Curated OER
Who Eats Whom in a Bermudian Coral Reef?
Learners will be able to find out about feeding relationships on a coral reef. They then will be able to develop a food chain and food web using coral reef animals and plants using the Coral Website.
Curated OER
Ecosystem Interactions in Refuges
Seventh graders, using national parks as models, illustrate the energy flow in ecosystems. Working in groups, they use murals, flow charts, or other visual displays to record their findings. Students represent the food chains and webs...
Curated OER
Blubber Gloves
The ways that animals adapt to their environments is quite remarkable. In this life science lesson, fifth graders take a look at some of the ways that aquatic animals that live in Arctic or Antarctic waters survive. They perform an...
Alliance Theater
The Jungle Book Post-Show STEAM Lesson
An ecosystem is really just the flow of energy through many different living organisms. A study of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book leads to an environmental science activity in which learners study how various factors can affect...
Curated OER
The Red Kangaroo: An Outback Survivor
Students watch an episode of "Nature" about the "Big Red Roos." They create food chains and webs based on the information they've researched on the red kangaroos. They write an editorial on the topic of the killing of kangaroos in the...
Curated OER
Protecting Holy Cows
Students study the interrelationships of organisms and their environments. They study ecological communities and determine what is necessary for survival. Students discuss and answer questions concerning a group's biome, habitat, food...
Aquarium of the Pacific
Ocean Drifters
Take a drift in the ocean. Class members watch a video on plankton, the drifters of the ocean. Scholars find out about the different types of plankton and sea jellies. To add a little variety, they use the aquarium webcams to study sea...
Curated OER
Introduction to Simulation Project
Students create a simulated self-sustaining ecosystem. In this biology lesson, students examine the different food chain and ecosystems in their model. They recommend some improvements and changes to an existing ecosystem.
Curated OER
Who Am I?
Students classify organisms into one of five categories: producer, consumer, decomposer, predator, or prey. Students play a "Who Am I" game. Signs are hung on the backs of fellow students They must ask questions to determine what...
Curated OER
Circle of Life
Here is a well-designed science lesson that shows learners that everything that organisms do in ecosystems, including running, breathing, burrowing, growing, requires energy. After a thorough discussion of their own eating and drinking...
Curated OER
The Rainforest
Second graders investigate the five different layers of the rainforest. They conduct research to find details pertaining to the animals and the interactions of the existing food chain in each layer of the forest. Students construct a...
Curated OER
Aquatic Science
What a terrific way to explore the pond habitat! Learners discuss the animal and plant life found in the Long Island area. They also discuss vocabulary terms, identify pollution concerns, and resource conservation.
Curated OER
Populations and Ecosystems
Seventh graders create a model of an ecosystem and label it to show structure and function. They research the food web of an aquatic animal and also trace energy flow from the primary producer up the food chain.
Curated OER
What's In The Forest?
Students examine forest food chains and create a forest habitat in the classroom. They are introduced to the concept of interdependence in Nature. They define a simple forest food chain and develop inquiry process skills.
Curated OER
Plankton
Students research phytoplankton and zooplankton. In this food chain lesson plan, students read This is the Sea That Feeds Us and discuss plankton, food chains, and webs. Students define phytoplankton and compare them to land...
Curated OER
Dinnertime On The Reef
Learners identify the main parts of a coral reef. They describe a coral reef food chain.
Curated OER
Backyard Wildlife Conservation
Students survey local wildlife. They distinguish between permanent and migrating or seasonal species. Students identify species and describe the ecological niche. Students research the food chain and food web for the backyard...
WK Kellogg Biological Station
Sounds of Selection
Do you want a creative and fun way to teach about natural selection? Hop to it by turning your middle school princes and princesses into frogs trying to catch as many bugs as possible in a Hungry Hungry Hippos style game. For high...
ARKive
Temperate Rainforest in the Pacific Northwest
Explore the amazing temperate rainforest of the Pacific Northwest. Your class starts by investigating the animals and plants of the Northwest, specifically Washington, and then research an animal population common to the area. In small...
Curated OER
Animal Migratory patterns
Young scholars use field research and traditional research to identify migrating species of birds as well as their migratory patterns. Students generate a list of questions regarding migration and a plan to research the questions. A...
Curated OER
Sea Connections: Marine Ecosystems
Learners identify producers and consumers from marine ecosystems and describe the balance among them in the environments. After constructing a food chain from a marine ecosystem, they examine human activities that can upset the balance...
Curated OER
Blubber Gloves
Fifth graders examine animal adaptations and how they meet their needs in a variety of environments. They discuss how they might adapt to their own environment before discussing how an animal could adapt. Next, they complete an...
Curated OER
Water is Life
Krill is a very small ocean animal that is key to keeping the ocean ecosystem going. The class reviews food webs and chains, learns about the importance of krill, discusses krill anatomy, builds a model of a krill, and then has a...
Science Matters
Island Fox Outreach
Off the coast of California lives a wild animal called the Island Fox. Experts discuss the importance of the Island Fox to the Channel Islands and the balance the fox creates within its ecosystem. The lesson concludes with a reading of...