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...
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
Tree Seedling Planting- My Relationship and Responsibility to our Forests
In this trees lesson, 4th graders read the book, A Tree is Growing and complete a KWL chart on how trees grow and how they are used. Students research the symbiotic relationship of humans and trees, create tree collages, plant a seed,...
Curated OER
The Delicate Balance within a Forest Ecosystem
Young scholars examine the causes and effects of alterations in a forest ecosystem and evaluate how human actions may only seem to have minor consequences, but can lead to extinctions of large numbers of populations. Students produce an...
Curated OER
Forests of the Sea
Students read about and conduct experiments to learn about the vegetation under Monterey Bay. In this Monterey Bay instructional activity, students read about and look at brightly colored pictures of the different types of seaweed that...
K20 LEARN
Transpiring Trees: Plant Transpiration and the Water Cycle
Looking for a tree-rific addition to your water cycle unit? Teams of young foresters examine the role of transpiration in the water cycle through a week's worth of activities. Pupils analyze how trees take in and transport water during...
Curated OER
Forest Food Web
Students explore the elements of a forest ecosystem. They examine the elements needed to form a forest food web. Students construct and describe food webs that include nonliving elements of the ecosystem.
Curated OER
Dry Forest: Flowers
Students explore botany by examining diagrams. In this plant reproduction lesson plan, students define a list of plant vocabulary terms and identify plant anatomy from a diagram. Students complete several plant activity worksheets and...
Curated OER
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.
Curated OER
Log Hotel
Students identify how the different plants and animals work together to cause the changes in the log. Students discuss the sequence of events in the life of the tree and log. Students plant a seed to take home and care for. Students...
Curated OER
Edible and Medicinal Plants: Field Trip Guide
Though it's designed to guide a field trip to the New York Botanical Garden, you could take resource like this one to a local park, wilderness area, school garden, or even a weedy empty lot. Middle schoolers identify plant parts and...
Curated OER
Why Does the Cocoa Tree Need a Tropical Rainforest to Grow?
Fourth graders explore the requirements a cocoa plant needs to survive. They research where chocolate comes from and how humans can affect the growth of cocoa trees. Students create a 3-D model of a cocoa tree and compare and contrast...
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...
Lerner Publishing
Teaching Habitats
What makes up a habitat? Use this resource to engage first graders in the exploration of desert, wetland, forest, and ocean habitats. Youngsters classify plants and animals into the four distinct habitats through drawings and cutting and...
National Wildlife Federation
Habitat Web
Young scientists weave together an understanding of ecosystems with this fun collaborative activity. Taking on the roles of different living and non-living elements of specific habitats, learners use a ball of yarn to create the web of...
Curated OER
Ecology
Learners explore, experience and experiment identifying the human impact on the environment of vegetative differences within the same biome. They assess what causes deserts, rain forests, savannahs, tundras and saguaros and how these...
Curated OER
Rain Forests: A Disappearing Act?
Students examine and locate rainforests on maps, and research the patterns of their destruction. They develop a bar graph of rainfall and temperature data, write a journal entry, and research the people, animals, and plants/products of...
Curated OER
Lesson 6: Paniolo Country Grazers in the Dry Forest
Students explore grazing animals in a dry forest. In this science lesson, students act out the role of a grazer in the dry forest. Students cut their growing lawn and observe what happens after being cut. Students explore differences...
Curated OER
What is a Dry Forest?
Young scholars explore the importance of the dry forest. In this science lesson, students discuss the history of dry forests and changes that have occurred due to human interaction. Young scholars create a map showing the historical...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan # 2: Forest Poems
Learners read and write poetry. In this poetry writing lesson plan, students read and discuss several poems with a "forest" theme, and then write their own forest haiku. Possible publication in the Natural Inquirer is described.
Curated OER
Fall Colors: How the Forest Makes Energy
Read about the process of photosynthesis, and how plants use energy from sunlight to grow. The reading passage includes a photosynthesis diagram and focuses on changes in leaf color occurring in the fall.
Curated OER
Guidebook
Students create a guidebook page about a plant on the school grounds. In this life and plant science lesson, students identify plants around the school, then research the plant and write a narrative about it. Students publish the book...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Our Earth: Challenge Activities (Theme 8)
This packet, the first in the series of support materials for the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt thematic units on our earth, contains enrichment activities for learners who have mastered the basic concepts of the lessons. Kids create a...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Our Earth: Extra Support Lessons (Theme 8)
Plant or animal? As part of the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt thematic unit Our Earth, learners engage in activities and exercises that provide them with extra support to master the concepts in the unit.