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Unit Plan
National Park Service

Climate Science in Focus: A Streamflow River Study

For Teachers 9th Standards
Data speaks, but it's our job to determine what it's trying to say. Young scientists explore the changes in weather and climate using data from the Yosemite National Park in a six-day unit. Learners first compare weather and climate and...
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Lesson Plan
NASA

Blossoms Blooming: Analyzing Plant Growth Patterns

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Could the seasons be changing? Using National Park data, learners recognize patterns in the growth of seasonal plants. They look specifically at the first bloom date of cherry blossoms in Washington DC and compare them to temperature...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

National Marine Sanctuaries Fish

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Information is provided on Gray's Reef, Florida Keys, and Flower Garden Banks marine sanctuaries. Young marine biologists then visit the FishBase and REEF databases to collect fish species information for each location. They then...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Wolves: DNA Pawprinting

For Students 9th - 12th
A mystery canine was shot and killed near Yellowstone National Park in the early '90s. Genetics whizzes explain how they might go about identifying whether the animal was a true grey wolf or a hybrid. A drawing of the animal's DNA bands...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bears of Banff

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students pretend they have just entered a national park. They imagine that the park borders are all impassable mountains, and students will play the role of grizzly bears. Students list three things every animal needs to survive, in this...
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Interactive
American Museum of Natural History

Theodore Roosevelt's Outdoor Adventures

For Students 6th - 12th
Time for a virtual sightseeing trip. Pupils explore the Grand Canyon, Devil's Tower, and Yosemite Valley in an interactive online experience. They answer questions about the organisms in each location and draw conclusions based on their...
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Activity
3
3
Teach Engineering

Constructing Sonoran Desert Food Chains and Food Webs

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Investigate desert biomes by creating food chains and food webs. Groups first research feeding habits of organisms in the Sonoran Desert. This information helps pupils draw food chains and webs to determine relationship between organisms.
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Activity
2
2
National Park Service

It Was a Very Good Year

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park includes whitebark pines that are over 1,200 years old, meaning they have been there since before medieval times. The second lesson of five details how to read tree rings for climate change and...
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Unit Plan
Institute for Applied Ecology

From Salmonberry to Sagebrush - Exploring Oregon’s Native Plants

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Take a deep dive into Oregon's ecosystems, plants, and changes from the past to the future. Many hands-on activities in an environmental science unit delight scholars, including creating a field guide for a local park. The in-depth study...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Observation Hike

For Teachers K - 12th
Students participate in an observational hike to study the natural surroundings.  In this observational hike instructional activity, students hike through a state park and observe the plant and animal life.  Students learn about...
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Handout
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Wildwood Trust

Habitats

For Teachers K - 2nd
The circle of life is all around us, from the black bears in the nearby mountains to the pile of dead leaves in the backyard. Encourage young scientists to take a critical look at the world around them with a set of lessons about natural...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Get to Know: Plants

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students complete a research activity in a schoolyard or park to learn about plants. In this plant lesson, students learn the name of the one of more plants. Students describe or draw the plant, pointing our features that distinguish the...
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Unit Plan
National Park Service

Fire Ecology on the Rim

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
An engaging unit on wildfires includes three sections, including a background section with eight lessons and five activities, a field experience section with 13 lessons and five activities, and a conclusion section featuring an analysis...
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Activity
2
2
National Park Service

News Bearly Fit to Print

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
There are an average of three human fatalities by bears in North America every year, which is low when you compare it to the 26 killed by dogs and the 90 killed by lightning annually. The lesson encourages researching human-bear...
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Activity
2
2
National Park Service

It's Not Easy Being Grizz

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Grizzly bears can be up to 600 pounds and require a great deal of food, especially to survive hibernation. Comprised of multiple games, the third lesson of five only uses one setup. Pupils run around a large field, sorting and collecting...
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Activity
2
2
National Park Service

Nutcracker Fantasy

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
The Clark's nutcracker bird hides seeds in 25,000 different sites every year to save for winter. Lesson demonstrates how difficult it would be to find these seeds months later when they need them for food. In the first of five lesson,...
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Activity
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Gorongosa: Making Observations Activity

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Do you have young scientists wanting to make new discoveries rather than just completing the same experiments? Young scientists use their observational skills to identify animals and patterns in animal behavior. Through tracking...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Web of Life

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Young scholars demonstrate the interrelationships of animals and plants. In this ecology lesson, students discuss the things plants and animals need for survival and study the glacier food chain. Young scholars simulate the web of life...
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Activity
2
2
National Park Service

The Secret of Life

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Dead trees provide nutrients for the soil, food for animals, protection and a home for organisms, a seed-bed for new trees, and a place for nitrogen-fixing bacteria to live. In the activity, pupils collect decaying logs, expose them to a...
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Activity
2
2
National Park Service

Fitting In

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Birds help other birds find food? Scholars are placed into one of five groups of different birds. Each group then "feeds" on letters of paper in a field and gather five pieces per person. As each group plays, more food is exposed,...
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Activity
2
2
National Park Service

Subalpine Web

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
The theory of keystone species in an ecosystem was first established in 1969 by Robert T. Paine. Pupils open the final lesson in a five-part series with a game guessing which member of the alpine ecosystem they are based on clues. After...
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Activity
2
2
National Park Service

Leave it to Beavers

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Many people know cats mark their territories by rubbing the back of their necks to leave a scent, but not many people know beavers also leave a scent to mark their territories. During the first activity of two, scholars use their noses...
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Activity
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Gorongosa: Scientific Inquiry and Data Analysis

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
How does the scientific process begin? Introduce ecology scholars to scientific inquiry through an insightful, data-driven lesson. Partners examine data from an ongoing research study to determine the questions it answers. The resource...
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Activity
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Modeling Food Webs in Darién, Panama

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
It's a jungle out there! Young biologists journey to Darien, Panama to examine the intricate relationships between the organisms that inhabit the jungle. Groups begin by demonstrating an understanding of energy flow in ecosystems, then...

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