Curated OER
Graphing Aquatic Insects
Students identify aquatic insects. In this organism lesson, students locate aquatic insects near a local waterway and collect them. Students graph the amount of insects that they collected.
Curated OER
Water Quality
Learners examine water quality and how to improve it, how to measure it and how it relates to human activities. In this water quality lesson plan students sample water from different sources, and test the samples.
Curated OER
What's in My Water, and How Did it Get There?
Students analyze water samples to see the contaminants and then use the Internet to find the sources of the contamination. For this investigative water lesson students analyze water and work together to solve the mystery of contaminants.
Curated OER
How Appropriate is that Tree?
Students identify trees and their environments using a dichotomous chart. In this exploratory lesson plan students use the Internet to identify conditions needed for the trees and what the climate is in their area.
Curated OER
Groundwater as Part of the Water Cycle
Ninth graders study the effects of soil and rocks on filtering groundwater. In this groundwater lesson students complete a lab activity that includes sources of contamination.
What happened to the frogs?
Students will select ten rubber frogs and determine their pollutant source based on their malformations. Students will write a brief essay on their findings. Students will be engaged in the lesson the entire time!
NOAA
Ocean Primary Production
A cold seep is an area on the ocean floor where hydrocarbons leak from the earth, creating entire unique biomes. Learners explore cold seeps, photosynthesis in the ocean, and its limitations due to loss of sunlight. They further explore...
Curated OER
Showdown in the New Wild West
What is the root of the conflict between ranchers and environmentalists? Middle schoolers write their impressions of what an environmentalist is and does. They read the New York Times article "In New Wild West, It's Cowboys vs. Radical...
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Mark, Recapture, Sampling
Learners conduct a simulation to explore how scientists estimate the size of animal populations. They analyze a random sample and then extrapolate those results to a larger population. Additionally, they will apply the principals of...
NOAA
El Niño
El Nino, La Nina ... and the Santa Maria? The 11th installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program explains the mechanism of El Nino/Southern Oscillation. Pupils use previous data to determine...
Curated OER
"Pennsylvania Watersheds, Many Ways to the Sea"
Students trace a molecule of water through the water cycle including each of its three loops. They describe why evapotranspiration demands the largest portion of total precipitation falling on a forested watershed.
Curated OER
The Rock Cycle: The Story of a Rock
Pupils describe the changes undergone by rocks during the rock cycle and develop an understanding of the interconnectedness of the rock cycle.
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Week 3: Pollution Source and Effects
Lab groups set up an experiment to observe what happens over time in collected pond water when fertilizer, representing pollution, is added. This website does not include student lab sheets, but background information, materials, and...
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How Clean is the Water?
Students read about and discuss water and how it is used as a resource and how engineers use technology to preserve it. In this water lesson plan, students look at a picture of water treatment and tell what is wrong with the picture.
Curated OER
Eutrophication Experiments
Observe two different water samples and write down observations. Write a paragraph which predicts the relative amounts of nutrients, nitrates, and phosphates in the water samples. Compare water samples under a microscope.
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Caution: Fix It!
Students explore the concept of environmental stewardship. In this science lesson, students investigate events that have harmed coastal resources and how human activity has restored coastal resources.
Curated OER
Fresh Water Facts
In this fresh water worksheet, students click on the links in the questions about fresh water to find the answers and then come back and answer the questions. Students answer 9 questions total.
Curated OER
One World Ocean
Students compare and contrast the properties of salt water in the oceans/seas and freshwater elsewhere on the planet. They also analyze mixing caused by currents in the ocean, including the effects of warm and cold water as well as with...
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Dig Into Ireland
Students explore environments and wildlife of Ireland to find out how they were formed, and how they helped form Irish culture. Students research online to determine connections between present elements in Irish culture and wildlife and...
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Ecological Succession in Pond Water Cultures
Learners collect samples of pond water, dried grass, and soil in a jar. They predict the order of ecological succession in their pond water cultures. They compare their expected results with their observed results.
Curated OER
The Greenhouse Experiment
Students create a town with all the elements to sustain human life. They discuss how the activities of the people in the town may create greenhouse gases. They make a connection between small unrelated activities and their cumulative...
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Dinosaurs 1: Where Are the Dinosaurs?
Students explore the time of the dinosaurs. In this extinction lesson, students watch a video clip about different dinosaurs and are asked about what they observed. Students talk about how dinosaurs hatched from eggs and compare that...
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Get to Know: Mammals
Students discover the mammals in their community. In this animal lesson, students survey their school grounds for signs of mammals. Students examine tracks, droppings, and other signs of wildlife to learn more about the animals and their...
Curated OER
The Great Pollinators
Young scholars discover the reproductive parts of a plant. In this biology lesson, students identify and categorize several different plants they dissect in class. Young scholars record their information using a data chart.