Curated OER
Poet-Tree (or shrub or forb)
Students write poetry to describe a noxious weed. They form a personal relationship with, and a better comprehension of weeds. Students explain what the basic elements of a haiku are. They describe a particular weed, and comprehend...
Curated OER
State Of The Bay
Students investigate the environmental problems that surround the Chesapeake Bay area. They use an environmental handout as a resource that should be supplemented with research. Also students ask specific questions to report findings and...
Curated OER
Wat-er We Good For?
Fifth graders investigate the use of water as a resource that needs to be conserved. They practice the skill of water conservation by taking a home survey of water usage and modify the use in order to decrease the wasting of water.
Curated OER
Standards And Science
Students study how standards are established in Science. They also look at the value of different perspectives with questions about ecological standards. The class creates its own standards for ecology with the help of a survey to obtain...
Curated OER
Dumptown Game
Students engage in an interactive play scenario. They are the new managers of a fictional city and live in a place where nothing is recycled. Students are faced with various problems that need to be solved. They work together to propose...
Curated OER
A Walk in the Woods
Students observe an environment, ask questions about what they observe. and design experiments to answer one question they came up with in this upper-level High School or college lesson plan. The lesson plan requires an outdoor...
Curated OER
The Aral Sea: A Time for Change
Ninth graders investigate the physical changes in the Aral Sea from the year of 1960. They conduct research to find information. Students compare and contrast the changes caused by human activity over the years. They create their own...
Curated OER
Bats Of WI And PR
Students investigate the bats of Puerto Rico. They conduct research in order to find information to construct a powerpoint presentation. They create a dvd of the presentation and go on a tour to a local cave to see the environment where...
Curated OER
Discovering The Oasis
Students participate in a lesson that is concerned with the ecosystem of a local pond. The teacher makes arrangements for students to take a field trip. Time is spent in class for preparation and afterward for debriefing of lab...
Curated OER
Earthworm Movement and Landscape Structure
Students describe differences in animal usage of habitats depending upon successional status of site. They also design other experiments to test movement patterns of animals through habitats of differing structure.
Curated OER
Managing Your Energy Budget
Learners experience an inequitable resource distribution and electronically calculate their own Ecological Footprint. The assess their resource use and learn more about sustainable living strategies in a video tour by Penn State...
Curated OER
Wetland Ecosystem Conservation
High schoolers read articles about wetland ecosystem conservation in Florida and other countries. They summarize information found in the articles. Students reflect on the information in the articles and write their feelings.
Curated OER
De"compost"ition Activity
Students investigate the decomposition process and the parameters which influence the rate at which it occurs. They design a "controlled" experiment by comparing decomposition rates between two compost piles. Analysis questions include...
Curated OER
Scientific Approach to Forest Management
Young scholars use wireless laptop computers to collect, store, communicate, and organize data from the 1999 Jasper Fire area. They collect data in the field and compare it to student-collected data from prior years to develop...
Curated OER
Stream Flow in Blacks Creek
Students explore what factors affect the stream flow in a local body of water. They collect data to measure stream flow and discharge and construct a hypothesis concerning the factors affecting stream flow.
Curated OER
The Ghost of Populations Past
Pupils study population distribution and survivorship curves by collecting data regarding age of death of humans from either tombstones, newspapers, or other community resources. Students analyze data by creating graphs and population...
Curated OER
Children's Health: Children Aren't Little Adults
This lesson is a compilation of interdisciplinary, technology-infused activities that focus on the often complicated and sometimes controversial issues related to toxic chemicals in children's environment. Special emphasis is placed on...
Curated OER
Presenting Ecology through Rodent Control
Young scholars role play the member of a health department task force. In groups, they develop their own recommendations to control the rodent problem in the area. They email their local government official and research information about...
Curated OER
Biome Exchange: Send the Stuff Not The Kids
Learners exchange information with students from various geographic biomes. They explore the unique ecologically significant features of the biomes and share with other learners.
Curated OER
Deserts KWL Chart
Students will define what a desert is through the creation of a KWL Chart. This will help students to tap prior knowledge and make new connections with the new curriculum being delivered in the lesson.
Curated OER
Biodiversity: El Imposible National Park, El Salvador
Fifth graders explore the concept of how the more diverse an ecosystem is, the more interdependence of species exists within that system. The complex relationships among diverse species are difficult to identify. As species disappear or...
Curated OER
Fun with Ecology
Students explore their environment. Given a question and a scenario, they conduct a field study of a designated area. In that area, they count and tally the number of insects that are present.
Curated OER
The Case of the Disappearing Frogs
Pupils complete an Internet based activity to investigate the case of the disappearing tadpoles. They discover the interrelationship of living things.
Curated OER
Land Use Issues
Students examine living and non-living things in their environment. They identify trees, plants, and grasses in their neighborhood and those that originate in Illinois in this unit of lessons.