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Big cats in the classroom: free resources for teachers
Free, printable and sourced big cat resources for K to 12 classrooms: one page fact sheets for all six species, worksheets with answer keys, a vocabulary list, short lesson ideas by grade band and three classroom games. Everything is original, ad free and needs no sign up.
Fact sheets
Six one page printable fact sheets: lion, tiger, leopard, jaguar, cheetah and snow leopard.
Worksheets
Four printable worksheets for grades 2 to 12, from riddles to reading real research.
Answer keys
Answers for every worksheet, with page links so students can check the evidence.
Vocabulary list
Twenty four kid friendly big cat science words with definitions.
Adaptations lesson plan
A 45 minute grades 3 to 5 lesson on big cat body structures and camouflage.
Cheetah worksheet, grade 3
A reading passage, questions and speed math, with an answer key.
Lion pride lesson plan
Why do some animals live in groups? A grade 3 lesson with a high school extension.
For students and researchers
The peer reviewed papers behind our articles, with DOIs.
Lesson ideas by grade band
Standards are listed only where the activity genuinely addresses the performance expectation. Codes link to the official wording on nextgenscience.org.
Grades K to 2
- How big cat parents keep cubs safe. Read the cub sections of the lion and cheetah pages aloud, then sort picture cards into "what the cub does" and "what the mother does". Lion mothers keep cubs together in a group and defend them; cheetah mothers raise cubs alone. Fits NGSS 1-LS1-2.
- Different places, different animals. Use the habitats guide to compare savanna, rainforest and high mountains, and list the animals students can spot in each photo. Fits NGSS 2-LS4-1.
Grades 3 to 5
- Why do lions live in groups? Students argue from evidence that a pride helps lions survive. Full plan: lion pride lesson plan. Fits NGSS 3-LS2-1.
- Built for the job. Match body structures (cheetah claws, snow leopard tail, tiger stripes) to what they do. Full plan: big cat adaptations lesson plan. Fits NGSS 4-LS1-1 and NGSS 3-LS4-2.
Grades 6 to 8
- Behavior and breeding success. Students read why do lions live in prides? and write an argument explaining how lionesses pooling cubs in a crèche and defending them against infanticidal males raises the odds that cubs survive. Fits NGSS MS-LS1-4.
- Counting what you cannot see. Use how many big cats are left? to discuss why estimates come as ranges and what "mature individuals" means.
Grades 9 to 12
- Evaluate the evidence on group living. Students compare the hunting hypothesis with the cub defence and territory evidence from Packer, Scheel and Pusey (1990) and Heinsohn and Packer (1995), then judge which explanation the data support. See worksheet 4 on the worksheets page. Fits NGSS HS-LS2-8.
- Design a coexistence plan. Using the snow leopard and conservation pages, teams design and critique ways to reduce livestock losses and retaliatory killing (for example predator proof corrals and livestock insurance, which our snow leopard page describes). Fits NGSS HS-LS2-7.
Games as classroom activities
- Rosette Detective: a 5 minute warm up on identifying big cats by coat pattern. Ask students to explain each answer using the fact card.
- Cheetah Burst: a quick brain break. Afterwards, ask why a real cheetah cannot keep sprinting (see the fact cards and the cheetah speed article).
- Range Roundup: an exit ticket on habitats and continents. The trick card (Europe and Australia) is a good discussion starter.
The games need no accounts and save nothing except an optional best score in the browser.
About these resources
All worksheets, fact sheets and games are original works of Joshua Israel Ventures LLC. Facts come from the IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group, leading zoos and peer reviewed research, listed on each article and on our research page. Photos are public domain (CC0) or Creative Commons licensed, credited under each photo and on our photo credits page. Spotted an error? Email joshuaofisrael@gmail.com.
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