Curated OER
Prairie In A Bottle
Second graders observe images of prairie ecosystems and discuss the needs of living things. They create a prairie habitat in a closed jar to observe the water cycle and plant growth.
Curated OER
Fish In a Bottle
Students work together to build their own fish ecosystems. As a class, they share their prior knowledge about catfish and use a diagram to label its body parts. They record their observations of the ecosystem and determine what they...
Curated OER
Bottle Habitat
In groups of four, students construct aquatic habitats in pop bottles. They create charts and record data from observations over a four week period. Then they graph their data and write explanations for what they observed.
Curated OER
Populations and Ecosystems
Sixth graders examine the factors that influence the stability of ecosystems. They construct a miniature ecosystem in a jar that includes plants, small fish, and snails, record the population changes over a period of four weeks, and...
Curated OER
Wiggley Worms
Students investigate how worms affect plant growth. In this biology lesson, students construct a worm ecosystem in a plastic 2 liter bottle and plant a seed in the soil. They later compare the ecosystems with worms to ones...
Rain Bird Corporation
Rain Forest Teaching Curriculum
Take young naturalists on an exploration of the world's tropical rainforests with this extensive collection of lessons and activities. Whether its creating leaf and flower prints or investigating the absorption spectrum of...
Curated OER
Nutrients Nutrients We Need
Second graders examine the six nutrients humans need to maintain good heath. In this ecosystem instructional activity, 2nd graders learn about how plants grow and compare how humans need nutrients from plants to how plants need nutrients...
Curated OER
Mini-Ecosystems
Third graders identify the living and non living things in a book read aloud and discuss the interactions represented in the book. Then, they research and include a list of food that each animal needs in an ecosystem. Finally, 3rd...
Curated OER
Speedy Succession
Fifth graders investigate how a pond ecosystem can change into a prairie or grassland ecosystem. They observe a small pond ecosystem in a two liter soda bottle, and examine and record changes over a two-week period of time on a worksheet.
Curated OER
Forest as a Filter
Students experiment using soil and water. In this forest as a filter lesson, students identify the role of forest cover, vegetation, and foliage impacts erosion and evaporation. Students conduct a simple experiment, form a hypothesis,...
Florida International University
Pipeline to the Coral Reefs
Discover firsthand the effects of internal waves on coral reefs. Through a series of experiments, learners simulate internal waves and upwelling events as they make observations on the movement of water and other debris. They then...
Curated OER
Erosion
Fifth graders engage in some activities that will help them to identify erosion and explain the causes of erosion. They also look into ways that humans can slow the process of erosion in some cases. After a teacher-led demonstration,...
Curated OER
Exploring the Water Cycle
Students investigate the water cycle. In this water cycle lesson, students create an ecosystem within a 2-liter bottle. Students record scientific observations as they observe the water cycle within their ecosystem.
Curated OER
Greenhouse Effect: Pop Bottle Experiment
Students explore global warming by conducting a weather experiment. In this greenhouse gas lesson, students define the greenhouse effect and the impact on our ozone layer. Students utilize a soda pop bottle, floodlight bulb, thermometers...
Curated OER
The Magic School Bus Spins a Web
Students learn along with Ms. Frizzle's class. In this Magic School Bus lesson plan, students explore the world of spiders as they travel into a science fiction film to learn the truth about spiders.
Curated OER
Water Retention and Soil Variation in Local Ecosystems
Students identify the differences in local soil types and the relationship between soil size and water retention. They are introduced to microenvironmental conditions in ecosystem sustainability.
Curated OER
Build An Island
Students explore erosion. In this science lesson, students build an island and observe the effects of erosion on the island. Students discuss freshwater ecosystems in Hawaii.
Wild BC
The Greenhouse Effect: Warming the Earth Experiment
First in a two-part lesson on the greenhouse effect, this lesson involves a classroom demonstration of the phenomenon, and a lab group experiment with color and absorption. Although there are easier ways to demonstrate the greenhouse...
Curated OER
Does the Introduction of Pesticides and Fertilizers Alter an Aquatic Ecosystem?
Students conduct an experiment using a small sample from a local water source. They introduce fertilizers and pesticides, separately, and carefully examine the results in their simulated aquatic ecosystem.
Curated OER
Collect Data Using a Transect Line
Students learn about transect lines through a study of marine debris. In this marine debris activity, students calculate the items on a transect line and graph them. Students complete a category worksheet.
Curated OER
Water Filtration
As an example of nature's water filtering system, young ecologists conduct an experiment in the lab. They construct a funnel out of a plastic bottle, fill it with specified layers of materials that simulate layers of soil, then run muddy...
Baylor College
What's Is Soil Made Of?
It's time to roll up those sleeves and get a little dirty in the second lesson of this series on the science of food. Investigate where plants and animals get the minerals they need to live in this two-part exploration of soil. First,...
Curated OER
A Symphony of Decomposers
Learners discover decomposition. In this environmental instructional activity, students explore different types of decomposers and their role within the ecosystem. Learners also discover how waste interferes with the decomposition process.
Curated OER
Ecosystems
Third graders create an ecosystem for red wiggler worms to observe as they work on a complete unit.