Forest Foundation
Fire - How Does it Relate to You?
Forest fires can be a necessary step in keeping a forest healthy, but what happens when they get out of control? Learners investigate the causes and effects of forest fires in two specific areas, culminating in a report about the ways...
LABScI
Botany: The Plant Dissection Lab
Study everything about plants! The 12-part series of lessons continues with an examination of many aspects of plants. Components of the laboratory activity address the growth and structure of plants by evaluating familiar plants. The...
Curated OER
Understanding Ecosystems: Erosion and Flooding
Students study the balance in the environment needed for ecosystems. They discuss what can lead to erosion and flooding.
Curated OER
Spinning the Eco Web
Students examine the components and relationships of ecoregions and ecosystem management. They define ecoregion and ecosystem, list ecoregions, and participate in a simulation that demonstrates the connections between parts of the...
Curated OER
Wetland Ecosystem Conservation
Learners read articles about wetland ecosystem conservation in Florida and other countries. They summarize information found in the articles. Students reflect on the information in the articles and write their feelings.
Curated OER
The Web Of Life - Overlapping Food Chains
Students perform an activity in which they discover what happens when food chains overlap in an ecosystem and discover the three components of a food web.
Curated OER
Food Webs in the Bay
Students get acquainted with a type of ecosystem and how different organisms of that ecosystem compete with one another for resources. They analyze the submerged aquatic vegetation of a bay ecosystem. Students study plants.
Curated OER
Can We Keep the Lake Clean?
Students are introduced to the water cycle. They help draw a picture of a lake ecosystem, adding human impacts that affect water quality. Students help fill in the components of a drawing of a water system. At the end of the lesson...
Curated OER
Introducing Biodiversity
Young scholars investigate biodiversity by creating reports with their classmates. In this ecosystem instructional activity, students utilize the Internet to research the different types of life in our environment and different...
Curated OER
Ecosystems
In this ecosystems instructional activity, students define the components that make up an ecosystem. Students focus on the forests found in Ireland. This instructional activity has 30 fill in the blank and 7 short answer questions.
Curated OER
Population Density
Middle schoolers use the scientific method to conduct an experiment and use varied methods to gather background information. They correctly use lab equipment and prepare tables and graphs that organize, conclude, and present their...
Curated OER
Suburban Ecosystems
High schoolers conduct simple sampling of plant and insect biodiversity at ground level in two contrasting environments of their own choosing. They recognize and record different species then compare and contrast species numbers in the...
Curated OER
Keys and Webs
Learners explore and classify organisms found in a Rocky Mountain Ecosystem. Through discussions, students examine the effects upon an ecosystem if a component was removed or a new component was added. As a class, they survey reasons...
Curated OER
Design a Reef!
Here is an ambitious, but highly valuable undertaking: set up a miniature coral reef in your classroom. Young marine scientists research coral reef ecosystems and ensure all vital factors are included in their functioning model. The...
Curated OER
Edible Soil
Students model the soils layers using Oreo's. In this lesson students use their favorite food items to create a model of soil layers. A discovery lesson from a youth camp is adapted for classroom modeling and discussion of soil...
Curated OER
Studying a Piece of an Ecosystem
Students carry out an outdoor land study in which they identify organisms living in the soil, and any other animals living within the site. Groups also examine abiotic factors. They respond to a series of questions concerning their data...
Curated OER
Plants and Animals Depend Upon One Another
First graders study plants and animals and how they depend on one another. They also study that plants give energy to animals and provide oxygen needed for life. Finally, 1st graders give examples of the roles plants and animals play...
Curated OER
Compettion at its Best
Sixth graders role play predators, prey and other parts of the aquatic ecosystem. They show inter and intra-specific competition as well as the link between abiotic and biotic components in an ecosystem. Students play games about the...
Michigan Sea Grant
Invasive Species
Learners identify invasive species to the Great Lakes and analyze their impact on the ecosystem. Using photo cards with pictures and facts, young scientists work in small groups to match invasive species with their corresponding...
Curated OER
Species Interactions in the Yucatan Peninsula
Sixth graders explore how organisms interact with one another other in their environment. In this organism lesson, 6th graders understand abiotic factors and or biotic components of their environment. Students decide if the interactions...
Curated OER
The Effects of Agricultural Fertilizer Runoff Upon Aquatic Ecosystems
Students measure the toxic levels of runoff and discuss the effects it would have on the aquatic system. In this runoff lesson plan, students answer questions to how runoff would affect the animals in an aquatic system.
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.
Science Matters
Formative Assessment #1
Discover how much your young scientists know about biotic and abiotic factors with a two-question formative assessment that requires them to observe, list, and describe.
Science Matters
Oh Heron
Two teams—the environmentalists and herons—play four rounds of the game, Oh Heron. Using hand symbols to represent food, shelter, and water, players locate their match to produce more herons while those unmatched decompose.