Curated OER
Hawaii's Sandy Shores
Investigate Hawaii's sandy shore ecosystem! Start by creating a vocabulary list and having your class complete a KWL chart. Next, pass out the "I think of" sheet. Each learner will then choose a word from a beach bucket and add it to...
Curated OER
Ecosystem Organization
Eighth graders engage in a lesson about ecosystems with the intention of looking at how it is organized. They cover the biotic and abiotic factors of an ecosystem while looking at the seven types of terrestrial biomes. Students write...
Curated OER
Biomes in a Box
Middle schoolers construct a three-dimensional model of a biome which illustrates the various biotic and abiotic factors unique to that biome. They use everday materials to represent the important characteristics of a particular biome...
Curated OER
Limpet Shell Exercise
Students review the terms and concepts: evolution, selection, biotic, and abiotic factors. They come up with hypotheses about limpet shell types based on what we discuss about intertidal environments. Students use ratios to compare...
Curated OER
Flowering Phenology: How Do Plants Know When to Flower?
Pupils study the process of plant reproduction and the biotic and abiotic factors that affect flowering phenology. In this plant reproduction lesson, students describe the interaction of environmental factors as it relates to the growth...
Curated OER
TE Activity: Environmental Interactions
Students design a web that shows the interactions between the living and non-living parts of the environment. They determine what an environment is and how engineers work together to solve problems. They complete a tally chart that they...
Curated OER
Understanding Interactions Among Local Species and the Local Environment
Students examine the differences between biotic and abiotic factors, explain the difference between habitat and niche and compare how organisms get their nutritional needs. In this local environment activity students trace the path of...
Curated OER
Organisms and Their Environment
Students explore Earth's biosphere. In this biosphere lesson, students participate in group activities regarding biotic and abiotic factors, population density, and species' habitats.
Curated OER
The Environment and Interactions of Living Organisms
Students study the environment and interactions of living organisms. They identify abiotic and biotic factors and create a foldable and vocabulary cards. They create a poster illustrating soil and watch a video to study symbiosis.
National Institute of Open Schooling
Environmental Concerns
Every year, more than 14 billion pounds of garbage is dumped into the oceans of the world, most of which is plastic and toxic to ocean life. Lesson 32 in the series of 36 focuses on environmental concerns, specifically pollution. Under...
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...
Curated OER
Biotic Factors
Students identify individual organism, a species, and a population within the study community. They identify biotic factors at the site and attempt to characterize the site's species diversity.
Curated OER
The Gaia Hypothesis: An Approach to Problem Solving in the Environment
Learners are introduced to the Gaia hypothesis by examining a conceptual sketch. In groups, they analyze the way they can use Dewey's method for problem solving to solve problems within the environment. They are given a problem facing...
NASA
Is It Alive?
Determining whether or not something is living can be more difficult than it seems. Put your young scientists to work defining their own criteria to identify life, then work with three samples to see if they are alive or not.
Curated OER
Aliens Among Us
Students identify plants growing in the school yard and choose one for further investigation. They investigate the plant's biotic potential and environmental resistance. They predict what would happen should they introduce an exotic...
Curated OER
Nature Squares
In this nature observation activity, students set up a grid on a small plot of land and record all biotic and abiotic items in the grid. They complete 5 short answer questions based on their observations.
Curated OER
Hands On Biome-Building
Students create a model biome to understand the abiotic and biotic factors that go into creating a biome. In this biomes lesson plan, students should display plants, animals, temperature, precipitation, and more.
Curated OER
Build the Arctic Tundra
Students build a model of biome in order to comprehend the abiotic and biotic factors that are prevalent in a biome. In this hands on building lesson plan, students use a box to build a biome. . Students decorate the inside and outside...
Curated OER
Hands On Biome-Building
Students create a desert biome to understand the abiotic and biotic factors of that biome. In this desert biome lesson plan, students include elevation, precipitation, temperature, plants, and more.
Curated OER
Scavenging the Sandy Shore
Students explore oceanography by examining a beach. In this living things lesson plan, students define the terms abiotic and biotic and practice identifying living and non-living things that have been previously found on a beach....
Curated OER
Nature of Science and Ecology
Students identify the different biotic and abiotic components of an ecosystem. For this ecology lesson, students perform a case study on current environmental problems. They write a position statement about their chosen topic and share...
Curated OER
Dirty Decomposers
Seventh graders design and conduct experiments to determine what environmental factors favor decomposition by soil microbes. They use chunks of carrot for the materials to be decomposed, and their experiments are carried out in plastic...
EduGAINs
Go Eco! Ecosystems
How is a movie theater like a desert biome? Compare systems to ecosystems with a set of activities that focuses on accessing multiple intelligences and building upon knowledge. As learners discuss the ways elements of an ecosystem depend...
Science Matters
Seed Adaptations for Dispersal
After a grand conversation about seeds, adaptation, and dispersal, scholars work collaboratively to examine seeds and record their findings on a four-column chart. Small groups share their observations and further discuss seed...