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Chicago Botanic Garden

Are You Bigfoot?

For Students 5th - 6th Standards
Scholars independently explore several websites to calculate their ecological footprint. Using their new found knowledge, they answer six short-answer questions and take part in a grand conversation with their peers about how our...
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Faces of Climate Change

For Students 5th - 6th Standards
Sometimes, the best solution to a problem can be found by walking in someone else's shoes. Here, scholars use character cards to take on the roles of people around the world. They determine how their character's life affects our...
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Impacts of Climate Change

For Teachers 5th - 6th Standards
Scholars become experts on the eight major impacts of climate change through a jigsaw and grand conversation. They then research and present what they learned about effects specific to their region.    
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Reflecting on What I Learned About Climate Change

For Teachers 5th - 6th Standards
After three eye-opening lessons about our environment, scholars revisit a 10-question survey, reflect on their new-found knowledge, and take action by writing to a representative or creating a public service announcement about climate...
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Impacts of Climate on Forest Succession

For Students 10th - 12th Standards
Part two in a series of four explores the effects of climate on succession or the changing of plant species in a forest. Groups review how to identify trees and then spend a day in the field collecting extensive data on trees to...
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Leaf Litter Ecology Lab

For Students 7th - 9th Standards
Some organisms spend their entire lives in leaf litter. The third in a series of six is a great lesson exploring the community of leaf litter. Groups gather and then spread leaf litter over white paper and remove leaves/twigs while...
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Introducing Ecosystem Services

For Students 10th - 12th Standards
Purifying air and water, providing soil in which to grow crops, and moving water through its natural cycle are all services an ecosystem provides that benefit humans. Lesson four in a series lets learners explore and discuss the value of...
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Climate Change Impacts on Ecosystem Services

For Students 7th - 9th Standards
The fourth activity in a series of five has classes participate in a jigsaw to learn about global impacts of climate change and then share their new information with a home group. Groups then research impacts of climate change (droughts,...
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Personal Choices and the Planet

For Students 7th - 9th Standards
The last activity in the series of four has individuals determine steps they can take to reduce their carbon footprints and then analyze their schools' recycling programs. Through a sustainability audit, they identify how and where their...
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Historical Climate Cycles

For Teachers 10th - 12th Standards
Ice core samples give scientists access to climates of old—those from more than 800,000 years ago. Through an analysis of various temperature graphs from ice cores, tree rings, and weather stations, scholars compare historical climates...
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Plant Phenology Data Analysis

For Teachers 10th - 12th Standards
Beginning in 1851, Thoreau recorded the dates of the first spring blooms in Concord, and this data is helping scientists analyze climate change! The culminating instructional activity in the series of four has pupils graph and analyze...
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

What Can Tree Rings Tell Us About Climate?

For Teachers 10th - 12th Standards
Tree rings are slightly thicker on the south side of the tree because it receives more sunlight. Part two in a series of five lessons helps learners analyze tree rings to determine the environmental conditions that caused size...
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Are Global CO2 Levels Changing?

For Teachers 10th - 12th Standards
According to the Mauna Loa observatory, carbon dioxide levels increased by 3 ppm in our atmosphere between 2015–2016. Individuals analyze carbon dioxide data from around the world and then share this with a home group in lesson three of...
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Climate Change Around the World

For Teachers 10th - 12th Standards
You know climate change is happening when you see a bee take off its yellow jacket. Part four in a series of five lessons explores all factors affecting climate change: temperature, cloud cover, precipitation, and carbon dioxide. By...
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Assessment
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Review and Assessment: Causes and Effects of Climate Changes

For Students 10th - 12th Standards
The last activity in the series of five is a short one where individuals show what they've learned about the causes and effects of climate change. Working independently, they fill in a graphic organizer, then compare their notes with a...
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Lesson Plan
3
3
Chicago Botanic Garden

Calculating Your Carbon Footprint

For Teachers 10th - 12th Standards
Unplugging from technology for one day per week will decrease your carbon footprint—are you up to the challenge? Part two in a series of three allows individuals to explore their personal carbon footprints. By first taking a quiz at home...
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Lesson Plan
3
3
Chicago Botanic Garden

Personal Choices and the Planet

For Teachers 10th - 12th Standards
How big is your footprint? Activity three culminates the series by having groups complete carbon footprint audits with people in their schools and/or around the districts. Groups then gather their data, create a presentation including...
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Preparing for Project BudBurst

For Teachers 10th - 12th Standards
Male deer growing antlers to begin the breeding season is an example of a phenological event. First in a four-part series is an activity requiring individuals to collect phenological data on their campus. Classes discuss phenology, the...
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Climate and Forest Ecosystem Services

For Teachers 10th - 12th Standards
Forests, through sequestration, capture excess carbon dioxide in our atmosphere and store it, aiding in climate change. The third installment in a four-part series on how climate impacts forests explores carbon sequestration. Classes...
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

The Carbon Cycle

For Teachers 10th - 12th Standards
There is 30 percent more carbon in the atmosphere today than there was 150 years ago. The first lesson in the four-part series teaches classes about the carbon cycle. Over two to three days, classes make a model of the cycle, add missing...
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Faces of Climate Change

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
You know global warming is real when your squirrel feeder is full of popped corn instead of kernels! Activity two in a series of five allows learners to explore climate change through the eyes of another. After briefly analyzing their...
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Calculating Your Ecological Footprint

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
You can lower your ecological footprint by recycling! Lesson four in this series of five has individuals, through the use of a computer, calculate their ecological footprints. Through discussions and analysis they determine how many...
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Migration, Adaptation, and Changing Climates

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
It is easy for humans to adapt to changing environments, but how do animals and plants do it? Classes discuss how plants and animals deal with environmental changes in the second of seven lessons. Through questions and discussions,...
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Seasons of a Plant

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
The third in a series of six lessons is an engaging three-part activity defines that discusses phenology, focusing on the cyclic seasons of plants. Pupils then observe phenology outside before determining how climate change can...

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