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Photosynthesis Lesson Plans
You can teach students about the importance of plants and the process of photosynthesis with motivating lesson plans. Follow along and find out how one science teacher uses experiments, stories, and her love of plants to get kids excited...
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Use Concept Maps to Teach the Transfer of Energy
Practical tips, lessons, and ideas for teaching the transfer of energy.
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Photosynthesis
We all know photosynthesis happens, but why should we care? Here is a unit that covers everything young scholars need to know about photosynthesis. Hands-on activities, assessments, and lectures guide pupils though the physiology of a...
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Photosynethsis....How do we know it's really happening? - Biology Teaching Thesis
Students think of one way to detect photosynthesis in plants besides those ways shown in class. They identify the reaction that occurs during photosynthesis. Students define the difference between an acid and a base. They identify acidic...
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Light and Starch Production in Photosynthesis
Young scholars are given the unique opportunity to see the contrast between parts of a leaf that have photosynthesized and parts of the leaf that have not. This visual image helps students see the results of this biological process. At...
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An Environmental Puzzle: The Carbon Cycle
Middle school science stars examine fuels and energy with a variety of activities. They begin with a KWL chart, read an informative passage, and then complete a puzzle. The puzzle itself is included. Cleverly, each piece corresponds to a...
Chicago Botanic Garden
The Carbon Cycle
There is 30 percent more carbon in the atmosphere today than there was 150 years ago. The first lesson in the four-part series teaches classes about the carbon cycle. Over two to three days, classes make a model of the cycle, add missing...
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Teaching Science to English Language Learners
Use these hands on lesson plans to make science more accessible for English Language Learners in your classroom.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Lego Atoms and Molecules: Chemical Reactions
Show young chemists what a chemical reaction looks like with two parts of a hands-on experiment. First, learners conduct a wet lab where they observe the reactants (baking soda and calcium chloride, with phenolsulfonphthalein) before,...
NOAA
Deep-Sea Ecosystems – Chemosynthesis for the Classroom
Photosynthesis was discovered in the 1770s, but chemosynthesis wasn't discovered until 1977. While many have performed an experiment to show how photosynthesis works, the activity allows pupils to observe chemosynthesis. Scholars set up...
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Carbon Cycle Game
In this carbon cycle instructional activity, middle schoolers review the carbon cycle and visit stations in the room where they experience every phase in the carbon cycle. Students journal about their journey through the cycle and...
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Fayettewood Squares
If used as a center activity, this short presentation could be a motivating way for learners to review material relating to plants, the circulatory system, and more. However, there are only nine questions. It would be more useful if...
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Design a Reef!
Middle schoolers explore coral reef ecosystems. In this ecosystems science lesson plan, students research coral reef ecosystems to determine the major functions the participating organisms must perform. Middle schoolers construct a...
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Green Plants
Beginning botanists are introduced to the world of plants with this PowerPoint. Some of the information is most appropriate for primary learners, such as the needs of a plant. Some of the information, however, is more directed at...
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Mussel Your Way Through Photosynthesis
Students, using zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha), elodea and an indicator dye, observe and record the role of light in photosynthesis. They consider plant production of carbon dioxide and the use of live materials in biological...
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Bringing Forestry into the Classroom
Here are ways to incorporate science, math, and language arts while learning more about the forests that sustain us.
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Photosynthesis
Students explore the concept of photosynthesis. They describe the light and light independent reactions of photosynthesis. Students relate physical plant characteristics to their functions. They distinguish between C3, C4, and CAM plants...
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Structure and Function
Structure and Function
SynopsisStudents choose some biological object, examine its structure, and identify or speculate on one particular function. Next they create a blueprint of the object, focusing on the particular function. Then...
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Save a Reef!
Design a public information campaign to improve understanding of the coral reef crisis. Read about and discuss the biology and threats to the coral reef. The class creates a public information program about the problems facing the coral...
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Harvesting Energy from Food: How do Plants Help Humans?
Beginning botanists view slides of plant vascular tissue. They watch Magic School Bus Gets Planted, which you can find online, and then write a summary of what they have learned about plants. This lesson could be used with upper...
Curated OER
Design a Reef!
Using a miniature coral reef aquarium kit, young ecologists model this unique ecosystem. They research various coral reef organisms and their niches, and they culminate the project by working together to write a report. Use this activity...
NOAA
Plankton
Dive into the world of plankton. The 17th installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program introduces different types of plankton. Young scientists then use what they have learned to classify...
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What's Down There
Young scholars write an essay about the coral reefs. In this oceanography lesson, students investigate the reef of Bonaire and compare it to reefs that are not thriving. Young scholars then explore the differences that contribute to...
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The Basics of Biochemistry
Science teachers can introduce basic chemical concepts to biology students.