Curated OER
The Changing Coral Reef Community Game
Students examine organisms that inhabit the coral reefs and their living requirements. In this coral reef lesson students chart population changes and play a game.
Curated OER
Genetic Disorders with Cultural Roots: International Insects
Pupils recognize that certain populations have specific genetic disorders that could benefit or harm them in their environment, work out punnett square problems and infer offspring probabilities from results, and provide advantages and...
Curated OER
Polymerase Chain Reaction and DNA Profiling
Students examine DNA fingerprinting and polymerase chain reaction and how they are used in everyday life and for criminal investigations. They discover how these techniques can also be used to answer ecological and evolutionary questions.
Curated OER
"Using Cichlids To Demonstrate the Effects of Human Activity On Ecosystems"
Students explore the freshwater ecosystem of Africa's Lake Victoria by creating a freshwater aquarium. They investigate factors affecting the aquarium's ecosystem and conduct lab activities.
Curated OER
Habitat Dynamics
Students develop an interactive diary to record bird seed consumption. In this habitat lesson, students predict and record the amount of birdseed eaten each week by birds.
Curated OER
"Honey Dew from Bunny Too!"
The students will design a lab to test the mechanism that triggers spore dispersal. They should have some clues after making observations of the life cycle. Part of the fun here is to let the students devise a method for testing this...
Curated OER
Species and Spaces - At Risk at Home
Eleventh graders explore and compare Canadian biomes and investigate species at risk. They describe population growth and eco-regions in terms of climate and geography. They research and create presentations about the natural history and...
Curated OER
Forest Management
Students analyze physical and biological changes in the Sequoia forest ecosystem, especially logging and fire management practices. They evaluate the controversy of how logging and fire management should be conducted in the Giant Sequoia...
Curated OER
Seafood: For the Love of Fish
Students role play a scenario specific to decision making in seafood management and conservation. In this marine science lesson, students estimate seafood consumption in their state. They recommend new regulations for better fishery...
Curated OER
Evaluate Ecosystems
Ninth graders conduct an environmental inventory on one ecosystem. They collect data, and write an environmental impact statement on that area. Students explain the interactions between different systems found within an ecosystem....
Curated OER
Ecosystems: A Home By Any Other Name
Students can learn more about the parts of ecosystems through exploration and hands on activities.
Curated OER
From Farm to Table
It's important for students to understand where our food comes from and the environmental implications of agriculture.
Curated OER
Exploring Three Categories of Human Induced Environmental Problems
By exploring the three categories of human-induced environmental problems students can gain a global perspective.
Curated OER
Pharaoh Mountain Hike: Investigating Adirondack Life Zones
Students hike a local mountain and examine its life zones. They measure various components at each zone and collect leaf litter at the sites. At the mountain top, students make descriptive observations and complete a handout about the...
Curated OER
Urban Ecosystems 5: In Defense Of Cities
Students explain that while cities have unattractive features, the density of human life enables energy efficiency, mass transit, recycling, and other benefits which are difficult or impossible in rural areas. This is the fifth in an...
Curated OER
Sun and Weather
How is the Earth's weather created? Middle schoolers will explain how the Sun's energy is transformed into different forms. They will perform mathematical calculations of volume, mass, and temperature. They they will explain the...
Kenan Fellows
The Little Stuff Can Make a Big Difference
Great things come in small packages! What better way to illustrate this point than a week-long look at nanotechnology? Earth science scholars explore water quality issues through lab activities, then research new innovations in nanotech...
Curated OER
Urban Ecosystems 4: Metabolism of Urban Ecosystems
Students discover that material and energy uses by a city come from outside the city boundaries. They realize that the pathway of these material is linear instead of cyclical as they are in natural ecosystems.
Curated OER
Urban Ecosystems 2: Why Are There Cities? A Historical Perspective
Students investigate the importance of food surpluses to the historical development of urban ecosystems.
Curated OER
Blue Crabs - The Blue Crab's Chesapeake Journey
A plethora of information about the blue crabs of Chesapeake Bay will amaze and delight your marine biologists. They learn, through direct instruction, about the characteristics and life cycle of this fascinating arthropod. A highlight...
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...
Curated OER
Field Guide to Schoolyard Insects and Their Relatives
Your entire class works together to create an illustrated insect field guide. The intent is that they venture outside of the classroom, find a critter, and then research it using reference materials, insect books, and the Internet for...
Curated OER
Urban Ecosystems 2: Why are There Cities? A Historical Perspective
Second in a series of five lessons, this lesson encourages preteens to consider cities as urban ecosystems. First, they keep a food diary for a few days. They visit the Natrional Agricultural Statistics Service website for current data...
Curated OER
Urban Ecosystems 4: Metabolism of Urban Ecosystems
Cities are compared to living, breathing, metabolizing organisms. Fourth in a five-part series of lessons, this one focuses on the flow of materials through a city. Links to interesting websites and images make your delivery of...