Curated OER
Touchdown Tag
Students broken into teams try to score a touchdown having to get through another team first. They have flags and change positions many times throughout the game.
Curated OER
Earthball Throw
Students practice and assess the overhand throw of students. They overhand throw balls at the earthball and make it roll across another side of the square, all while keeping the ball from rolling across their own line.
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
Words and Pictures Connect Nature and People: The American Conservation Movement
Students research some of the men and women who help to raise the environmental consciousness of the American people through their writings and drawings. They write a persuasive piece about an outdoor place which will connect their...
Curated OER
Neotaquit Nature Center: Ecosystems, Science, Technology
Learners 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
Soccer Scatter
Students practice dribbling the ball with his/her feet and passing to a partner.
Curated OER
Poetry and Nature
Students 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
Water, Water Everywhere
Students devise a system for watering classroom plants during school year and summer breaks. In this watering system lesson, students work in teams to investigate water needs of plants and develop systems that will keep the plants...
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.
National Gardening Association
Migration Mishaps
Elementary ecologists pretend to be migratory hummingbirds. They fly between wintering and nesting grounds, trying to reach a habitat haven. In a musical-chair fashion, some birds will miss out, and are removed from the game. To further...
Curated OER
Biologically Altered (B/A Fish)
Students complete a variety of activities as they examine the ethics involved in biologically altering fish. They hold a mock town meeting in which they determine whether or not a transgenic aquaculture should be allowed to locate in...