Calvin Crest Outdoor School
Survival
Equip young campers with important survival knowledge with a set of engaging lessons. Teammates work together to complete three outdoor activities, which include building a shelter, starting a campfire, and finding directions in the...
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Beaver Ecology
Students explore the lives of bgeahvers. They identify the physical and behavioral adaptations that help beavers survive in their environment. Students compare and contrast how beavers influence the ecology of both forest and aquatic...
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Happy in My Habitat
Fourth graders create animal habitats and explain the biomes they live in. In this habitat lesson, 4th graders recognize the basic needs of animals, characteristics of animals differences and places where they live. Students complete...
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The Forest-Life in the Wild!
Students write a description of each animal using their completed outline and include a graphic of the animal for the program, or a hand drawing. Each student chooses and writes about 2 Rain Forest Animals.
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Save the Lofty Trees
Save the Lofty Trees, by Leslie Mills, provides the text for a study of the roles of animals and humans in the forest. Richly detailed, the plan offers two approaches to the play: as a scenario for children to imagine what actions would...
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Rainforests
Second graders explain the characteristics of a rainforest habitat. In this rainforest lesson, 2nd graders examine the layers of the rainforest and the locations of rainforests. Students complete a scavenger hunt on an assigned layer...
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Which Animal Lives Where?
Use this lesson in your classroom for a quick and easy way to review animal habitats. Young children use magazine clippings, pictures provided, or other resources to create a collage depicting an animal habitat. This is a great way to...
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Animal Tracks
Students study animals. In this science lesson, students make plaster casts of animals that live in the area. Students identify the tracks.
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Optional Laboratory: Comparing Soil Temperatures In Sun and Shade
Students work together to test the temperatures of different soils in shade and sun. They make their own hypothesis before beginning the experiment. They record their data and discuss as a class.
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Land Biomes Research and Presentation
Fifth graders work in cooperative groups to research an assigned land biome using various sources. Groups create either a book or a PowerPoint presentation of their assigned land biome.
Chicago Botanic Garden
Leaf Litter Ecology Lab
Some organisms spend their entire lives in leaf litter. The third in a series of six is a great lesson exploring the community of leaf litter. Groups gather and then spread leaf litter over white paper and remove leaves/twigs while...
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Ecosystem Damage from Household Cleaners
Third graders assess the damage done to various ecosystems by cleaning products and discover how scientists test water quality. Using stream water and common household cleaning agents, they work in groups to test for pH levels. Once...