Curated OER
Marine Food Web
Young scholars investigate the effects of the food chain on all animals by creating a food web. In this seafood lesson, students discuss energy flow and research a specific marine organism of their choice. Young scholars create a food...
Forest Foundation
The Web of Life
Producers, herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, decomposers. To begin a study of the forest ecosystem, learners examine the connections among the members of ecological communities.
Forest Foundation
Forest Health
Young foresters examine the strategies, like prescribed burns and thinning, that are employed to ensure healthy forests.
Curated OER
Tropical Forest Food Chain
Learners explore the interdependence of the animals and plants in tropical rainforests. They explore the importance of conserving biodiversity and tropical food chains. They create a tropical forest food chain and identify species that...
Curated OER
Mature Forest Mime
Students come to understand vocabulary words through pantomime. In this vocabulary lesson, students first review several vocabulary words and their meaning, then they work in groups to pantomime the definitions.
University of Florida
Unhealthy Forests and the News
Everyone knows a tree makes a sound when it falls, but what do we know about dying trees? Class members learn background information about Laurel wilt disease from a teacher-led presentation. Team members work with partners to read and...
National Park Service
The Secret of Life
Dead trees provide nutrients for the soil, food for animals, protection and a home for organisms, a seed-bed for new trees, and a place for nitrogen-fixing bacteria to live. In the activity, pupils collect decaying logs, expose them to a...
Exploring Nature Educational Resources
Building A Classroom Food Web
From bears and owls to chipmunks and trees, all life depends on the sun for the energy to survive. Young biologists develop an understanding of this big idea as they arrange this series of plant and animal picture cards into food webs...
US Holocaust Museum
Life in Shadows: Hidden Children and the Holocaust
Hiding in the filth of a sewer, as a child, to avoid capture by Nazi soldiers—sounds scary! Scholars investigate the youngest victims of the Holocaust, the children. They research video clips and written sources from the Holocaust...
Curated OER
Many Uses of the Forest
First graders examine pictures of forest wildlife and identify different animals that live in the forest. They discuss resources the forest provides for human use and explore the concept that the forest is used by many at the same time.
Alabama Wildlife Federation
Forest Floor Investigation
Most living things go unnoticed. Change that using a fun activity about the nutrient cycle. Pupils use hula hoops to mark areas of study and then make observations about the living things they see. They first make surface observations,...
Curated OER
Forest Food Webs
Students consider the interdependency of life in a temperate forest by studying selected organisms from an Asian temperate forest and creating a food web.
Curated OER
Forest History for Kids
Students explore the Forest and the vocabulary associated with it. In this Forest instructional activity, students take the roles of photographer and reporter to examine an area of land for evidence of past life. Students take a close-up...
Curated OER
Mangrove Loss Faster than Land-Based Forests
Students explore the reasons Mangrove forests are in jeopardy. In this lesson, students read an article that discusses specific facts on Mangrove forests, then complete numerous activities that reinforce the information, such as taking...
Curated OER
Forest Ecosystem
Students become familiar with the temperate rainforest. In this forest ecosystem lesson, students identify the producers, consumers and decomposers in the forest ecosystem. Students sort cards and identify the trophic level of the...
Curated OER
Boom and Bust in the Ozark Forests
Here is a hard-hitting, cross-curricular lesson on the effects that the deforestation of the Ozark forests in the 19th century had on the people, animals, and ecosystems of the area. The Dr. Seuss book The Lorax is used as a way of...
Rainforest Alliance
Who Takes Care of the Maya Forest Corridor?
Who keeps animals safe? Who keeps us safe? Discover the helpers that make learning and growing possible through a medley of activities that focus on habitats—ours and those in the rainforest. Scholars are asked to identify one helper who...
NC Cooperative Extension, Guilford County Center
Life Cycle Of Painted Lady Butterflies
The Very Hungry Caterpillar is the inspiration for this project-based learning activity. Kindergartners create a lifecycle chart for a butterfly with four sections: egg, caterpillar, pupa, and butterfly. It is a three-dimensional...
Curated OER
Layers of the Forest
Young scholars explore rain forests. In this rain forest ecosystems lesson, students identify and describe the layers of the rain forest. Young scholars paint and decorate a large rain forest mural. Students write riddles about animals...
Curated OER
Ocean Life
Students identify marine mammals according to specific characteristics. Students read about marine mammals and list their characteristics. Next, students play a Whale and Otter game on the playground to simulate whales swimming across...
Curated OER
Forest Succession
Students research environmental change and why forests cannot stay the same for long. In this environmental growth lesson, students discuss the life cycle of a tree and examine tree cookies to discover the age of these specimens....
Curated OER
Forest Canopies: View from the Top
Students examine the economic and ecological benefits of forest canopies. They read and discuss an article, answer questions, conduct research, draw field sketches of a canopy ecosystem, conduct a feasibility study, or prepare tourist...
Curated OER
What Lives in the Forest?
Students investigate nearby forests and record their interactions with trees as well as wild life. In this ecology instructional activity, students read the book, In the Woods: Who's Been Here?, and attend class observational field...
Curated OER
Pond Life
Students recognize the habitats of animals that live near or in a pond. In this pond instructional activity, students examine pond water and look for pond organisms. Students observe organisms with a loupe and complete a worksheet.