Rabbits

Rabbit Basic Science covers rabbit origins, characteristics of wild rabbits, breeds of rabbits, and care of domestic rabbits.

Rabbits and Hares of North America introduces the types most likely to be seen in the United States, Canada, and Mexico: cottontails, pygmy rabbits, snowshoe hares, and black-tailed jackrabbits.

See Live Science: Rabbits for a concise summary of rabbit diet, size, habitat, reproduction, and conservation status.

Reference articles to share with your students include Britannica Kids: Rabbit and Hare, Kiddle Encyclopedia: Rabbit Facts, and Kiddle Encyclopedia: Hare Facts. See also individual entries on Arctic Hares, Black-Tailed Jackrabbits, Cottontails, and Pygmy Rabbits.

Rabbits vs. Hares is a compare/contrast lesson for mid-elementary grades. The lesson provides three video clips, observation and discussion questions, and a Venn diagram to help students distinguish between rabbits and hares.

Remarkable Rabbits, an episode of the PBS program Nature, looks at the surprising abilities of rabbits both in the wild and in interactions with humans. Shorter clips from the program include Swimming Rabbits, World’s Largest Rabbits, and Rabbit Fact Sheet.

In Wild Kratts: In Search of the Easter Bunny, Chris and Martin check out pygmy rabbits, cottontails, snowshoe hares and jackrabbits, as they teach about environmental adaptation and species differentiation.

Dragonfly: Rabbits addresses different physical characteristics of different rabbit breeds, and how those traits help them do different things.

Snowshoe Hare Population Cycles, a lesson for middle-school classrooms, demonstrates how snowshoe hares slow down reproduction in response to chronic stress, thus affecting predator populations. The lesson includes a Population Cycles Worksheet where students analyze authentic scientific data.

All About Rabbits is a guided reading and vocabulary lesson for grades 2-3.

Easy Science offers a comprehension and vocabulary worksheet to accompany guided reading.

Take a look at this collection of rabbit fact sheets and quizzes. Worksheet topics include rabbits, hares, jackrabbits, and Arctic hares.

Rabbit Science, for early elementary students, provides free printables including emergent reader text, writing and vocabulary activities, Venn diagram, and more.

Check out these rabbit-related lesson plans and worksheets for grades K-12.

These free or low-cost rabbit classroom resources can be downloaded and printed.

From the California Academy of Sciences, Breeding Bunnies is a middle-school lesson plan where students trace genetic allele frequencies through many generations of rabbits.