Curated OER
Ecosystem Organization
Young scholars examine the structure of ecosystems. In this ecology lesson, students listen to a lecture on relationships among organisms and biomes. Young scholars use the information to create ecosystem organization pyramids.
Curated OER
Tortoise Tales
Students read journal entry from a Gal??pagos field researcher, find examples of five ecological relationships (competition, predation, parasitism, mutualism, and commensalism) and take notes on the details they find in the entry using a...
Curated OER
A Coastal Arctic Food Web
Students create a food web of the arctic ecosystem. In this biology lesson, students explain how global warming affects this ecosystem. They explain how losing a species affects the entire community.
Curated OER
Mature Forest Mime
Students come to understand vocabulary words through pantomime. In this vocabulary lesson, students first review several vocabulary words and their meaning, then they work in groups to pantomime the definitions.
Curated OER
Waste Watchers
Energy-aware learners conduct an audit on their electricity usage by recording their electric meter reading and assessing the thermostat, light bulbs, windows, and water heaters in their homes. In class, they analyze results and discuss...
Curated OER
Research Projects in Renewable Energy for High School Students
Thirty-eight pages of information prepares you to assign middle or high schoolers a project on sustainable energy. They take a pretest, review the scientific method, conduct background research, and finally choose an experiment to carry...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Lesson 4: Gorongosa's Food Webs
Who eats who in the savannas of Africa? Explore trophic levels with part four of an eight-part series of lessons focused around Gorongosa National Park. After young explorers identify animals using trailcam images, they construct a food...
Curated OER
When You Were My Age, What Was This Place Like?
Young scholars discover how land use in their community has changed. In this community and ecology instructional activity, students scan old newspapers to find articles about the development of community land. Young scholars discuss and...
Curated OER
Activity 1: Please Pass the Energy, Food Webs in the Upper Ocean and Hydrothermal Vent Communities
Students create food webs for two different ocean communities. They are given cards showing organisms from the surface of the ocean. They arrange them in order of who eats whom. After this class activity, students create a food web for...
Curated OER
Making Recycled Paper
Students explore paper making. In this tree conservation ecology lesson, students brainstorm ways paper is used in daily life. Students examine paper fiber using a magnifying glass. Students make paper following a step by step procedure...
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
Community and Ecosystems
Students complete a unit of lessons on ecosystems. They participate in online activities, create a diorama, write journal entries, and develop a Hyperstudio multimedia project on a selected ecosystem.
Curated OER
Turning the Tide on Trash: Marine Debris Curriculum
Seven pages of fascinating reading on marine debris preface the activities in this lesson plan. Four different activities are employed to simulate how the debris is distributed in the ocean and along beaches. Early ecology learners...
Illinois Department of Natural Resources
Section Two: Why is Biodiversity Important?
Explore soil, genetic traits, natural resources, and pollution in a series of lessons that focus on biodiversity. Kids complete experiments to learn more about the importance of varied genes and organisms in an ecosystem.
Curated OER
Teaching Kids about the Environment
Fifth graders identify the species of plants and animals found in an environment. They compare these findings to plant and animal species found in an unlike environment. Students acquire and compare soil samples from the two sites chosen.
Curated OER
What Happened to Robin?
Students investigate animal injuries caused by humans. They present their findings to various neighborhood groups.
Curated OER
The New Haven Oyster Industry and Water Quality
Young scholars examine the different types of water pollutants and how they affect the waterways. In this environmental science lesson, students collect and interpret data from government agencies. They discuss how industrial development...
Curated OER
Performance Art and The Waste Stream
Students research local waste management services, discuss findings, give opinions about what they have found, offer solutions and ideas, and create performance art, design art works, and fine art works to convey information on waste...
Curated OER
Investigative Case: The Nancy Creek Challenge
Students examine a case study of fish kill in Nancy Creek and identify the environmental conditions that favor life in a fresh water ecosystem. They work in small groups to assess the situation and gather resources from various places in...
Curated OER
Marine Protected Areas
Learners role play different stakeholders perspective on the debate about Channel Islands. In this marine science lesson, students identify different types of Marine Protected Areas. They research about their stakeholder's point of view...
Curated OER
The Value of a Garden
Students explore the history of taxonomy, the work of Carl Linnaeus, and the factors involved in the decline and extinction of a variety of botanical species.
Curated OER
How Much Land Does It Take To Produce Your Food?
Students calculate the amount of land required to produce the food eaten by an individual for one year. They compare the amount of land required to produce animal versus plant products. Students visualize the areas of land calculated.
Curated OER
Our Solar Roof
Students sketch what a solar installation will look like. In this energy instructional activity, students examine the benefits of using solar energy. They record a video on the installation event for further study.
Curated OER
Cheetah Challenges
Students research the problems that cheetahs are facing in the wild. In this biology lesson, students discuss how animal rehabilitation works. They write blogs about it and comment on everyone's post.