to mosses and vegetative grounds, as well as sand that could be a habitat to species like sand lizards, adders, foxes, deer, and bugs. Lots of bugs.
The bridge connects the heathland on either side, which the Wildlife Trusts are working to restore, so the aim of the bridge is to let wildlife move from side to side, building up the population and their resilience. But, it wasn’t as simple as leaving the bridge half-paved. Crews had to create the heathland by distributing acidic sand before adding areas of ground taken directly from larger heathland sites.
Chimpanzees are among the most intelligent animals on Earth — and they just happen to be our closest living relatives. Sharing about 95–98% of their DNA with humans, chimpanzees can use tools, solve problems, communicate with one another, and even pass knowledge from one generation to the next.
Found in the forests and woodlands of central and western Africa, chimpanzees live in complex social groups called troops. They spend their days searching for food, caring for their young, and navigating a world that is increasingly threatened by habitat loss and human activity.
From cracking nuts with stones to using sticks to fish for termites, chimpanzees continue to amaze scientists with their creativity and intelligence. But how much do you know about these remarkable primates?
Whether you're a wildlife enthusiast, an animal expert, or simply curious about our closest cousins in the animal kingdom, this quiz will put your chimpanzee knowledge to the test. Let's see if you have what it takes to become a Chimp Champion!
What happens when a zoo animal gets sick? For most of the history of zoos, that question had an answer most visitors never saw. Now, one of the world's oldest zoological societies is building a facility designed to change that — and what they're planning goes well beyond routine checkups.
The Zoological Society of London is constructing a new wildlife health center that will allow visitors to observe animals receiving medical care firsthand. Some of what they'll see will be routine — weight checks, dental exams, the kind of maintenance that keeps zoo populations healthy. But onlookers may also get a window into surgical procedures, and in some cases, postmortems. It's an unusually transparent approach for an institution that has traditionally kept its medical operations behind closed doors.
Not everyone is convinced. Critics argue the center is more about capitalizing on public curiosity than genuinely benefiting the animals in its care — that making medicine into a spectator sport serves the zoo's revenue more than its residents.
ZSL pushes back on that framing. The center is designed to be more than an exhibit. It's intended to function as a global training resource for wildlife vets, a hub where expertise in animal medicine can be developed and shared across institutions worldwide. The argument is that visibility and conservation aren't in conflict — that showing people what it actually takes to keep wild animals healthy is exactly the kind of thing that builds the public understanding zoos increasingly depend on to justify their existence.
The deeper question the center raises isn't really about one zoo or one building. It's about what zoos are actually for — and whether letting people watch is a compromise of that mission or an extension of it.
Your parents or grandparents probably talk about growing up outside — riding bikes, climbing trees, scraping up knees. Turns out, they were onto something.
The Wildlife Trusts, a UK conservation group, just wrapped up "30 Days Wild," the UK's biggest nature challenge. Millions of people, including tens of thousands of schools, took part by doing one "wild" activity a day — noticing, appreciating, or exploring nature. The Lancashire Wildlife Trust runs a similar effort called The Greenhouse Project, where people learn to grow food and care for nature together.
The idea: the more connected people feel to nature, the more likely they are to protect it. But a recent poll found that while almost all adults have fond memories of playing outside as kids, nearly half now spend just three hours outside per week — less than 30 minutes a day.
The DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo) is a large central African country now facing an Ebola outbreak along with neighboring Uganda. Ebola is a serious virus spread through contact with infected blood or body fluids, causing fever, vomiting, and bleeding. This outbreak's strain has no approved vaccine or treatment.
This isn't the DRC's first health crisis — and it's not bad luck. Three main factors are at play: the DRC borders nine countries with heavy cross-border movement and conflict-driven displacement, making disease spread easy; its health system is stretched thin, so early symptoms (which mimic other illnesses) often go unnoticed; and close contact with wildlife in its vast forests — including hunting and eating bushmeat — raises the risk of animal-to-human disease jumps.
Together, these factors explain why outbreaks keep happening — and why this one deserves close attention.
Birdwatching is taking off in a big way among young people. Reports say that around 750,000 people aged 16–29 in the UK and millions in the U.S. now regularly go birdwatching — turning what was once seen as a “quiet” hobby into a fast-growing trend.
Part of the appeal is how simple it is to start. You don’t need expensive gear or special training — just curiosity and a bit of time outdoors. It’s a low-pressure way to take a break from screens, notice what’s around you, and actually tune into sounds and spaces most people scroll past.
Ironically, social media is helping drive the trend. Birdwatching accounts, short videos, and identification apps are making it easier than ever to learn bird calls, spot species, and share discoveries with others. Instead of pulling people away from nature, platforms like TikTok and Instagram are often pushing people back into it.
Conservationists are especially excited because this kind of interest helps more people connect with wildlife and care about protecting it. Birdwatching is becoming less about binoculars and notebooks — and more about curiosity, community, and noticing the world a little differently.
Travel across the islands of Indonesia with this colorful one-page fact file for Grades 3–8. Students will explore Indonesia’s geography, history, culture, wildlife, and government while learning about thousands of islands, volcanoes and coral reefs, tropical rainforests, unique animals such as Komodo dragons and orangutans, and the traditions of Indonesia’s many cultures.
You can use this fact file to:
- Introduce a geography or social studies unit
- Support nonfiction reading practice
- Compare countries and cultures
- Complete map and research activities
- Prepare students for projects or presentations (use our country report template!)
- Pair with videos, articles, or other informational texts (see Related Resources below)
Explore the culture, history, and modern life of South Korea with this student-friendly fact file for Grades 3–8. Students will explore South Korea’s geography, history, culture, wildlife, and government while learning about mountain landscapes, Korean traditions, K-pop, kimchi, important events in Korean history, and the country’s modern economy and technology.
You can use this fact file to:
- Introduce a geography or social studies unit
- Support nonfiction reading practice
- Compare countries and cultures
- Complete map and research activities
- Prepare students for projects or presentations (use our country report template!)
- Pair with videos, articles, or other informational texts (see Related Resources below)