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Plant Power
Seventh graders discuss the role of plants on Earth's biological system. In this life science instructional activity, 7th graders explain the process of transpiration and its importance in establishing Earth's climate patterns.
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Water Lesson Plan
Students discuss the importance of water in our daily lives. In this physics lesson, students calculate the pressure of water tower systems. They investigate the effect of certain variables using a computer simulation.
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What's the Matter with that Cup?
Fourth graders measure volume, circumference, and height of fast food cups, find which one has the greatest volume, and compare/contrast those measurements to discover any correlations between them.
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What is a Medicine?
Students brainstorm ideas about what makes a substance a "medicine" to determine their preconceptions about medicines. They evaluate whether certain substances should be defined as "medicines' and examine various systems of medicine.
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Red and Green Groups
Students select fruits and vegetables from a group of items placed in a bag. In this food pyramids instructional activity, students focus on the fruits and vegetables. Students understand the need to eat foods and vegetables.
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Hunger/ Nutrition
Seventh graders investigate nutrients and nutrition to determine what types of food the body needs for energy. They study each type of nutrient and why it is important to the body. They determine what a balanced diet is by completing the...
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Making Blood!
learners research blood's components, and use their math skills to recreate a model of whole blood using commonly found food items.
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What's In The Forest?
Students examine forest food chains and create a forest habitat in the classroom. They are introduced to the concept of interdependence in Nature. They define a simple forest food chain and develop inquiry process skills.
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Feeding Your Fish
Students discuss nutrition and diet. They look at copies of Tetra's Daily Nutrition Pyramid for Tropical Fish. They compare the fish feeding pyramid to the pyramid for human nutrition. Students examine a can of fish food.
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Impact of Exotic Species on Lake Ecology
Students examine the effect of foreign species on various habitats. In groups, they identify the population dynamics of the zebra mussel. They calculate averages and graph data from Seneca Lake in New York. They develop hypothesis...
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Minerals
Pupils compare the two main groups of minerals. In this nutritional lesson, students learn which foods contain the best source of minerals needed to maintain good health. They study the minerals that are required to be on the nutritional...
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Root, Root, Root for the Nutrients
Students observe the growth of a seed, predict what will happen when seeds are planted without soil, and conduct an experiment using a hydroponics system.
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Burning Snacks in Chem Lab
Learners determine the energy content of various snack foods. They measure the temperature changes in various snack foods as the foods are burned in order to determine the foods' energy content. Students create graphs and data tables of...
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Ecological Relationships
Middle schoolers identify ecological elements and their factors on species, populations and food webs. They analyze ecosystems for these elements and research how these factors influence species survival rate. Predictions on conditions...
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Bottled Model Lungs
Students will learn about the respiratory system by comparing and contrasting models, building their own models, and giving one another feedback. Questions about familiar body systems can be useful in getting students to start thinking...
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How Much is a Pound? A Weight Lesson
Fourth graders explore weight in pounds. In this measurement lesson, students estimate the weight of teacher-provided objects, measure the actual weight of the objects using scales, and discuss food products sold by the pound....
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"Oh Deer!"
Learners play a game where half of them are deer and the others are components of habitat: food, water, shelter and space. They signify their needs by hand gestures and take what they need to their side of the game. They discuss real...
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Wood is Everywhere!
Fifth graders diagram and label the parts of a tree. For this activity on how trees obtain food, 5th graders diagram and label the parts of a tree, and determine the diameter, height, and age of a tree.
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Wacky Wildlife World
Fourth graders research organisms in the environment in Kentucky and create brochures for the local area wildlife reserves. Individuals create brochures that include information on habitat, body characteristics, scientific class, role...
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Winogradsky in a Bottle: Beginning a Winogradsky Column
Students use their measurement skills by marking a bottle for construction purposes. They record qualitative and quantitative data and analyze their results. Students demonstrate evaluation of a small scale systems as a model for the...
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Making a Brassica Model
Students apply skills they have learned to construct an accurate model of the Brassica and then work together on a group project. They analyze how the parts of a system go together, and how these parts depend on each other. Finally,...
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The Night Tree
Second graders explore the book, Night Tree, by Eve Bunting. They read and discuss the story, identify what the tree did for the animals, create a food chain for animals to hang on a tree, and decorate a tree at school.
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Bats
Students model how the bones in a bat wing are organized. They develop questions about bat body parts based on photographs. They hypothesize how bats locate their food.
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Estuaries, Estuarine Habitats, and Adaptations
Young scholars conduct research on estuaries. They design and construct an estuary, describe the physical characteristics of an estuary, and create a diagram illustrating an estuarine food web.