Curated OER
Regents High School Examination: Living Environment 2009
Emerging ecologists need a full understanding of life, from the inner workings of a cell to the complex relationships among organisms. This examination is meant to assess high schoolers after an entire year course on the living...
Curated OER
Marine Biology Lesson on Understanding the Dynamics of the Reef Ecosystem
Students compare data from a healty and unhealthy reef ecosystem. In this marine biology lesson, students identify which sample is stressed. They formulate a hypothesis on why the reef is stressed and support their hypothesis with proven...
Curated OER
Daphnia and Algae: A Study of Pond Dynamics
Students observe interrelationships and interdependencies of organisms which may generate stable ecosystems. They also study that living organisms have the capacity to produce infinite sized populations, but environments and resources...
Virginia Department of Education
Succession
The final lesson in a two-part series prompts scholars to create newspaper articles and succession events. Applying their knowledge of the ecosystem and the past examples of succession, they predict what will happen in the future using...
Maine Math & Science Alliance
Earth as a System
Ecosystem, human body system, weather system. We hear the word system a lot, but what does it really mean? In the activity, pairs or groups of learners discuss how a bicycle is a system and then analyze objects in their classroom and...
NOAA
Coastal Dynamics
Life's a beach! The 16th installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program first examines different types of coasts and how they form. An activity then has learners investigate the shoreline...
Curated OER
Decomposers- Nurse Logs
Pupils investigate temperate forest ecosystems. In this environmental lesson, students discover different forms of decomposition and its effect on the environment.
Curated OER
Marine Ecosystems
Students identify producers and consumers and construct a food chain from four marine ecosystems. They describe the delicate balance among organisms in each environment. In groups, students discuss the human activities that upset the...
Curated OER
Stopping Deforestation in the Amazon: A Publicity Campaign
Students investigate the environment by designing a group project. In this ecology lesson, students identify the man made threats to the Amazon while reading environmentally conscience vocabulary terms. Students collaborate in groups...
Virginia Department of Education
Predator-Prey Simulation
Do your pupils have the misconception that environmental predators are "bad" and harm smaller creatures? The simulation explains, in detail, the important role predators play in maintaining a stable ecosystem. Through web-based research,...
Curated OER
Biological Diversity and Conservation
In this biological diversity worksheets, students will use a word bank to fill in the blank of 8 statements about biological diversity. Then kids will decided if 7 statements about the importance of biodiversity are true or false....
Michigan Sea Grant
Survival Game
Musical chairs may be a classic game, but Ruffe Musical Chairs is a unique lesson plan on invasive species! Using the time-honored game, pupils role play the behaviors of the invasive fish called Eurasian ruffe. Learning about this...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Modeling Food Webs in Darién, Panama
It's a jungle out there! Young biologists journey to Darien, Panama to examine the intricate relationships between the organisms that inhabit the jungle. Groups begin by demonstrating an understanding of energy flow in ecosystems, then...
Virginia Department of Education
A-Mazing Plants
Have your young scientists questioned why plants grow a particular way? Through this learning opportunity, scientists gain firsthand knowledge about how plants develop and various factors that affect rates of growth as they bring plants...
NOAA
Exploring Potential Human Impacts
Arctic sea ice reflects 80 percent of sunlight, striking it back into space; with sea ice melting, the world's oceans become warmer, which furthers global warming. These activities explore how humans are impacting ecosystems around the...
Curated OER
The Gulf of Maine
Pupils examine their own environments and make connections to larger ecosystems. They watch a video about the gulf of Maine and record the changes that have occurred. They research the gulf and create a food web.
Curated OER
Exploring Ecology
Students explore the basics of ecology through numerous hands-on and relevant activities. They participate in an online food chain demonstration, which explores food web dynamics. They dissect owl pellets, examine the prey's bones, and...
Curated OER
Survivor
Seventh graders investigate changes in the ecosystem within the school year. They see that ecosystems, communities, populations, and organisms are dynamic and change over time. They, in groups, collect data in quadrants in the fall,...
Curated OER
Gwynns Falls
Students investigate the question: What is the impact of urban development and expansion on the health of a decidious forest ecosystem and humans? They examine the issue of land development by responding to a specific scenario and...
Curated OER
Biodiversity Trust Games
Students make a tight shoulder-to-shoulder circle. They are asked to turn to his or her right. Students squeeze in tight, they are explained that on the count of three, everyone slowly sits down. Once they are successfully seated,...
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
Cypress/Tupelo Swamps
Students study the geologic history of terrain, soils, and drainage patterns. They recognize ecological processes that determine the dynamic nature of habitats. They investigate the influence of human activity on the landscape.
Curated OER
Prairie Scavenger Hunt
Here is a simple lesson for young learners on the plants, animals, and flowers found in the prairie environment. There are worksheets embedded in the plan that pupils use once a teacher-led discussion and demonstration has taken place....
Curated OER
Biology of Bats
Your class will love exploring animal conservation through this lesson on bats. Learners discuss the importance of bats in the ecosystem and talk about the different types and their characteristics. As a follow up, a model of a bat or a...