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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Plant and Animal Cells - Are they Different?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students observe the similarities and differences between plant and animal cells. In this cell activity, students use microscopes to observe self prepared slides of animal and plant cells.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Field Trip to the Watsonville Wetlands

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore the differences between food webs and food chains.  In this wetland lesson students play a food web game and go on a scavenger hunt. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fieldwork: Horizons Under Ground: Digging Through Wetland Soil

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Learners study the different soil types and describe the different soils in various environments.  In this soil lesson students walk to a reserve and discuss what they saw. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Compost and Composting Experiments

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Students investigate the composting process through a variety of experiments. For this ecology lesson, students discuss the benefits of composting. They examine how compost affect plant growth.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Dinosaurs 1: Where Are the Dinosaurs?

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students study dinosaurs. In this dinosaur lesson, students watch a web based video about dinosaurs before discussing what they liked about the dinosaurs, telling about the sounds they heard, and explaining what the Earth looked like....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

MICROBES 1: WHAT'S BUGGIN YOU?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students use existing knowledge of microbes, focusing on the relationship between microorganisms and foodborne illness, as well as the implications that foodborne illness has on human health.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Photosynthesis

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students conduct a variety of experiments on photosynthesis. In this biology lesson, students identify the factors required for the process to occur. They perform computerized experiments to test the amount of oxygen produced when plants...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Where Do Birds Live? Cavity Nesters of the Watsonville Wetlands

For Teachers 6th - 7th
Students compare and contrast primary and secondary cavity nesters. In this life science lesson, students explore the different types of nests that birds make. They play a team game to apply what they learned.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

First Grade Goes to the Zoo

For Teachers 1st
First graders summarize their trip to the zoo. In this summarizing lesson plan, 1st graders will study animals that they may see at the zoo including their characteristics and habitats. Once the trip is done, they create a word document...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Creating a Shared Culture

For Teachers 5th - 9th
Students simulate working on an assembly line in a shared culture. In this consumerism instructional activity, students participate in a lecture and note-taking session before working on a simulated assembly line. They work in a timed...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Relating Structure to Function in Cells

For Teachers 12th
Twelfth graders investigate specialized structures in both plants and animals. They relate structure to function, as they determine why the specialization is necessary and useful to the living organisms involved. They use microscopes...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Build Working Models With household Items

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students follow the illustration, and cut out foam board according to the pattern. They assemble the small parts by gluing. Once the glue is dry, students tape the end of the bottom and top clipper boards, they slide toothpicks through...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Dance of the Butterfly

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Students explore butterfly life cycles and movement.  In this integrated fine arts and biology life cycle lesson, students listen to the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and identify the related life cycle stages. Students...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Grasshopper Mark and Recapture (GMR)

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students estimate the density of a population of insects (grasshoppers) at a given life cycle stage in a given type of habitat.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Every Vote Counts

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students participate in an activity designed to increase student awareness and participation in the voting process.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Soil pH & Plants

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students investigate the pH of the soil in which different plants grow. They design and carry out an experiment to determine the factors that affect the growth of a population of plants, identifying and controlling major variables...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Inheritance Patterns in Zorks

For Students 9th - 12th
In this inheritance patterns worksheet, students create a visual of a Zork using chromosome strips to represent alleles from the father and the mother to determine the traits in the offspring. Students translate the genotype to the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Should Populations in an Ecosystem be Restricted?

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders experiment to determine how overpopulation effects ecosystems specifically plants. In this ecosystem lesson, 4th graders conduct an ecosystems experiment after listening to Claire Daniel's, Ecosystems. They watch a video,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rhythm and Art: Gesture Drawing

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students make connection between music and art. In this integrated arts instructional activity, students complete gesture drawing activities as they listen to Cuban, flamenco, classical, jazz, and contemporary music. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ecology of the Savanna-Forest Boundaries in Central Brazil

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore photosynthesis. In this photosynthesis lesson, students label parts of photosynthesis and take notes. Students conduct experiments on leaves, make observations and record their findings.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Physics of the Planets: How 16th and 17th Century Physicist Helped Us Understand Our Solar System

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders draw the paths of the planets in the solar system. In this astronomy lesson plan, 8th graders calculate speed of objects using distance and time information. They research about the work of scientists in the 16th and 17th...
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Lesson Plan
Stanford University

Philippine-American War Political Cartoon

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars investigate the Philippine War.  For this propaganda lesson, students read the a timeline of events during the Philippine War.  Young scholars evaluate Philippine propaganda cartoons from the period.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Amazon Rainforest Conservation, Brazil

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Students explore rain forests.  In this rain forest lesson, students participate in a "BioBlitz" of their schoolyard, observing and recording every living thing in a designated area.  Students visit websites about rain forests to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Peppermint Beetle

For Teachers K - 3rd
Learners describe various ways insects use their sense of smell, and examine why some insects use scent marking. They conduct a scent hunt, searching for a particular scent on the trees on school grounds.