Curated OER
When is Dinner Served? Predicting the Spring Phytoplankton Bloom in the Gulf of Maine (College Level)
Students are able to explain the ecological importance of phytoplankton. They describe the components that influence a phytoplankton bloom. Students interpret satellite images in order to correlate buoy data.
Curated OER
Making Connections, Linking Population and the Environment
Learners find out that all habitats have a carrying capacity. They explore how the world's human population has grown markedly in the 20th century, and that humans impact environmental health. Students investigate that people can and...
Curated OER
The "Nuts and Bolts" of Taxonomy and Classification
Students develop classification scheme that meets the established rules of the Linnaean system. They write one page essay on classification choices.
Michigan Sea Grant
Wetlands
Wetlands may not sound particularly ornate, but they are as important as any habitat! With a hands-on activity, young scientists build a wetland model and observe its many functions in action. They discover the importance of wetlands to...
Curated OER
Deer Tracks
Students use satellite images to track to movement patterns of deer and examine deer behavior. They write stories about a day in the life of a field scientist.
Curated OER
Population Dynamics
Students discover how organisms are dependent on one another for survivial. They also discuss how to conserve natural resources. They compare and contrast the different types of symbiotic relationships as well.
Curated OER
Water and Ice
Learners examine how water changes state, from a liquid to a solid. In this water lesson students study the water cycle and how temperature and pressure effect it.
Curated OER
Overpopulation
Students examine population growth and how it impacts our environment. In this population lesson students identify the causes and consequences of overpopulation.
Curated OER
I See a Coyote
Students role-play coyotes looking for natural resources. In this natural resources lesson, students examine the relationship between animal life and the environment. Students play a game that demonstrates how natural resources affect...
Curated OER
Zoo Poo
Students use Internet research to determine the amount of carbon dioxide produced per unit energy for biomass and coal. In this alternative energy lesson, students research to find out how much energy and carbon dioxide several coal and...
Curated OER
Species and Specimens: Exploring Local Biodiversity
Students practice skills essential to all scientific investigation: carefully observing and collecting data. They become field biologists in a series of hands-on activities to collect and identify specimens, and survey and calculate the...
University of Connecticut
Building Your Own Biosphere
On September 26, 1991, four women and four men entered the scientific experiment, Biosphere 2; the doors were sealed for two years in order to study the interactions of a biosphere. In the activity, scholars explore biospheres by...
Curated OER
Acid Rain
Simulated acid rain, a dilute sulfuric acid solution, needs to be prepared for this demonstration. After a condensed lecture on acid rain, you will apply the solution to a sample of granite and a sample of limestone. Your young...
Curated OER
A Design You’ll Dig: Designing a Habitat for Worms
Students discover how worms contribute to the balance of the environment. In this composting lesson plan, students study the composting and decomposition processes. Students then create habitats for worms that allow them to do their jobs.
Teach Engineering
Designing a Sustainable Guest Village in the Saguaro National Park
Brainstorm ideas to design a sustainable guest village in the Sonoran Desert. The first installment of a nine-part unit teaches young environmental scientists about the basics of the Saguaro National Park and about sustainable design....
University of Wisconsin
Conjunction Function
As part of a unit, this lesson familiarizes youngsters with components of a rain garden. They speculate about the role of an assigned component in contributing to a rain garden, and ultimately, in the health of the local watershed. Each...
Curated OER
Genetic Disorders with Cultural Roots: International Insects
Pupils recognize that certain populations have specific genetic disorders that could benefit or harm them in their environment, work out punnett square problems and infer offspring probabilities from results, and provide advantages and...
Curated OER
Simulating the Effects of Biodegradable Wastes on Dissolved Oxygen
Students evaluate the relationship between biodegradable waste and dissolved oxygen in water. In this biodegradable wastes lesson students complete a lab activity in groups then analyze their results.
Curated OER
Where in the world is the Hydra Electron?
Walk your class through the journey water takes once it leaves your kitchen sink, all the way through the water cycle. Demonstrations support your lecture. This plan is thoroughly written, but ideally you would follow it up with water...
Biology Junction
Reptiles
When crocodiles close their mouths, you still see their teeth, but when alligators close their mouths, their teeth are hidden. Learn more about these reptiles and their many evolutionary cousins in a fact-filled presentation. It...
Curated OER
Super Stream Keeper's
Students are introduced to Delaware's waterways as precious resources used for drinking water, water for agricultural and industrial uses, recreational areas, and as habitats for wildlife. They are introduced to wastewater discharges,...
Curated OER
Runoff with Chunky the Chicken
Students are introduced to the on-farm nutrient cycle, which explains feed to manure, to soil, and back to the feed. They are introduced to the generation of runoff during rainstorms, and the contents of runoff water are more than water...
Curated OER
Digging up the Dirt on Soil Microbes
Students are introduced to the idea of soil as a habitat for many different organisms. They are introduced to the links between the biological adaptations of an organism and the physical demands of its habitat. Pupils are introduced to...
Curated OER
Soil Detectives: The Case of the Lost Friends
Young scholars show how soil varies across the landscape, they explain how soil can be used to solve mysteries. Pupils are introduced to techniques that would be used to distinguish soils from different places.