Curated OER
Food for Thought
Learners understand the importance of each member of a food chain through a game. In this food chains lesson, students receive background information and then play a game to simulate what happens in the food chain of an endangered...
Curated OER
Exploring Ecosystems
Fourth graders investigate ecosystems. In this ecosystem lesson, 4th graders explore producers, consumers, and decomposers and study the interdependence of each.
Curated OER
Understanding Interactions Among Local Species and the Local Environment
Young scholars examine the differences between biotic and abiotic factors, explain the difference between habitat and niche and compare how organisms get their nutritional needs. In this local environment instructional activity...
Curated OER
Understanding Our Planet's Food Web
Sixth graders, in groups, examine how humans have a tenuous position as part of an ecosystem.
Curated OER
Soil Porosity, Moisture Content, pH, and Density
This lab activity does not have to be done with AP environmental scientists. It can also be done with middle to high school earth scientists. The procedures aren't complex. Learners determine the density of dry and wet sand in order to...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Exploring Trophic Cascades
What happens when the top predator on an ecosystem disappears? Scholars explore this idea through an introduction example and four case studies. They learn to analyze the importance of every member in a food pyramid to come to their...
Science Matters
Crawly Composters
Get your hands dirty with an interactive lesson that showcases the process of decomposing and returning nutrients back into the soil. After building a compost pile, pupils regularly observe the...
College Board
2012 AP® Environmental Science Free-Response Questions
Sometimes solving one problem leads to another. Scholars respond to questions about fracking to harvest natural gas and other environmental related topics. The resource provides items released from the 2012 AP® Environmental Science exam...
Virginia Department of Education
The Cycles of Nature
Encourage peer collaboration and assist with the creation of visual aids to identify carbon, water, and nitrogen cycles as your class learns more about nature. They discuss relative information, create a visual aid...
Curated OER
Where Plants and Animals Live
Students explore and discuss facts about a woodland environment, the plants and animals that live there, and changing seasons in the woods. They conclude that plants in the woods provide food and shelter for animals living there.
Curated OER
Tracy Aviary Wetland Restoration Module - WEST
Students become engaged in wetland conservation as they take part throughout the school year in restoring a small wetland at the Tracy Aviary. They visit the Tracy Aviary wetland at various times during the year and become involved in...
Curated OER
Animals Lewis and Clark Encountered
Students conduct research on an animal Lewis and Clark encountered on their journey, compare numerous factors from past and present, and report findings to other groups by web page or discussion board.
Curated OER
Keys and Webs
Students 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
Marine Ecosystems
Students identify producers and consumers and construct a food chain from four marine ecosystems. They describe the delicate balance among organisms in each environment. In groups, students discuss the human activities that upset the...
Curated OER
Aquatic Ecosystems
Students study ponds and wetland ecosystems and examine the food chains and webs in them. In this aquatic ecosystems lesson students answer questions about the diversity of the flora and fauna in a pond.
Curated OER
Populations
Learners calculate the area of grasslands needed to support a small pride of lions. They also identify food web links in an ecosystem and trace the energy pathways in an ecosystem.
Curated OER
Ecological Communities:The Prairie
Young scholars study the meaning of ecological community and recognize its complexity. In this ecology lesson students diagram a food web.
Curated OER
Ecology
Fourth graders research an ecosystem and its endangered species. They create a PowerPoint Presentation, oral report, poster or a booklet based on their research. They research on the internet and in biology texts in teams of 4.
Curated OER
Jelly Critters
Students compare and contrast three different organisms that are considered gelatinous zooplankton. They describe how they fit into marine food webs.
Global Change
Impact of a Changing Climate on the Pacific Walrus
How many of us can say they've seen a Pacific walrus? Not many and one of the reasons is the impact of climate change on their aquatic environment. Children get to think about the food web of the Bering Sea by creating an actual web with...
Curated OER
Endangered Ecosystems Grades 4-5
Students read about research at the field sites. They read field reports from team members at the site. Students conduct their own research on ecosystems in their lives. They explore and build an interactive food web. Students create...
Curated OER
Who's Coming to Dinner?
Learners identify the role predators/prey play in food chains, differentiate between food chains and webs, identify factors that affect the balance in food webs, and propose solutions to protect endangered species' environments and...
Curated OER
Depending On Each Other. Communities And Ecosystems
Seventh graders investigate how the ecosystems of the world has influence upon the immediate and nonimmediate environments. The interelationships of food webs is discussed. The class researches one type of ecosystem for a class project...
Curated OER
Forest Ecology
Students examine the different plants and animals in British Columbia. In this forest ecology lesson students explore how ecosystems work, classify animals and investigate food webs and chains.