Curated OER
Coral Bleaching: Making Our Oceans Whiter
Students study coral reefs and the controversy over coral bleaching. They role-play a debate over the issue and come up with a compromise to protect the reefs and the economies that depend on them.
Michigan Sea Grant
Wetlands
Wetlands may not sound particularly ornate, but they are as important as any habitat! With a hands-on activity, young scientists build a wetland model and observe its many functions in action. They discover the importance of wetlands to...
Curated OER
My Country, My Country: To Vote or Not to Vote
Students view a film about elections in Iraq. They examine the story of a doctor and his decisions to vote. They work together to complete a worksheet about voter turnout.
Curated OER
The Forest Community And Ethnobotany Past And Present
Students describe a forest as a living community. They determine members interact, and in many cases, depend on each other for their basic survival needs. They investigate how dependent the Native Americans were on the forest...
Curated OER
Population Pyramid
Students learn about demographic population pyramids. They then design and fictitious nation and draw its population pyramid.
Curated OER
Allosaur Survival Game
Students uses this game to see how difficult survival is even for a fierce predator, especially when it is young. It stresses: How much energy it takes to keep a large animal alive or a small one growing, The differences in the fauna...
Curated OER
The Hudson's Ups and Downs
Fifth graders practice interpreting line graphs of the Hudson River water levels to assess the tides and tidal cycles in the estuary. They explore how weather can affect water levels and tides and observe that high tides and low tides...
Curated OER
Mangrove Loss Faster than Land-Based Forests
Students explore the reasons Mangrove forests are in jeopardy. In this lesson, students read an article that discusses specific facts on Mangrove forests, then complete numerous activities that reinforce the information, such as taking...
Curated OER
Preventing Forest Fires (Elementary)
Students complete activities to learn about the importance of fire prevention and protecting the diversity of the forest. In this forest protection instructional activity, students discuss forest fires and work in groups to research the...
Curated OER
How Much Is An Ecosystem Worth?
Students explain and discuss the importance of ecosystems. They analyze the natural resources in the environment. They also suggest actions that would protect ecosystems.
Curated OER
Ecoregions of Texas
Seventh graders discuss why hunter-gatherers might have favored certain areas in which to live. In pairs, they research specific regions to examine in depth. Students present their eco-region vegetation findings (in this case Central...
Curated OER
Forestry Background
In this environment worksheet, students read the background information of forestry and focus upon harvesting and forest management.
Curated OER
The Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico
Learners explore hypoxic (low oxygen) conditions in the Gulf of Mexico. For this ocean habitat lesson, students hypothesis, design and implement an experiment to explain the existence of the "Dead Zone" in the Gulf of Mexico.
Curated OER
A Fish in Water
Water is essential to all living things. This classroom experiment lets everyone observe goldfish and discuss what fish need to live, like food & clean water. They then listen to the book, Fish Out of Water, and compare the fictional...
Curated OER
The Art of Persuasion - Persuading the Audience
Students write an essay or letter that gives three or more specific reasons to persuade the audience.
Curated OER
Watershed Investigations
Students explore the components of a watershed and the factors that affect it. They read a topographical map and use geometry to determine the area of a watershed. Students estimate the volume of a body of water and perform runoff...
Curated OER
Trash Goes To School
Young scholars explore solid waste background information. They are presented with a well balanced picture. Students review ideas on how to use solid waste issues in many fields including math, science, English, social studies and home...
Curated OER
Habitat Cards
Students discuss the relationship between a habitat and the environment. In groups, they use the internet to research the relationship between the animals and the habitat on their card. They present their information to the class to...
Curated OER
Tree Identification
High schoolers list four ways to identify trees. In this tree identification instructional activity, students use tree identification techniques such as leafs, bark, wood grain, soil type, and climate to create tables and graphs.
Curated OER
Information Fluency Unit
Fourth graders, after defining the task and searching for some creative strategies, role play being a Park Ranger who tries to save Big Bend from being removed from the National Park system in Texas. They support the keeping of Big Bend...
Curated OER
Investigative Case - Living in an Alkaline Environment
Students are shown many ways in which Mono Lake water and distilled water are different. They demonstrate that the survival of common soil bacteria declines as pH increases. Students examine the behaviors, adaptations, energy transfer,...
Curated OER
Plants
Student identify the characteristics of plants. Through hands-on demonstration, they create a model of plant parts. Students differentiate between the major divisions of the plant kingdom with a particular emphasis on the vascular and...
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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
Water, Water Everywhere
Students recognize that all of the water on earth cannot be used for drinking and that the percentage of ground and surface water is a small percentage. In this water lesson students identify ways to conserve water.