Students explore the concept and implications of extinction using the example of the Passenger Pigeon, once an extremely abundant species that was completely eliminated by humans.

The story of one bird provides valuable insight into general animal behaviors and interactions. Young researchers investigate the peregrine falcon using a web search. They analyze the behaviors of the raptor including its migration...

View Byzantine architecture from the comfort of your classroom. A PowerPoint presentation introduces important vocabulary terms and examples of Byzantine architecture in the ninth activity of the 11-part series. A Jeopardy game reviews...

Students see that ecosystems provide services to people that are essential to life as we know it. Reporters (drops of water) could interview the trees and soil in the surrounding ecosystems for news stories on how they helped keep the...

Students access information at remote sites using telecommunications, identify impacts by reviewing past El Ni??o events, make and use scale drawings, maps, and maps symbols to find locations and describe relationships.

Pupils examine the potential impact of climate change to agriculture, coastal areas, forests, water, and human health. They hypothesize what might happen to a sugar maple forest and hold a debate about global warming.

Using a relief map of New York State, learners answer questions about the distance between different cities, identify bodies of water, and more. First, they discuss vocabulary related to the Hudson River area. Then, they complete a...

Students combine imaginative powers with known map-making techniques to create a whole new world.

Learners follow the journey of Henry Hudson down the river with his name. Using journal entries and maps, they learn about its exploration. They use maps to identify stages of the journey, and practice converting distances into miles.

Students identify heartwood, sapwood, and a tree's annual rings, infer from a tree's rings what damage or stress might have occurred in its life, and make a time-line of human history that coincides with a tree's rings.

Students discuss methods of transportation they use and create a trip tally to determine which methods they use the most.

Seventh graders explore the Eastern Hemisphere. They investigate the customs, currency, climate, location and other facts needed in order to travel to a specific country. Students receive a stamp on their "passport" when their research...

Students discuss the functioning of the digestive system and the specific enzymes present. They observe the action of amylase on starch to identify characteristics of enzymes then perform an experiment on the effects of temperature on...

While this lesson focuses on a study of the Hudson River, it could be used as a template for a discussion of map skills, converting measurements, and plotting a route. The lesson includes vocabulary and other resources to make it a...

Seventh graders review and discuss architecture from South Asia. They then study images of various buildings from North Africa/Southwest Asia, and make comparisons

Students identify species and components of a Great Lakes food web. Using note cards, they place themselves in the correct order of the food chain based on the species present. They discuss what they believe happens to various species...

Eighth graders are introduced to the concept of conservation. As a class, they brainstorm ways in which they can or already have helped the environment. Using the internet, they research key individuals and organizations that help the...

Cities are compared to living, breathing, metabolizing organisms. Fourth in a five-part series of lessons, this one focuses on the flow of materials through a city. Links to interesting websites and images make your delivery of...

Students form definitions of the greenhouse effect based on prior knowledge, class discussion, viewing diagrams, and participate in group brainstorming sessions and class discussions related to the impact of the greenhouse effect and...

Students explain how moon phases occur. They describe and explain at least two common misconceptions that people have about the moon. Students explain what a star is. They explain 3 ways that the night sky has been used throughout history.

Students collect survey data on the prevalence of asthma in a community. They summarize and display the survey data in ways that show meaning.

Students examine the attributes of unusual plants and animals before determining how they are adapted to specific habitat. They complete an associated worksheet. They make posters with information that they find during research sessions.

Students study a variety of global wetland habitats, their similarities and differences. They examine the variety of life that such wetlands support and determine that many animals and plants are adapted to life in wetlands, that...

Students describe the complementary relationships between pollinators and the plants they pollinate, identify adaptations that flowers have developed to "encourage" pollination, and create and draw their own "designer" flowers.