University of Wisconsin
Noting Notable Features for Rain Gardens
Eight groups in your class are each responsible for a different aspect of surveying the campus for a suitable rain garden location. Features to consider include water flow, topography, sun/shade patterns, land surface, vegetation,...
Curated OER
Change Since 1609
Students recognize how the climate of the Hudson Valley has changed since the last glaciation. They explain these changes using a reconstruction of the land use changes in the Hudson Valley composed of confetti, Ziploc bags and other...
Curated OER
When You Were My Age, What Was This Place Like?
Students discover how land use in their community has changed. In this community and ecology lesson, students scan old newspapers to find articles about the development of community land. Students discuss and predict how land use has...
Curated OER
Surveying and Assessing the Environmental Compatibility of a Building Construction Site
Students examine an area of land and assess its suitability for construction purposes. This project requires a vast amount of hands-on experimentation, data analysis, community involvement, and job shadowing/career awareness.
Curated OER
Coastal Surveys
Students investigate the human impact on coastal land. For this coastal surveys lesson plan, students choose a coastal area and complete a survey sheet about the area. They choose a topic about a sea side village called Dunwich to...
Curated OER
Boston Harbor Cruise: A Shoreline Survey
The students take a harbor cruise, photograph, and draw shore line features attending to evidence of human impact/consequences, and its cost on marine/land animal habitats vegetation, weather patterns, signs of erosion, and the water...
Nature Works Everywhere
Recording the Rainforest
Animals have evolved to communicate in different frequencies so they can hear each other throughout the rainforest. The first instructional activity in a three-part series begins by exploring an interactive story map online about the...
Wilderness Classroom
Pollution
Educate scholars on pollution—air, water, and land—with a series of lessons that begin with a thorough explanation of each type. Learners then take part in three activities to reinforce the importance of reducing pollution. They...
Curated OER
Geometry of Exploration: Eyes Over Mars
Students research how engineers and scientists generate linear and angular measurements with geometry to survey the Earth and Mars. They assess how geometric shapes affect navigation. A surveyor comes to the classroom and explains how he...
Curated OER
National Worm Survey
Pupils participate in the National Worm Survey. In this National Worm Survey lesson, students generate data on earthworms. Pupils submit their data to the online database Worm Watch.
Curated OER
Comparing the Impact of Multiple Uses
Learners study multiple land uses and their effects on one another. They assess multiple land uses in National Forests and Grasslands and evaluate the effects of each use on all other uses. They develop a comprehensive list of human...
SeaWorld
Marvelous Manatees
Here is an interesting lesson plan on the manatee for your upper graders or middle schoolers. A game is played where learners work together to complete a successful manatee migration. It's a board game, and all of the game components are...
Curated OER
Land and People: finding a Balance
Students discuss "The Enemy Within: The Struggle to Clean up Cape Cod's Military Superfund Site" by Seth Rolbein by figuring out how there should be safe groundwater. In this science lesson, students pretend to be an interested party for...
Curated OER
Soils
Students apply knowledge of soil, environmental impacts, economics, multiple human demands, and use given data for a proposed scenario in making land use decisions. They debate land use issues and/or scenarios and discuss a case study.
Curated OER
Build a Model Watershed
Collaborative earth science groups create a working model of a watershed. Once it has been developed, you come along and introduce a change in land use, impacting the quality of water throughout their watershed. Model making is an...
Nuffield Foundation
Observing Earthworm Locomotion
One acre of land can contain more than a million earthworms. Scholars collect earthworms to observe their movements. Once placed on paper, the sound of movement often fascinates pupils. When placed on glass, the earthworm is unable to...
Curated OER
Soil Survey Lesson
Students use materials to research the soil in their local area. They complete worksheets with the information they gather and locate the areas on a soil survey map. They share their information with the class.
Curated OER
Water Quality Survey
Students identify the differences in the water quality of a stream and complete water testing. In this water quality lesson students collect aquatic insects and identify them.
Curated OER
Runoff: Intro to Watersheds
Students are taught that a watershed is, what types of basic land cover are impermeable and permeable to water. They trace the flow of water around their school and around their home. Students determine what watershed their school is a...
Curated OER
Earth's Poles
In this Earth's Poles worksheet, learners survey, examine and dissect the North and South Magnetic Poles, the Earth's axis and summarize the Aurora legends. Students research six directives involving space weather and predicting answers.
Curated OER
Science: Draining the Land - the Mississippi River
Students use topographic maps to identify parts of rivers. In addition, they discover gradient and predict changes in the channels caused by variations in water flow. Other activities include sketching a river model with a new channel...
Curated OER
The Art and Soul of the Land
Students study conservation and how different communication styles used by different conservationists. In this conservation lesson plan students obtain information on a cartoon or a few quotes from a conservationist and are ask to...
NOAA
Mapping the Deep-Ocean Floor
How do you create a map of the ocean floor without getting wet? Middle school oceanographers discover the process of bathymetric mapping in the third installment in a five-part series of lessons designed for seventh and eighth graders....
Beyond Benign
Ecological Footprint
How does your lifestyle measure up in terms of your ecological footprint? Young ecologists examine their impact on the planet using an insightful online calculator. A short quiz asks users to rank the size of their homes, their energy...