Zoology for Homeschool: From Backyard Birds to Fat Bears

Low-prep, low-key homeschool resources to learn about animals. Whether your kiddo is 4 or 14, keep reading for some easy ideas

Some subjects seem to always slip into your homeschool days in some shape or fashion. In our home, it’s animals. Yes, even with teenagers.

There’s just something about watching a bear gorge on 15+ salmon in one mealtime. (Calculate that calorie intake!) Or watching two (animated) mammals duke it out in a bracket-style competition. Or watching a dairy calf grow all season.

Even when it doesn’t feel like school, topics like geography, conservation, and classification add knowledge without even realizing it. And I challenge you to watch early September Alaskan brown bears gorge on salmon and not chuckle at the absurdity of it.

The best part? You don’t need a complicated unit plan or an afternoon free to make it happen. A few well-chosen, low-prep resources can bring the animal world to your homeschool world in whatever way you choose.

And if you want to practice more citizen science, check out the Zooniverse site.

Turtles

Every August, the Tour de Turtles is on!

Cheer on your favorite sea turtles while learning more about turtles, geography, scientific research & more.

Keep it simple & check in on the turtles’ progress every couple of days during the three-month ‘race’. Or go more in-depth with the resources on their website. There are resources for all grade levels.

Dairy Cows

Most of us have little to no experience with farm life. Sure, we may grow some vegetables or herbs. But animals? Nope. While the Adopt-a-Cow program by Discovery Dairy won’t provide you with hands-on experience with cows, it will make dairy farm life more real-life in your homeschool. Paired with a dairy farmer, your homeschool receives updates throughout the year about “your” dairy calf.

Adopt-A-Cow is a super easy, low-time commitment add-on. (We hang up our cow’s photo & read the updates from the farmer. We occasionally watch a video on their site, and once, we went on a virtual field trip to a dairy farm. That’s it.)

Go deeper: Their website also has age-appropriate resources & lesson plans for all grade levels.

Bears

Fat Bear Week is a friendly competition from Katmai National Park that lets you meet Alaska’s biggest, fluffiest brown bears, watch them live online, and even vote for your favorite. Designed to bring awareness to bears, Alaska’s wilderness, and the hibernation process, Far Bear Week is quickly gaining a pop culture following.

Whether you want to keep it simple (just vote!) or learn more, check out this blog post for ideas.

Mammals (& More)

The NCAA finals aren’t the only bracket-style competition taking place each spring. Meet the mammals (and more!) in March Mammal Madness, hosted by Arizona State University.

And this one is just for teens.

This competition isn’t dumbed down, and it doesn’t feature the mammals we all know already. (Bumblebee bat? Side-striped jackal? Greater rhea?!)

Get your brackets, Google research slides, and everything else you need to know over on ASU’s website.

Are you a Disney family? Check out this post for ideas to learn about the many animals of the Kilimanjaro Safari at Animal Kingdom.

Birds

Every year, the Audubon Society sponsors the Great Backyard Bird Count. For nearly 30 years, this annual bird count has happened in mid-February and is now a global event.

This is something that all ages can do and doesn’t require any special tools or experience. All you need is 15 minutes, your eyes, and a place outside to watch.

Go deeper: Find lessons from Cornell’s Bird Academy (all grades), go to a community event for the bird count,

Watch ’em!

Learning about animals can be as simple as observing them via webcams. We almost always have an animal webcam playing on the TV in our homeschool space.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium & the San Diego Zoo are both well-known for their live cams that give you a ‘virtual visit’ to their sites…without having to travel to California!

Here are some webcams to get you started:

• Animals of the Prairie
• Alaskan Fat Bears (Katmai National Park)
• Black Footed Ferrets (Smithsonian National Zoo)
• Eagles
• Elephants (Smithsonian National Zoo)

• Lions (Smithsonian National Zoo)
• Giant Pandas (Smithsonian National Zoo)
• Seals (Seal Island National Refuge)
• Sled Dog Puppies (Denali National Park)
• Naked Mole Rats (Smithsonian National Zoo)
• Sea Life (Channel Islands)

Wrapping it up…

You don’t have to overhaul your homeschool plans or carve out huge chunks of time to make room for the wild.

Pick one resource, follow the curious questions that come up, and see where it leads. Maybe you’ll end up tracking sea turtles across the Atlantic or spotting a bird you’ve never noticed in your own backyard. Or perhaps you’ll just enjoy a variety of animal webcams.

Whatever you choose, I hope it sparks some curiosity in your homeschool.