Designs Inspired by Nature

Start with something students can look at or think about: a photo, a short video, a jar on the windowsill, or a question like "what do you already know about nature and machines?" Then let them work through the first item together as a class, then finish the rest independently or with a partner, keeping a word bank or anchor chart in view so the vocabulary stays available. When you review, ask students how they knew, and let them point to the part of the diagram or reading that told them. These nature and machines worksheets work well as a lead in before an investigation, as a way to capture what students noticed afterward, or as review before an assessment.

These nature and machines worksheets for 1st grade give students a clear, visual way to work through one of the big ideas in forces and machines. Students label diagrams, sort and classify examples, read short explanations, and answer questions that ask them to say why, not just what. Each page keeps the science vocabulary front and center so students leave with the words they need to talk about nature and machines accurately. Working through nature and machines on paper gives 1st grade students something concrete to hold onto before, during, or after the hands on part of a lesson.

Yes, both. We made it for 1st Grade forces and machines, and the page works the same whether it lands on a kitchen table or a center rotation. At home, most families go through it together and talk the answers out loud, and that talking is where most of the learning happens with nature and machines. In class it runs well as independent work while you pull a small group. Print one copy or thirty, whichever the day needs.

First graders explore how humans have looked to nature for inspiration when designing tools and machines. They compare animal body parts that act like simple machines, like a bird's beak acting as a wedge, to the tools humans have created to do similar jobs.

Nature and machines is typically introduced as a cross-disciplinary topic at the end of a Grade 1 forces and machines unit or during an engineering design unit. It connects physical science concepts to life science and introduces the idea of biomimicry in a simple, age-appropriate way.

Look at animals together and ask your child to find a body part that works like a simple machine: claws like wedges, arms like levers, shells like protective shields. Then look at a tool and ask where in nature something does the same job.

6 printable worksheets, all free to preview. Downloads are included with a ClassWeekly free trial, and every page prints on standard 8.5 x 11 paper.

These are written for 1st Grade students, roughly ages 6-7. Many teachers also use them a grade up for review or a grade down as an extension, so use the preview to judge the fit for a particular child.

Yes. Each one shows the NGSS code it covers on its own page, so you can check the alignment yourself rather than taking our word for it.

Yes. Nothing here assumes a classroom of 25, so they work the same one-to-one at the kitchen table as they do in a 1st Grade classroom, a literacy centre, or a tutoring session.