Captain Planet Foundation
Energy Flow in the Garden
How can you tell what an owl has eaten? Study the food chain and flow of energy in an ecosystem by dissecting an owl pellet and noting the bones found inside. Additionally, the instructional activity includes a game about consumers and...
Curated OER
Micro-Organisms
Students investigate microscopic life by viewing video clips. In this organisms lesson, students view photographs and video clips on the internet of micro-organisms and discuss the harms and benefits of the creatures. Students complete...
Curated OER
Exploring Texture In the Garden
Students explore the garden environment. For this garden environment lesson, students investigate the needs and parts of a plant. Students discover the differences between fruits and vegetables while creating their own garden.
Curated OER
Pollination Power
Students go out into the garden and observe pollinating animals through hand lenses. In this pollination lesson plan, students also discuss how animals carry seeds to create new plants elsewhere.
Curated OER
How to Grow a Sunflower Plant
Learners explore botany by conducting a sunflower growth experiment. For this plant life lesson, students identify the anatomy of a sunflower plant and the essential nutrients it requires to grow. Learners utilize compost, soil, garden...
Curated OER
Making Field Journals
Students follow a bookmaking format to create a book and use it as a garden journal. In this science journal lesson, students follow book making directions to create a garden and science journal.
Captain Planet Foundation
Rotting Away
What happens at the end of a plant's life cycle? Show kids the natural way that plants show that they're decomposing, as well as the importance of compost, with a lesson about living organisms. After reading Log Cabin by Anne Schreiber,...
Captain Planet Foundation
Which Plant Is Which?
Learn about dichotomous keys, plant identification, and how to care for the planet with a lesson that includes several hands-on and innovative activities. Kids go on a plant scavenger hunt and classify the plants that they find...
Curated OER
Garden of Eden
Students view a video clip about animals and their habitats. They work together to discuss how different animals adapt to their environments. They create a new habitat for a specific animal and draw new adaptations for them.
Curated OER
Creating a Pollinator Garden
Young scholars build a pollination garden. In this pollination activity, students read directions and build a pollinator garden that will produce flowering plants for pollinator organisms to use in pollination of other plants.
Kenan Fellows
Sustainability: Learning for a Lifetime – Soil
Do great gardeners really have green thumbs—or just really great soil? Environmental scholars discover what makes Earth's soil and soil quality so important through research and experimentation. Learners also develop an understanding of...
Curated OER
Investigating Native Plants
Young scholars explore Earth science by participating in a gardening activity. In this botany lesson plan, students discuss a group of non-native plants that would grow well in a school garden. Young scholars complete a plant science...
Curated OER
Investigation 6 - Soil Profile
Fourth graders study the components of soil. They observe the basic components of soil and relate the components to plant growth. They record color, texture, and kinds of materials on their profile log (light color, denser, grittier -...
Curated OER
Biome Organizer Chart
In this biome organizer chart worksheet, students use the triangular chart to research and list the names of animals that live in the tundra, coniferous forest, deciduous forest, tropical rain forest, grasslands, and desert. Students...
Curated OER
Mystery Caterpillar Challenge and IPM or Organic Gardening Practices
In this caterpillar worksheet, students look at the picture of the caterpillar and identify what kind it is. Students then decide how to take care of it.
Curated OER
Planting A Garden On Campus
Students investigate the school campus area in order to plan the best spot for a class garden. They create a map of the school and research the different types of soil that exist in order to find the best spot. The class takes the...
Curated OER
How Does Your Garden Grow?
Students explore plant life by reading books about gardening. In this botany lesson, students read the books From Seed to Plant and Oh Say Can You Seed? while identifying the necessary elements to raising a healthy plant. Students view...
Curated OER
Color in the Garden
Third graders study color in a garden environment. In this color lesson, 3rd graders explore the colors of living and nonliving elements within a garden environment. Resources are provided.
Chicago Botanic Garden
Leaf Litter Ecology Lab
Some organisms spend their entire lives in leaf litter. The third in a series of six is a great lesson exploring the community of leaf litter. Groups gather and then spread leaf litter over white paper and remove leaves/twigs while...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Review and Assessment: Causes and Effects of Climate Changes
The last activity in the series of five is a short one where individuals show what they've learned about the causes and effects of climate change. Working independently, they fill in a graphic organizer, then compare their notes with a...
Curated OER
Metamorphosis Magic
Students make different motions for each stage in the butterfly life cycle and plant a garden. In this butterfly life cycle lesson plan, students can take the mini gardens home and discuss how butterflies help gardens.
Curated OER
Habitat Hopscotch
Third graders explore animal characteristics by participating in a bat environment game. In this natural habitat lesson, 3rd graders identify the physical anatomy of a bat and discuss their eating and sleeping habits. Students conduct a...
Education Outside
Soil Composition & Discovery
Organic or mineral? How does the matter matter? Second graders use their knowledge of the rock cycle to label the different components in garden soil.
Curated OER
How Does Your Garden Grow?
Young scholars create a design for a school garden. In this garden design lesson plan, students analyze what plants grow best in their school's climate and work in teams to design a garden. Young scholars measure the existing space,...