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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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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

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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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Plant Phenology Data Analysis

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
Scientists monitor seasonal changes in plants to better understand their responses to climate change, in turn allowing them to make predictions regarding the future. The last activity in the series of six has scholars analyze BudBurst...
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Recent Weather Patterns

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
Decide whether weather is changing! A two-part activity first challenges classes to review the differences between weather and climate. Once finished, individuals then analyze historical data to determine if climate change is happening...
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Causes and Effects of Climate Change

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
It's time for your class to literally show what they know! Pupils illustrate what they learned about the causes and effects of climate change by filling out a graphic organizer to complete the 5-part series of lessons. They discuss them...
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Are All Plants Created Equal?

For Teachers 10th - 12th Standards
Photosynthesis requires energy and produces food, and cellular respiration produces energy and requires food. An interesting lesson analyzes the factors that affect the rates of photosynthesis and respiration. Classes spend one day...
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Understanding the Greenhouse Effect

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
The greenhouse effect is important, for without it, life on Earth would not exist. An activity that includes modeling the greenhouse effect and acting out the Earth's energy balance makes up the first part in a series of seven lessons....
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Nature Walk and Ecosystem Introduction

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
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...
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Introducing Ecosystem Services

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
Ecosystems provide many things humans not only use but also need in order to survive. The last lesson in the series of seven introduces scholars to the idea of ecosystem services, that ecosystems provide humans with many things we need....
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Albedo, Reflectivity, and Absorption

For Teachers 5th - 6th
What is reflectivity, and what does it have to do with the Earth's climate? As reflectivity is measured by albedo, scientists can gather information on Earth's energy balances that relate to global warming or climate change. Budding...
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Climate Change Around the World

For Teachers 5th - 6th Standards
Look at climate change around the world using graphical representations and a hands-on learning simulation specified to particular cities around the world. Using an interactive website, young scientists follow the provided directions to...
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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

Seed Dispersal and Plant Migration

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
There are five methods of seed dispersal. They include gravity, mechanical, animal, water, and air. Scholars study seed dispersal in lesson plan five of the series of six. Through discussions, hands-on analysis of different seed types,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Adopt A Tree

For Teachers K - 4th
Students list characteristics that make some plants "trees," identify parts of the tree and their basic functions, describe how trees grow, and recognize products we get from trees and the environmental importance of trees.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

If the Forests Could TAlk

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders research insects using the internet sites provided. They research the role of insects as pollinators for plants, and the impact they have on our ecosystem. They participate in various activities/centers utilizing the facts...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Pressing Project

For Teachers 1st - 5th
Students create a collection of pressed plants. In this plant lesson, students use newspaper, plywood, and a rubberband to press plants they previously collected.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Birds, Birds, Birds

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students explore one bird a day and eventually put together a book about each of the birds they learn.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Seed Types

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students dissect seeds. In this seed dissection lesson, students discover the anatomy of seeds. After dissecting seeds, students hypothesize and design the perfect seed to survive in a dry forest.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Plants Need in Order to Survive and Grow: Light

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students conduct an experiment to evaluate whether plants need light to survive and grow. They observe and gather data about plant responses to different growth regimes, analyze the data, and make conclusions about basic plant needs.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Plants Need in Order to Survive and Grow: Air

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students conduct an experiment to determine whether plants need air in order to survive and grow. They discuss natural resources, analyze slides, and observe and record data from the experiment.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Plants Need in Order to Survive and Grow: Soil

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students conduct an experiment to evaluate whether plants need soil to survive and grow. They plant two seeds, one with soil and one without, make predictions, and record and analyze the seed germination results on a worksheet.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Clearly Classified

For Teachers 3rd - 10th
Young scholars review the classification system for living organisms and apply it the classification of insects and flowers in the still life by Ambrosius Bosschaert. They create a chart classifying the animals and plants in the painting...