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Unit Plan
Columbus City Schools

Biome Basics with a Disastrous Twist

For Teachers 7th Standards
Bored with your current biome bag of tricks? This bundle is a bountiful bag of biome fun! Travel the globe with seventh graders and explore the biotic and abiotic factors that define our world's biomes. Then, introduce a little chaos to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Habitats, Abiotic v. Biotic

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Young scholars explore and define ecosystem, ecology and habitat. They discuss abiotic and biotic organisms and the things needed for survival. After observing pictures of animals in their habitat, students compare and contrast...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Tour Down the Hudson River

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students discuss how the Hudson River is an ecosystem made up of both biotic and abiotic factors. They view the PowerPoint the Journal Down the Hudson River. Students become aware of where the Hudson River begins and ends, the plant and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fascinating Factors

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students observe biotic and abiotic things participating in an observational walk outside the school. They create a collage using pictures of biotic and abiotic items.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Living and Nonliving Environments

For Students 3rd - 7th
In this ecosystem worksheet, students will distinguish between the abiotic factors and biotic factors shown in a diagram. Then students will correctly order the following: population, ecosystem, community, and organism.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Macaroni Lab

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Students are given an introduction to the "ecosystem", what factors make up an ecosystem (biotic factors, abiotic factors, food chain, producers, consumers and decomposers) and how those factors interact.
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Lesson Plan
NASA

Is It Alive?

For Teachers 5th - 12th Standards
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. 
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Lesson Plan
Science Matters

Lotusland

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
It's time for a field trip! Scholars take their new-found knowledge of adaptations and seed dispersal on a field trip to a local botanical garden. They gain an up-close look at how ecological interdependence works in a distinct...
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Activity
National Wildlife Federation

Habitat Web

For Teachers K - 6th Standards
Young scientists weave together an understanding of ecosystems with this fun collaborative activity. Taking on the roles of different living and non-living elements of specific habitats, learners use a ball of yarn to create the web of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ecosystem I

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Young scholars classify and label biotic and a-biotic factors in ecosystems. They define population and make predictions about population size in a given area. They describe the a-biotic factors' importance and impact on the other...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ecosystem Organization

For Teachers 8th
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...
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Worksheet
Random House

Recipe for an Ecosystem

For Students 1st - 6th Standards
Creating an ecosystem is as simple as baking a cake. Well, maybe not, but using a recipe analogy helps learners realize that ecosystems consist of different components that come together in unique ways. Offer this worksheet as an...
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Lesson Plan
Science Matters

Seed Adaptations for Dispersal

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
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...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Urban Safari: A Walk on the Wild Side

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students discover the urban ecosystem through a series of activities. They explore both the biotic and abiotic factors of the urban environment.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Principles of Ecology

For Students 4th - 8th
In this ecology worksheet, learners will fill in a graphic organizer showing the relationship organisms have with their environments and with each other. This includes biotic and abiotic factors, tropic levels, and ecological pyramids....
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Lesson Plan
Aquarium of the Pacific

Ecosystem Comparison

For Teachers 4th
Fifth graders examine plants and animals in two ecosystems and compare them. In this ecosystem survival lesson plan, 5th graders compare and contrast a coral reef and kelp forest ecosystem. Students investigate the abiotic and biotic...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Examining Samples and Asking Testable Research

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Learners formulate a testable research question containing a comparison and a quantitative measure. They state the null and alternative hypothesis for a testable research question. In addition, they describe some of the abiotic and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Connect the Spheres: Earth Systems Interactions

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Is everything really connected? Take your class on a walk outside, where they will make observations and write them down on a worksheet. Once they are back in the classroom, learners will work to determine if and how things like birds,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Understanding Interactions Among Local Species and the Local Environment

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Students examine the differences between biotic and abiotic factors, explain the difference between habitat and niche and compare how organisms get their nutritional needs.  For this local environment lesson students trace the path of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring Hawaii's Beaches

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders  search the shore and find objects on the beaches of Hawaii.  For this exploring Hawaii's beaches lesson, 4th graders play "I Spy" with objected collected at the beach.  Students compare biotic and abiotic materials and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Forest Ecology or Who Lives Here?

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Learners explore a hardwood forest. In this forest ecology lesson, students examine the diversity and animals and plants as they explore their habitats at Poricy Park Conservatory. Learners determine how biodiversity and abiotic elements...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

U.S. History: Antebellum Heroes and Villains

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders research and write reports on key figures of the Antebellum Period. The projects also include pictures, bibliographies, and timelines about their assigned figure. In addition, 8th graders present oral reports to classmates.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Create a Critter Collage

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students create a collage. In this animal classification instructional activity, students discuss why and how scientists classify animals. Students view pictures of different animals and decide which class each animal belongs to....
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PPT
Curated OER

Ecosystems

For Teachers 5th
Your students will definitely understand what the word ecosystem means after viewing this slide show. The word ecosystem is broken down to its root meaning, described with examples, and then defined by the factors that comprise it. Note:...