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Ecosystem Services - Water Purification
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...
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Whales
First graders investigate two different types of whales; toothed and baleen. They describe what the different types of whale eat. They listen to a cassette of Dyan Sheldon's, The Whale Song before making stick puppets to dramatize the...
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Tree Cookies
Learners 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.
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Prairie Math
Students work together to build models of prairie plants. Using the model, they estimate the height and then measure them using metric and standard units. They write a fraction to represent their part of the whole set and compare and...
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Great Lakes Food Web
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...
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Yesterday and Today
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...
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Backyard Blitz
Students create a landscape design using shapes, colors and textures. A key is created with hyperlinks to information reports pertaining to the plants, trees and shrubs used in the design. Explore design principal utilizing a variety of...
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Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
Young scholars explore erosion. Through multi-media and hands-on activities, students identify the effects of wave erosion and hurricanes on a barrier island. Young scholars watch a video and create a cause and effect chart of their...
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Enduring Understanding
Fourth graders explore indigenous people of rainforest and examine their customs and ways of life. They discuss how rainforests should be protected not only for their plants and animals, but also for indigenous people who live in them,...
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Urban Ecosystems 3: Cities as Population Centers
Students discover that throughout history cities have been centers of population but that human exploitation of fossil fuels was key to the growth of large cities worldwide. They research urban growth through a number of websites.
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Push/Pull Factors and Welsh Emigration
Students view and discuss short sections of movies that relate to immigration. Working in groups, students create a map that shows directions of internal migration in their assigned geographical area. Students review ads/booklets created...
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Fall Bulletin Board Ideas
Fall is a perfect time to make colorful bulletin boards that you can use to display student work.
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An Interdisciplinary Approach to Learning with Walt Whitman
Use poetry as a mode for creating interest and cross discipline learning.
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Acrostic Animal
Second graders listen as the teacher describes how an acrostic poem is written. They research an endangered animal of Puerto Rico. Students write an acrostic poem as a class, and then individually about the animal they research. Students...
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The Sounds Of Nature
Second graders investigate the concept of sounds in nature. The sound of a coqui frog is used as an example. They identify species of frogs by listening to the sounds they make. Also, 2nd graders experience and identify other sounds of...
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"Mother Earth" -- Past
Students examine our connection to the Earth. They identify how Native Americans believed in a "Mother Earth". They discover how the earth and life are connected.
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A Cat's Life
Students construct a timeline of a panther's life. Students decorate their timeline with illustrations and words, or they can choose to have it orally read to the class. Students use the computer to construct their time-lines. Students...
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Island Culture: Puerto Rico
Students explore the culture of Puerto Rico. They create maps of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. They work in small groups to research a decade in history and add drawings and pictures to a timeline of their decade. They practice...
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South of the Border Down Brooklyn Way
Students use the Internet to research the behavior and ecology of feral monk parakeets. They design a monk parakeet behavioral study, then post their results to a Web page.
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Days of '49: "I've Been Toiling Hard for the Last Two And a Half Years"
Students trace the stages of gold mining in California. They discuss the life of a gold miner and how the discovery of gold influenced towns and cities in California during the 1949 Gold Rush.
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Animal Games
Students explore a variety of games on the Internet that will teach them about animals; they focus on the Florida panther. Students choose the activity that is of interest to them, and then rotate between the games online and the...
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Trash Flash Through Time
Young scholars describe ways in which solid waste was disposed in the past and the present. They survey an older citizen about his/her solid waste disposal methods. They discover solid waste practices from long ago.
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Designing Future Houses
Students discuss the changes we face and what kind of future house designs students can imagine. They create a floor plan, make an architectural drawing, and write a short description about their future house.
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Fish Communities in the Hudson
Learning to read data tables is an important skill. Use this resource for your third, fourth, or fifth graders. Learners will will study tables of fish collection data to draw conclusions. The data is based on fish environments in the...