Montana Natural History Center
Studying Grassland Ecosystems
At first glance, grassland ecosystems might seem dull and uninteresting, but once you start to explore it's amazing the things you'll find! Through this series of engaging lessons, activities, and experiments, elementary students examine...
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Life In A Nest: Exploring Life Cycles With Bird Cams
Why read about it when you can watch it happen? Bird cams make it possible for learners to experience the life cycle of a bird in real time! An engaging set of lessons provides activities to connect their learning to bird cam...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Preparing for Project BudBurst
Plants take cues from the environment—change in daylight hours and temperature—to complete their seasonal life cycles. Lesson four in the series of six has classes collect phenology data on plants. After taking initial observations,...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Nature Walk and Ecosystem Introduction
A food web has no organism higher than a tertiary consumer because there wouldn't be enough energy left to sustain them. The fourth installment in a seven-part series begins with a nature walk to get pupils thinking about their...
Curated OER
Predator, Predator, Don't East Me!
To prep for a lesson on predator/prey relationships, get kids up and moving. This game is based on the game 'Red Light, Green Light' but employs the concept of predator vs. prey. This is not a full lesson but could be useful as an...
Curated OER
Take a Hike!
Learners explore the benefits of staying active by going on a hike. In this physical education lesson, students discuss the concept of a hike, where a good place to hike is and what types of foods are necessary to stay nourished....
Curated OER
Movement of Air Mind Map Activity
Students explore the movement of air. For this air lesson, students discuss and give examples of air ventilation. Students compare outdoor and indoor air quality. Students create mind maps as a visual representation of what they have...
Michigan Sea Grant
Fish Habitat and Humans
Strict habitat requirements are needed for the survival of fish populations and fish variety in the Great Lakes. Young scientists become experts in the basic needs of fish and understand how survival necessities can vary with different...
Curated OER
Summer Camp in the Classroom
Students explore wildlife plants and summer activities. In this natural science lesson, students identify plants and animals and create a scrapbook of their findings.
Curated OER
P.O.V.'s Borders Picture Project: Lesson 1 - Air
Take photos of human activities that impact air quality. Collaborative groups present one of the photographs, identifying how the activity contributes to air quality and what can be done to minimize the impact. As one in a series of...
Curated OER
Native Harvest
Students read Native Plants and Early Peoples and explore the plants in Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park and find how the Native Americans used them. In this Native American plant and people lesson, students research two types...
Curated OER
Environment: Natural and Invasive Plants
Learners examine a parcel of open land to collect data about the native and invasive plants found there. By monitoring the area, they prevent the spread of weeds through early detection. Students create posters describing the monitoring...
Curated OER
Rubber Gardens
Students recycle discarded automobile tires and create gardening sites for limited space areas.
Curated OER
Neotaquit Nature Center: Ecosystems, Science, Technology
Students survey their local forest conducting an inventory of tree species and analyzing data of local ecosystems. They design a nature trail, map the area and make a computer generated trail guide.
Curated OER
John Muir: Long Ago and Now
Students explore nature objects brought indoors such as rocks, seeds, leaves and shells to identify where the objects came from. They hear stories about John Muir's life and make booklets about nature areas they enjoy.
Florida International University
Counting FishStix
How do we count the fish in the ocean? An engaging lesson models how to estimate fish populations with observational surveys. Class members begin by studying the behavior of fish on the coral reef in the oceans. They then become the fish...
National Park Service
Fitting In
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,...
Curated OER
Poetry and Nature
Learners observe an object in nature and record them. In groups, they create a group poem about the same object. They create their own poem based on another object using other their senses to help them. They share their poems with the...
Curated OER
A Tree-mendous Project
Seventh graders use their observation and measurement skills to identify trees. Using a tree diagram, they label the parts and discuss the functions of the tree. They practice using a dichotomous key to identify trees as well.
Curated OER
Tree Cookies
Students identify heartwood, sapwood, and a tree's annual rings, infer from a tree's rings what damage or stress might have occurred in its life, and make a time-line of human history that coincides with a tree's rings.
Curated OER
Up the Down Tree House
Students investigate the decomposition process. In this ecology lesson, students participate in a play, "Up the Treehouse" where the main idea focuses on a decomposing tree and how food chains are effected by decomposition. After the...
Curated OER
Photosynthesis
Students are introduced to the process of photosynthesis. In groups, they test the effects of the lack of sunlight on plant leaves and compare the results with their hypothesis. They note the characteristics that plants and animals share...
Curated OER
Teaching with Nature
Students participate in a nature walk to learn about their natural environments. In this nature study lesson, students brainstorm a list of things to look for on their nature walk. Students go on the nature walk and locate objects they...
Curated OER
Air: Air Quality Picture Project
Students recognize which activities contribute to poor air quality and which contribute to good air quality. They discover how air quality is measured, and come up with ways that humans can have a positive affect on air quality.