Berkshire Museum
Nature Journaling: Experience the Outdoors Through Writing and Drawing
Step into the great outdoors and develop young scientists' skills of observation with a nature journaling lesson. Given a specific focus or goal, children practice making and recording observations of nature through written descriptions...
National Park Service
The Young Naturalist
Beginning with a brief history of our 26th president, Theodore Roosevelt, then followed by a discussion of his interest in nature, young scientists take to the outdoors to locate and observe local plants and insects. Scholars return to...
Curated OER
Jane Goodall, Renowned Naturalist and Champion of Chimpanzees
Students study the life of Jane Goodall and how she made an impact studying chimpanzees. In this endangered species lesson students write in their journals.
Curated OER
Natural Beauty: Looking Sharp
Students create covers for their "nature journals" using watercolor techniques and the artistic ideas of color, depth, and focal point. This instructional activity can be used in the Science or Art classroom and meets national standards...
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Genes Are Real Things
Proving microscopic structures exist is a difficult task. Learn how scientists did just that in the mid-1800s as they set out to identify the cellular structures related to genetics. The online lesson explains the collection of work that...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Plant Phenology Data Analysis
Beginning in 1851, Thoreau recorded the dates of the first spring blooms in Concord, and this data is helping scientists analyze climate change! The culminating instructional activity in the series of four has pupils graph and analyze...
PBS
Season Seeking
It's a time of change. A hands-on activity engages young scientists in a lesson highlighting the change of seasons. They brainstorm indicators of season changes in nature and then look for them. Next, they record observations in a field...
Curated OER
Migration
Students study reasons for and examples of bird migration as a behavioral adaptation. They investigate the Bernoulli's Principles.
Curated OER
Red Tail Ridge Wetland Study Project
Fifth graders use a real life scenario of the wetlands to gather information on creatures of the habitat. In this wetlands lesson, 5th graders research the interdependence of organisms in a healthy habitat. Students collected samples...
Curated OER
What Do You Know About the Birds Around You?
Students compare and contrast various species of birds. After participating in a brief discussion of the characteristics of birds, they view birds in their natural habitat and in pictures with a focus on the similarities and differences...
Curated OER
Green Leaves
Third graders, after having conducted one experiment three times, record their observations results in a chart. They predict what hidden colors they believe that a leaf holds. Students record their predictions in their science note books...
Curated OER
Tulips: Predicting the Arrival of Spring
Students use the blooming of tulips as a tool to measure spring's journey north. They predict when tulips bloom at 13 selected Journey North gardens in various geographic regions.