Learners explore the characteristics that distinguish living things from nonliving things. Students examine video clips and still photographs to gather evidence and develop criteria to decide if something is living or nonliving.

Students, in groups, examine plants with different light levels. They are given plants from a tropical and desert region. They write a hypothesis at the beginning of the experiment.

Students identify individual organism, a species, and a population within the study community. They identify biotic factors at the site and attempt to characterize the site's species diversity.

Students select a Colorado animal, develop a Directed Web page, and research their animal. Each member of the group combine their research and develop a Newsletter.