+
Lesson Plan
Science Matters

Seed Adaptations for Dispersal

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
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...
+
Lesson Plan
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Lesson 1: WildCam Gorongosa

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
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...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ecosystem Organization

For Teachers 4th - 6th
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.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ecosystem Energizers

For Teachers 4th
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.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Interdependence: Discovering What Makes a Balanced Ecosystem

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students demonstrate that plants and animals are interdependent in a balanced ecosystem.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Legend of The Lorax

For Teachers 4th - 6th
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,...
+
Activity
Foundation for Water & Energy Education

How Can a Dam Affect a River? Activity A

For Teachers 4th - 6th
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...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Friend, Foe, or . . .

For Teachers 5th - 6th
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...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
Chicago Botanic Garden

Calculating Your Ecological Footprint

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
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...
+
Activity
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Modeling Trophic Cascades

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
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...
+
Lesson Plan
2
2
Chicago Botanic Garden

Personal Choices and the Planet

For Students 7th - 9th Standards
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...
+
Activity
University of Georgia

Land Biomes Project

For Teachers 6th - 10th Standards
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...
+
Lesson Plan
3
3
Chicago Botanic Garden

Personal Choices and the Planet

For Teachers 10th - 12th Standards
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...
+
Lesson Plan
LABScI

Population Dynamics: The Predator-Prey Lab

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
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...
+
PPT
Biology Junction

Land Biomes

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
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...
+
Lesson Plan
US Mint

Desert Dwellers

For Teachers K - 4th Standards
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...
+
Activity
1
1
It's About Time

The Water Cycle

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
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...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
Chicago Botanic Garden

Greenhouse Gas Emissions – Natural and Human Causes

For Students 7th - 9th Standards
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...
+
Lesson Plan
Science 4 Inquiry

The Ups and Downs of Populations

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
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...
+
Activity
It's About Time

Factors Affecting Population Size

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
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...
+
Lesson Plan
LABScI

Taxonomy: Who is in My family?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
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...
+
AP Test Prep
College Board

2011 AP® Environmental Science Free-Response Questions

For Students 10th - 12th
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...
+
Lesson Plan
University of Georgia

The Power of Peanuts

For Students 9th - 12th
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...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
Chicago Botanic Garden

Accessing Prior Knowledge: Global Climate Change Survey

For Teachers 5th - 6th
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...