Science Matters
Seed Adaptations for Dispersal
After a grand conversation about seeds, adaptation, and dispersal, scholars work collaboratively to examine seeds and record their findings on a four-column chart. Small groups share their observations and further discuss seed...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Lesson 1: WildCam Gorongosa
Take a walk on the wild side! Episode one of an eight-part series of interactive lessons regarding Gorongosa National Park invites learners to become a part of the citizen science community. Scholars read a brief overview of the trail...
Curated OER
Ecosystem Organization
Young scholars examine the structure of ecosystems. In this ecology lesson, students listen to a lecture on relationships among organisms and biomes. Young scholars use the information to create ecosystem organization pyramids.
Curated OER
Ecosystem Energizers
Fourth graders see how the flow of energy through an ecosystem made up of producers, consumers, and decomposers carries out the processes of life and that some energy dissipates as heat and is not recycled.
Curated OER
Interdependence: Discovering What Makes a Balanced Ecosystem
Students demonstrate that plants and animals are interdependent in a balanced ecosystem.
Curated OER
Legend of The Lorax
Pupils explore ecosystems. They read or listen to Dr. Seuss' The Lorax to draw conclusions and make predictions about the environmental impact and use of resources. They write poems about real forests and the wildlife which inhabit them,...
Foundation for Water & Energy Education
How Can a Dam Affect a River? Activity A
Written for Washington state students in life science, this lesson provides an opportunity to examine the residents of local freshwater habitats. You or the class collects a water sample, and learners try to examine what organisms live...
Curated OER
Friend, Foe, or . . .
As a result of this lesson, upper elementary ocean explorers will be able to describe several interrelationships: symbiosis, mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism. They learn that the biological richness is increased near seamounts and...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Calculating Your Ecological Footprint
You can lower your ecological footprint by recycling! Lesson four in this series of five has individuals, through the use of a computer, calculate their ecological footprints. Through discussions and analysis they determine how many...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Modeling Trophic Cascades
In the ecological game of who eats who, one small change can have a big impact! Individuals create food chains in an array of ecosystems, then determine what happens to organisms in the chain when one organism changes its feeding...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Personal Choices and the Planet
The last activity in the series of four has individuals determine steps they can take to reduce their carbon footprints and then analyze their schools' recycling programs. Through a sustainability audit, they identify how and where their...
University of Georgia
Land Biomes Project
Challenge scholars to research a biome and create a presentation for the producers of Survivor to choose their ecosystem for the next season's show. The materials include outlines, worksheets, and grading rubrics for individuals as well...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Personal Choices and the Planet
How big is your footprint? Activity three culminates the series by having groups complete carbon footprint audits with people in their schools and/or around the districts. Groups then gather their data, create a presentation including...
LABScI
Population Dynamics: The Predator-Prey Lab
Wolves eat better when the bunny population increases, but how long does that last? A series of 12 biology lessons uses the sixth installment to explore the predator-prey relationship between bunny and wolf populations. Young scientists...
Biology Junction
Land Biomes
Biomes share similar climates and ecosystems, despite being separated geographically on the planet. A presentation introduces the six most common land biomes. It focuses on the commonalities in climate, plants, and animals with many...
US Mint
Desert Dwellers
What can a quarter possibly teach young learners about desert ecosystems? More than you might think. After displaying and discussing the included picture of the Arizona state quarter, the class participates in a series of shared reading...
It's About Time
The Water Cycle
Explore the water cycle with a hands-on earth science activity that prompts pupils to measure the amount of water normally transpired by plants. After they describe the flow of the water cycle and provide examples of how human activities...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Greenhouse Gas Emissions – Natural and Human Causes
Part three in the series of seven has pupils discussing the different greenhouses gases, learning about the carbon cycle, and then watching a short video about the carbon cycle. Based on their knowledge, individuals complete a greenhouse...
Science 4 Inquiry
The Ups and Downs of Populations
Life has its ups and downs ... especially if you're an animal! Biology scholars engage in a population study through an inquiry-based lesson. Pupils work together to explore the factors that affect deer populations, then examine the...
It's About Time
Factors Affecting Population Size
How do we predict future population growth? Young researchers investigate various factors affecting the size of our population. As they calculate and interpret graphs to determine factors that could potentially affect increases and...
LABScI
Taxonomy: Who is in My family?
Find similarities in seemingly unlike organisms. The second instructional activity in a series of 12 builds the concept of a taxonomy and explores the use of a dichotomous key. Learners begin in part one by attempting to group a set of...
College Board
2011 AP® Environmental Science Free-Response Questions
Beetle population, climate change, and acidification are all real environmental threats. Scholars display their knowledge of these threats and offer solution strategies in a four-question assessment resource. Questions from the AP® exam...
University of Georgia
The Power of Peanuts
Measure the amount of energy in a peanut by igniting a chemical reaction. Classes use a laboratory setup to burn a peanut and measure the amount of heat it releases through a temperature analysis. They calculate the number of Joules of...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Accessing Prior Knowledge: Global Climate Change Survey
Begin a unit on weather and climate change by assessing prior knowledge of the topic. Learners respond to a survey with questions that ask what they think causes climate change, the effects of climate change, and if it is important to...