Learners discuss ecosystems, eliciting their current knowledge of an ecosystem. Students receive an Ecosystems document and look at the picture. Learners brainstorm connection between the cover picture and ecosystems. The indicated...

Students explore the history of their community through researching grave markers. They visit a local cemetary, partcipate in a cemetary scavenger hunt, conduct a survey for various graves, and write an essay describing their cemetary...

Students explain why compass angles need to be corrected for regional magnetic variation. They observe the difference between magnetic and true north. Each student measures the angle of variation for a town in a different state.

Students use a compass and their hands to find positions of stars and planets in the night sky or of the sun during the day.

Does the angle of a solar panel change the output? Emerging engineers find out! Demonstrate for your class how they can angle a straw to match the angle of light rays coming from a source. Then turn them loose to experiment with the...

Your shoes get a lot of mileage in familiar places. Represent the places you have traveled the most with an art project based on a print of Indian People Wear Shoes and Socks by Juane Quick-to-See Smith. Kids trace their shoes and...

Using GPS units, small groups participate in a scavenger hunt to find an object that you have hidden. They use coordinates for stopping points along a pre-planned path to get to the final cache. This is a terrific activity to include in...

Elementary ecologists pretend to be migratory hummingbirds. They fly between wintering and nesting grounds, trying to reach a habitat haven. In a musical-chair fashion, some birds will miss out, and are removed from the game. To further...

After reviewing food chains, your class members participate in an arctic predator-prey game that exemplifies the impact of climate change of food availability. If you are in a hurry, skip this lesson, but if you have the time to...

You will need to gather a number of tokens, bags, and other various game components in order to incorporate this activity into your curriculum. Different tokens represent carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. Printable 8.5"x11"...

The third in a series of six lessons is an engaging three-part activity defines that discusses phenology, focusing on the cyclic seasons of plants. Pupils then observe phenology outside before determining how climate change can...

Plants take cues from the environment—change in daylight hours and temperature—to complete their seasonal life cycles. Lesson four in the series of six has classes collect phenology data on plants. After taking initial observations,...

A food web has no organism higher than a tertiary consumer because there wouldn't be enough energy left to sustain them. The fourth installment in a seven-part series begins with a nature walk to get pupils thinking about their...

Students examine the effects of heat and humidity. In this weather activity, students read a chart to determine the effects heat and humidity can have on the human body. This activity includes an optional extension activity using a...

Third graders discover the concept of ride sharing. They discuss how it helps the environment. They use the internet to gather information as well.

Students view landscape paintings. They recall a landscape that has meaning to them and describe it to the class. They complete a worksheet.

Students gain awareness of shapes in architecture by creating a painting of their school and writing a reflective summary of their study of architecture.

Students participate in a thirty-second look, followed by a class discussion about Jan Brueghel's painting The Entry of the Animals into Noah's Ark. They use description words and sentences to write about their favorite animal in the...

Pupils examine a still-life painting. They discuss the observation of nature by scientists and artists and explore the symbolism of biological life cycles depicted in a painting.

Seventh graders use a pond to explore macroinvertebrates and other organisms. They use a dichotomous key to classify the organisms and maintain a journal recording their findings.

Pupils examine water quality on a nearby stream. They collect water samples and test for various factors, including any contamination from the treatment plant, and present their information in a Powerpoint presentation.

Students simulate the development of smog. They discover how it forms naturally in nature. They read news articles about the ozone and pollution. They discuss what they can do to lower the pollution they generate.

Students examine selected local leaves in greater detail in the classroom by using more analytical drawing techniques. They use Thoreau's drawing of a Scarlett Oak as their model. Students choose a leave from a box of leaves removed...

Seventh graders investigate changes in the ecosystem within the school year. They see that ecosystems, communities, populations, and organisms are dynamic and change over time. They, in groups, collect data in quadrants in the fall,...