NOAA
Build Your Own Ocean Ecosystem
Hold the sea in the palm of your hand! Amateur oceanographers work together to create models of an ocean ecosystem in the sixth and final installment in a series. Raise awareness of global ocean health issues through guided research,...
Curated OER
Aquatic Ecosystem Exploration
Learners visit a local stream, pond, creek, or river and collect macroinvertebrates. They sort macroinvertebrates and identify each species using a dichotomous key. Students decide on trophic levels and construct a possible food web for...
Curated OER
Dissolved Oxygen in an Aquatic Ecosystem
Students explain why dissolved oxygen is important in aquatic ecosystems. They evaluate the optimal dissolved oxygen levels for living organisms.
Curated OER
Lakes and Ponds
Students describe and recognize the difference between a lake and a pond. They name six ways in which a lake or pond can be formed. They describe the importance and act of evaporation on a waterway.
NOAA
Stressed Out!
Are our oceans really suffering due to the choices humans make? The sixth and final installment in the volume of activities challenges research groups to tackle one of six major topics that impact ocean health. After getting to the...
Curated OER
Threatened, Endangered & Extinct Lesson Plan
Students examine the basic needs of living organisms. In this science lesson, students study ecosystems and discover that organisms have basic needs that must be met.
Curated OER
Graphic Organizers Aid Comprehension
Students create story webs to aid comprehension of ecosystems. In this reading strategies lesson, students discover the importance of organizing information while reading a nonfiction text. Students produce story webs to communicate...
Curated OER
How Healthy is the Wetland?
Young scholars explore wetlands. In this ecology lesson, students visit a wetland site and collect data about the wetland functions. Young scholars record their results and use the data recorded to rate the wetland site on its function.
Curated OER
Relating Number of Insect Species to Water Quality
Students are asked to respond to questions such as:" Have there been surveys of the area to inventory the species?" (For example, for a wetland area, do they know what amphibians live there and how abundant they are?) Are there any...
Curated OER
Raindrops Keep Burning On My head
Students investigate the effects and causes of acid rain. They test pH of household items to familiarize themselves with pH scale and compare that information with acid rain solutions. They investigate impact of acid rain via internet...
Curated OER
Why Care About Amphibian Population Decline and Malformations?
Young scholars examine the reasons for preserving wildlife. They look at reasons for amphibian malformations and write an essay about the ethical issues that this brings up. They listen to the teacher read quotes about extinction and how...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Investigating the Long Meadow Lake Unit of Valley Nat'l Wildlife Refuge
This is a field investigation at the Bass Ponds Trailhead area in the MN Valley National Wildlife Refuge in which students will collect data in the field and samples to test back in the classroom. Students will try to elicit the...