Curated OER
How Does Your Ecosystem Grow?
Students consider that under certain conditions in nature tend to remain the same or move toward a balance. They observe populations and determine the functions (e.g., de-composers, producers, consumers) they serve in an ecosystem. They...
Curated OER
Pond Ecosystem Field Trip
Students investigate the environment by participating in a class trip. In this pond ecosystem instructional activity, students define a list of vocabulary terms associated with ponds such as invertebrate and metamorphosis. Students...
Curated OER
Ecosystems and Habitats
Fourth graders go on a virtual field trip to five ecosystems. They investigate and videotape a temperate forest in the school's backyard.
Science Matters
Plot Study
Small groups investigate plots of land to discover how abiotic and biotic factors interact. After recording their findings, scholars share observations with peers and self-reflect on the learning process.
University of Southern California
Mastering Microbes
Small but mighty! Learners explore the role of microbes in a healthy ecosystem. An engaging lesson asks pupils to design an aquaponics system that demonstrates that healthy microbes are necessary to maintain the ecosystem.
National Wildlife Federation
The Amazing Adventures of Carbon: How Carbon Cycles through the Earth
Here's a stat for your pupils: 18 percent of the human body is carbon! Part 10 in the series of 12 takes pairs on an adventure through the carbon cycle. After a class reading about carbon, pairs read and choose their own adventure...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Lesson 2: Gorongosa National Park
How has Gorongosa National Park changed over time? Discover the park's rich history, dating back to primitive human times, through an interactive timeline and scientific reading. The second installment in an eight-part series explores...
Curated OER
Become an Expert
Students are assigned a separate species of plant or bird to research. Using a worksheet, they are responsible for finding a variety of information on their assigned plant or bird. They also complete a mini-poster and give an oral...
Curated OER
How Can Clear of Tress Destroy a Community?
Fifth graders brainstorm the relationship between trees and humans to determine how humans benefit from trees and how they benefit from us. They discuss oxygen/carbon dioxide exchange, soil stablization, animal habitat, shade, medicine...
Virginia Department of Education
Building a DNA Model
It has been decades since the discovery of DNA. Still, activities such building this DNA model allow blossoming scientists to better understand the components that form this overall structure. During this activity, they will also...
Baylor College
Plant Parts You Eat
Plants provide a variety of delicious foods essential for human survival. In the fourth lesson of this series on food science, young scientists investigate common fruits, vegetables, and grains in order to determine which plant part is...
Curated OER
The Delicate Balance within a Forest Ecosystem
Students examine the causes and effects of alterations in a forest ecosystem and evaluate how human actions may only seem to have minor consequences, but can lead to extinctions of large numbers of populations. Students produce an...
Curated OER
Web of Life
Students collect information about various organisms in a forest ecosystem and create a mural that depicts organism interdependence. They then simulate a food web using a ball of string.
Curated OER
Some Similarities Between the Spread of an Infectious Disease and Population Growth
Students compare and contrast the spread of infectious diseases and population growth. In this biology lesson, students identify the exponential growth pattern of spreading diseases. They relate this to HIV infection and AIDS.
Curated OER
Introduction to Ecology
Eighth graders identify the living and nonliving components of an ecosystem. In this ecology lesson plan, 8th graders explain the role each organism plays. They participate in class discussion and answer a quiz at the end of the...
Virginia Department of Education
Freshwater Food Chains
What's in the water? Encourage your class to further explore this question and learn about pond ecosystems, food chains, and food webs as they complete this hands-on activity. They view the environment from a new perspective...
Curated OER
Ecosystems - Lessons 1 and 3
In this biology worksheet, students answer 22 multiple choice questions on ecosystem. They identify which ecosystem component is described in each of the question.
Curated OER
Populations and Ecosystems
Sixth graders examine the factors that influence the stability of ecosystems. They construct a miniature ecosystem in a jar that includes plants, small fish, and snails, record the population changes over a period of four weeks, and...
Curated OER
Earth's Ecosystem: Seven Major Biomes
Students discuss the different types of ecosystems and the composition of biomes. Working in groups, they define various related terms and make posters of them. Then they explain their posters to the class.
Curated OER
Populations and Ecosystems
Sixth graders define terms prey, predator, and scavenger, describe predator-prey relationship, discuss effects of a lack of predators in an environment, and separate the role of the scavenger from that of the predator.
National Wildlife Federation
Massive Migrations
Turn your students into flocks of migratory birds for this fun lesson on animal migration. Prior to the activity, the teacher creates four different migration routes in the classroom or any available open space, labeling nesting...
Baylor College
Using Food Labels
Help your class make sense of nutrition labels with the ninth lesson of this series. After explaining the different information provided on packaged food labels, perform an activity that demonstrates the amount of sugar in a single can...
Curated OER
Gaia: The Wisdom of the Earth
Learners are introduced to Gaia theory of natural homeostasis. They graph Earth's temperatures over time, construct terrariums or monitor the outdoor environment. Related videos titles are suggested, but may be outdated. The objectives...
Curated OER
Community and Ecosystems
Students complete a unit of lessons on ecosystems. They participate in online activities, create a diorama, write journal entries, and develop a Hyperstudio multimedia project on a selected ecosystem.