Curated OER
Design a Reef!
Here is an ambitious, but highly valuable undertaking: set up a miniature coral reef in your classroom. Young marine scientists research coral reef ecosystems and ensure all vital factors are included in their functioning model. The...
Scholastic
Study Jams! Biomes
Do you know the difference between a biome and an ecosystem? Teach elementary ecologists exactly what a biome is with this captivating cartoon! It discusses six biomes: taiga, tundra, deciduous forest, desert, tropical rainforest, and...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Lesson 1: WildCam Gorongosa
Take a walk on the wild side! Episode one of an eight-part series of interactive lessons regarding Gorongosa National Park invites learners to become a part of the citizen science community. Scholars read a brief overview of the trail...
Biology Junction
What Is Ecology?
Do you know the name for the biological study of interactions? A short presentation with accompanying worksheet introduces individuals to ecology. The materials offer a broad overview of the subject and the levels of organization to...
Pace University
Grades 6-8 Ecology
Why are our national parks important? Scholars research the national parks and explore the basic ecology of these areas in a differentiated instruction unit on ecology. They learn about ecosystems, food chains, symbiosis, and biomes. The...
Purdue University
Mammals and Ecosystems
Mammals have unique interactions with their ecosystems. Using a multi-part lesson, learners research local mammals using recommended websites and use their findings to create their own paper ecosystems including appropriate mammals. They...
Curated OER
How Do Living Things Form Communities?
In this communities worksheet, students will write down 1 main idea about communities formed by living things. Then students will brainstorm 3 details to support their main idea. This worksheet is a graphic organizer.
Curated OER
Science: Where the Worms Live
Students build mine-earthworm habitats to discover their niche in them. They make predictions about what the niche looks like in a week and draw a picture of it. Students notice the tunnels in the soil and how the sand and dirt are now...
Curated OER
Organisms and Their Environment
Students explore Earth's biosphere. In this biosphere instructional activity, students participate in group activities regarding biotic and abiotic factors, population density, and species' habitats.
Curated OER
Bird Beaks and Feet
In this bird adaptations worksheet, students look at different bird pictures and determine what the bird eats and where it lives by looking at its beak and feet. Students complete a graphic organizer and 5 short answer questions.
Curated OER
A Fishy Twist on Adaptations
Students examine the relationship between specific fish adaptations and their function for survival. They design a fish based on certain adaptations and then decide to which habitat their fish would be best suited. Individual students...
Curated OER
Zones of the Rocky Intertidal Zones
Sixth graders predict intertidal zones for organisms. In this intertidal zones lesson, 6th graders analyze an illustration of an organism and a class diagram of the intertidal zones. Students research to locate the zone the organism is...
Curated OER
Birds of Different Feathers: Species Specialization
Students identify differences in bird species and explain the concept of species specialization. They attain the knowledge that different birds occupy different habitats.
Students identify characteristics and features of birds that make...
Curated OER
Critters of the Water
Learners examine different organisms in various marine habitats. They identify any adaptations that have allowed the organisms to survive. They develop an imaginary organism and describe its life cycle.
Curated OER
The Physiological Tolerance of Two Species of Protozoans
High schoolers examine the differences in pH tolerance between the two species and relate these differences to their respective niches.
Curated OER
Animals of the Arctic
Sixth graders research an Arctic animal. They survey the questions in the Animal Report in order to conduct their research. They investigate their chosen animal by using the Internet, library books and reference books.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
The Day the Mesozoic Died
While this is not the traditional, step-by-step lesson plan, it is chock-full of material that you can easily incorporate into your earth history unit. Its main purpose is to serve as a guide to using a three-part film, The Day the...
Virginia Department of Education
Predator-Prey Simulation
Do your pupils have the misconception that environmental predators are "bad" and harm smaller creatures? The simulation explains, in detail, the important role predators play in maintaining a stable ecosystem. Through web-based research,...
Curated OER
Backyard Birds: Who's Who Out There?
Students practice techniques of field observation and data-gathering while studying local bird population, describe ecosystem as complex combination of elements, which can affect or be affected by each other, and determine effects of...
Curated OER
Night Hike
Learners explore Upham Woods at night and investigate about the special adaptations of nocturnal animals. They identify three nocturnal animals and how they are adapted to the night. Students explain what night vision is and how it works.
Curated OER
Watch the Birdie
Young scholars complete a six-week unit on North American birds. They conduct research, develop fact sheets, create labeled bird drawings, write a dictionary of bird vocabulary words, create a Concentration game, and observe birds in...
Curated OER
Have You Seen Me? An Introductory Lesson on the Loss of Biodiversity
Young scholars investigate environmental law and policies involving endangered species as well as discuss human impact on biodiversity through an Internet research project. Students create a milk carton of their "missing" endangered...
Curated OER
Alphabetical Insects
Students research using the internet, the library, and other sources to create a list of insects beginning with each letter of the alphabet. They provide the common name, the resource where it was found, and a brief description of each...
Curated OER
Communication in Bees
Eighth graders identify and interpret a scientific investigation and a hypothesis through experimentation and testing a hypothesis. They identify what scientists hypothesized about the communication of stingless bees. Finally, 8th...