Curated OER
Spring Time Trees/Flowers
Plan ahead! Integrate science and language arts! Schedule your reading of C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe to coincide with the arrival of spring. As pupils read Chapter 11 of the Lewis classic, they are assigned one of...
NASA
Earth and Space—Climate and Seasons
Why does Earth have so many seasons? Learn about the importance and changes of our planet's climate with a series of learning activities, which focus on connecting seasons to past experiences, making scientific observations, and...
National Wildlife Federation
Citizen Science to the Rescue!
You don't have to be a scientist or even out of high school to contribute to scientific research. In the 12th lesson in the series of 21, scholars use this opportunity to add to the growing body of scientific knowledge and consider the...
National Wildlife Federation
Branching Out – Exploring Dendrochronology
Tree rings from North America give a continuous history of El Nino intensity over the last 1,100 years. Scholars learn how scientists use tree rings to create timelines demonstrating variations in weather patterns. The cumulative...
Curated OER
Climate in Our Back Yard
Students construct a "A Year in Pennsylvania" poster on which they creatively describe at least three examples of how the climate they live in shapes their lives during every season of the year.
Curated OER
Biodiversity Activity
Young scholars are introduced to biodiversiy. They use a simulation of two forests, one planted with only Douglas Fir trees, and one with diverse species of trees. Students also use the simulation of two forests, one a monoculture of...
Peace Corps
Weather and Water in Ghana
Students investigate the climate of their region. Students research statistics and conduct interviews. Students take a virtual tour of Ghana and discuss its climate. Students consider water conservation and the role it plays in both...
Curated OER
Weather, Sea Level Rise and Climate Change
Students compare the carbon dioxide content of four different samples. In this chemistry instructional activity, students research the causes of global warming. They explain how humans contribute to rising global temperature.
Curated OER
Planting Time
Pupils research crops grown in the United States. In this agriculture lesson, students identify various crops cultivated across the United States as they create charts and maps that note the information.
Chicago Botanic Garden
Plant Phenology Data Analysis
Beginning in 1851, Thoreau recorded the dates of the first spring blooms in Concord, and this data is helping scientists analyze climate change! The culminating instructional activity in the series of four has pupils graph and analyze...
Curated OER
How Does Your Garden Grow? Discovering How Weather Patterns Affect Natural Cycles
For the warm-up in this cool climate lesson, you will need to click on "Mapping" and then "US Mapping" once you arrive at NOAA's "US Climate at a Glance" page. Earth science explorers realize that 2012 was a warm winter for us. They read...
Curated OER
Confronting Two Challenges--One Physical, One Intellectual
Students examine the challenges of a new language and culture. In this cultural lesson, student read Running by Peter Hessler and discuss obstacles faced, including the language barrier. Students write an essay about a time they...
Curated OER
Time and Cycles - Dendrochronology
Students investigate the lives of trees by examining ring cycles. In this plant life lesson, students identify the field of study known as dendrochronology and discover its history. Students investigate a simulated tree ring and...
Curated OER
Blooming Thermometers
Young scholars study phenology, or the study of climate change. They research the Japanese springtime festival of Hanami and plot and interpret average cherry blossom bloom date data from the past 1100 years.
Curated OER
Tending To The Greenhouse
Students investigate global warming through initial discussion of recent findings of an 11-day lengthening of the growing season caused by warmer temperatures. They research and propose solutions for restricting greenhouse gases.
Curated OER
Hawk in Flight
Students use information gathered by satellites to explore the migration of the Swainson's hawk from the western border of Minnesota to the southern portion of South America.
Curated OER
Bering Sea Buffet - A Foodweb Activity
Life in the Bering Sea, food webs, and the ocean ecosystem are introduced with a map activity. The lesson starts as kids explore maps and images of the Bering Sea, then it kicks into high gear as they start to discuss the types of...
Curated OER
Where Does It Come From?
Students explore where agricultural commodities used in snack foods are grown. They choose a snack food and locate the top five states that produce the food that the snack is made from.
Curated OER
Weather and Water in Ghana
Students research the rainy and dry season to investigate Africa's weather. In this African weather lesson, students use the given websites to research the rainy and dry seasons of Ghana in Africa. Students then read stories about life...
Curated OER
Tree Cookies
Students identify heartwood, sapwood, and a tree's annual rings, infer from a tree's rings what damage or stress might have occurred in its life, and make a time-line of human history that coincides with a tree's rings.
Curated OER
"Investigating Soil Color and Texture"
Ninth graders will identify/understand the differences between soil and dirt. They will classify soil color accurately and use Munsell notation to describe it (Munsell books provided).Students will classify soil texture using the feel...
Curated OER
Utah Weather
Fourth graders diagram the weather in Utah through the use of a glyph. For this Utah weather lesson, 4th graders create weather glyphs of different areas in the state. Students answer questions about the weather and then compare their...
Curated OER
Water: Access and Use
Young scholars get a personal sense for another culture's way of doing things. Develop a list of sources for water. Practice using the scientific method. Examine means for conserving, or for generating, reliable sources of water.
Curated OER
Where Does It Come from?
Learners read articles about various agricultural products and create a map using the statistics in the article. In this agricultural statistics lesson, students look at the geography of the country and which products come from the...