Here is a lab activity adequate for use with any full lesson on environmental factors that shape animal adaptations or marine animal characteristics. Pupils will discuss the role plankton plays in the environment and filter-feeding...

Properties of water make it essential for the life of marine species. Learners complete an online game to answer questions about the role water fulfills for organisms in ocean habitats. The game emphasizes the properties of water and how...

Students identify habitat elements. They create a habitat in a backyard, on a balcony, at a workplace, or in a schoolyard and provide the four basic requirements of wildlife survival (food, water, cover, and places to raise young). They...

Students identify the different types of water and explain in what proportions they exist on Earth. They identify and correctly label the parts of the water cycle and how these parts interact with each other. Students identify the...

Young scholars explore and analyze the bottom structure of underwater habitats. They describe and explain what can't see through the collection and correlation of accurate data. Learners assess that technology is utilized as a tool for...

Students develop a greater understanding and concern for the plight of our coastal waterways. Students begin to recognize that we are all partially responsible for water pollution.

Take a field trip to a location where water and land meet to study patterns of sediment organization in wet habitats: river or ocean beaches, sand dunes, tidal marshes, the edge of a pond, or a woodland stream. Small groups collect pairs...

Second graders construct a pond habitat in the classroom using a small swimming pool partially filled with water, real cattails, a tree log adjoining, and plastic animal life appropriate to a pond setting. They examine the frog in detail...

What better way to learn about ecosystems than by getting outside and observing them first hand? Accompanying a field trip to a local park or outdoor space, this series of collaborative activities engages children in...

Students investigate tides and the land submerged under them.  In this intertidal field trip, Students visit the intertidal zone and observe the habitats and animals that live there.  Students view the pools under rocks where...

Students create a model estuary. In this modeling estuaries instructional activity, students identify characteristics and mix water of varying densities. Students form a hypothesis, conduct an experiment, and analyze the results.

Students discuss pollution and the steps in the hydrologic cycle. They follow a drop of water through a watershed simulation. They discover the components of a water cleaning system as well.

Seamounts are large, extinct volcanoes that rise up from the bottom of the ocean floor. They are a relatively new landform in the scientific community, and this lesson invites learners to learn about the amazing diversity of life found...

Students explore habitats. In this habitat  lesson, students break into groups and are labeled as a part of a habitat. Students then do an activity with yarn that shows how all of the parts are connected and depend on each...

Students explore the concept of environmental stewardship. In this science lesson, students discover how scientists assess damages to the environment following oil spills. Students conduct a simulation of a public meeting in order to...

Sixth graders discover the problems that early Mesototamian farmers faced while developing agriculture in the land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. They design a working model that solves those unique challenges.

Students explore pond ecosystems.  For this pond organism activity, students will use pond water and a plastic bad in order to locate and identify freshwater organisms.  The activity is designed for younger grades, but...

Biodiversity in some areas is more diverse than one might think. Using a two-day lesson, pupils consider the biodiversity of the Hudson Canyon and the characteristics of one organism. They begin with an analysis of the common earthworm...

Pupils build mine-earthworm habitats to discover their niche in them. They make predictions about what the niche looks like in a week and draw a picture of it. Students notice the tunnels in the soil and how the sand and dirt are now...

Pupils explain the basic properties of a watershed including how water flows from higher to lower elevations and how watersheds are interconnected. They comprehend how the placement of buildings, roads, and parking lots can be important...

Students analyze the three models on the origin of troglobitic fauna. In this life science lesson, students also consider how the Zonation model explains the fauna's origin. They also use the Internet to research solutional and volcanic...

Pupils research the damage to the environment by certain plant species. They create an experimental design which they test how these species take over certain habitats. They share their information with the class.

Second graders identify saltwater and freshwater habitats and the resources found in them. They compare and contrast the two habitats and discuss their findings. They discover the resources bodies of water can provide.

Students examine the basic biosphere and its components.  In this ecology instructional activity students complete several experiments including designing a system that is balanced to sustain life.