Curated OER
Bird Brilliance!
First graders explore natural resources and search outdoors to find materials to create a bird's nest. In this bird's natural resources lesson, 1st graders listen to a book about birds and reflect on the various things birds use to...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Preparing for Project BudBurst
Plants take cues from the environment—change in daylight hours and temperature—to complete their seasonal life cycles. Lesson four in the series of six has classes collect phenology data on plants. After taking initial observations,...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Preparing for Project BudBurst
Male deer growing antlers to begin the breeding season is an example of a phenological event. First in a four-part series is an activity requiring individuals to collect phenological data on their campus. Classes discuss phenology, the...
Curated OER
Water in the Biosphere
Environmental explorers examine the campus and take note of living organisms. Introduce them to the biosphere and the questions of the day: How much water can be found in the biosphere? A slide show helps you along, and even contains a...
National Park Service
Living & Non-Living Interactions
What better way to learn about ecosystems than by getting outside and observing them first hand? Accompanying a field trip to a local park or outdoor space, this series of collaborative activities engages children in learning about the...
Curated OER
Book: Finland
Students, after reading Chapter One in the book, "Finland," design and create in the computer lab a wildlife journal from an imaginary trip to Finland. They include different animals and plants that live in Finland as well as describing...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Seasons of a Plant
The third in a series of six lessons is an engaging three-part activity defines that discusses phenology, focusing on the cyclic seasons of plants. Pupils then observe phenology outside before determining how climate change can...
Berkshire Museum
Adopt a Schoolyard Tree
Help young scientists connect with nature and learn about trees with a fun life science lesson. Heading out into the school yard, children choose a tree to adopt, taking measurements, writing descriptions, and drawing sketches of it in...
Curated OER
Let it Grow!
Pupils explain the relationship of plants and animals in the environment. They name the basic requirements for plant growth and define the terms photosynthesis, stomata, chlorophyll and xylem.
Curated OER
Desinging and Using a Dichotomous Key
High schoolers are examine the purpose of dichotomous keys. In groups, they design their own in order to describe the characteristics of plants and weeds native to California. To end the lesson, they define new terminology associated...
Curated OER
Mapping Your Schoolyard Habitat
Students explore the terrain, structures, plants and signs of habitats around their schoolyard. They draw a sketch map showing the different areas around the schoolyard. Students identify the location of weeds and native plants on their...
Curated OER
Cell Energy-Colorful Respiration
Students examine the acid-base indicator, bromthymol blue (BTB), and what happens to it when you blow air into it or add plants and snails. Through an experiment, they test three different setups of BTB and record the color changes that...
Curated OER
Summer Camp in the Classroom
Students explore wildlife plants and summer activities. In this natural science lesson, students identify plants and animals and create a scrapbook of their findings.
Curated OER
What's Up at the Rim?
Students are sent on a scavenger hunt to find as many plants as they can in nature.
Curated OER
Give Me Back My School: A Back to Basics Approach to Ecological Restoration
Ninth graders research local geography to create successful, ecological school landscaping. They determine soil type, average weather patterns and temperature graphs and use the information to select ideal plants and plant maintenance...
Curated OER
Outdoor Photography with Digital Cameras
Learners become familiar with perspective, composition and framing of pictures. For this photographing nature lesson, students photograph and then describe their pictures in a paragraph. Learners build pictures to tell a story about...
Curated OER
Schoolyard Jungle: What's Out There?
Eighth graders create a plant study guide using their outdoor classroom environment. For this ecology lesson, 8th graders take photographs of plants they collect from the outdoor classroom and create plant field guides. Students design...
Curated OER
Explore: 1st Grade Plant Observation
First graders grow seeds in a mini terrarium. They compare the root systems, stems, leaves, and flowers of the different plants. They categorize the plants and discuss the basic functions of plant parts.
Curated OER
Field Trip to your Square
Students visit an outdoors area and mark out a square on the ground that they examine. They look for and record the plants, animals, and non-living things they find in the square and post their findings on the Internet for other classes...
Curated OER
Outdoor Explorations: Mystery Plot Vacant Lot
Students utilize observations skills as they work together in groups to solve a mystery. They discuss and perform strategies to solve mysteries that occurred on a vacant lot. Students use a field guide to identify plants and animals...
Curated OER
Summer Body Activity: As Big as Me!
Learners explore things that are their size, literally. In this early childhood lesson plan, students use their bodies for measuring and comparing sizes as they work in pairs to complete the activity.
Curated OER
Rooftop Gardens
Second graders investigate how to help a city building remain cooler on the inside. They create a rooftop garden in order to shield the building and lower the internal temperature. The garden is meant to replace the black tar paper that...
Curated OER
Beetle Rearing
Students investigate plants and the effects beetles have on the plants. In small groups, they collect plants and observe the beetles as they interact with the plants. They record the conditions including temperature, cloudiness, length...
Curated OER
Tree Identification - Up Close And Personal
Fourth graders go to an outdoor area and are assigned a specific native plant to observe. They read about and answer questions about their tree. They draw the tree. Finally, 4th graders teach the rest of the class about their tree.