Agriculture in the Classroom
Pumpkins... Not Just For Halloween
Celebrate fall with four pumpkin themed hands-on activities! After learning about pumpkins, scholars complete two activity sheets that reinforce estimation and word problems. They then plant pumpkin seeds and bake a pie in...
Foundation for Water & Energy Education
How Can Work Be Done with Water Power? Activity C
Third in a set of lessons regarding reservoirs, dams, and hydropower, this involves a two-day hydropower plant simulation. Collaborative groups build, maintain, and finance the plant. The transparency of the reservoir setup can be...
Curated OER
Using Vegetation, Precipitation, and Surface Temperature to Study Climate Zones
Using NASA's Live Access Server, earth scientists compare the temperature, precipitation, and normalized difference vegetation index for four different locations. They use the data to identify the climate zone of each location using...
NOAA
Climate Is Our Friend…Isn’t It?: Make an Extinction Polyhedron
Climate affects populations in different ways. Scholars research extinct organisms and mass extinctions in part three of the 10-installment Discover Your Changing World series. They create graphic organizers, then fill in the...
Virginia Department of Education
Succession
The final lesson in a two-part series prompts scholars to create newspaper articles and succession events. Applying their knowledge of the ecosystem and the past examples of succession, they predict what will happen in the future...
Curated OER
Defining Drought
Students examine the hydrologic impacts of drought. Humans can change the course of the water cycle, to some extent, to meet their needs, but can they do so without imposing risks on the plants and animals?
Curated OER
Classification of the Nearby Trees
Third graders practice using classification techniques to identify local trees. In this plant life instructional activity, 3rd graders discuss how trees differ from other plants and what characteristics are unique to trees alone....
Curated OER
Characteristics of Snakes and Turtles
Students examine the characteristics of snakes and turtles and compare/contrast reptiles with mammals. They watch a video, answer discussion questions, complete information charts, conduct Internet research, and create a habitat diorama.
Curated OER
Rate of Photosynthesis
Learners investigate the rate of photosynthesis using elodea leaves. In this photosynthesis lesson plan, students place elodea in a test tube filled with water. They include baking soda and place the test tube under a lamp. Learners...
Curated OER
The Sahara: Home of the Tuareg
Students study inhabitants of the Sahara. In this Tuareg culture activity, students explore the how the Tuareg people adapt to their environment as they research specific Internet sites.
Curated OER
Global Warming: Life in a Greenhouse
Students investigate the evidence and consequences of global warming. They read and discuss an article, conduct a debate, evaluate their community's climate statistics, log their gas consumption for a week, and develop a panel discussion...
Curated OER
I Won't Live in a Toxic World
Young scholars examine four separate environmental health issues using fish-bowl technique, and discuss roles of both government and citizens in maintaining a pollution-free environment.
Curated OER
Plant Explorers
Students investigate how plants take in water, nutrients, and light. They create artwork showing how plants survive in different environments.
Curated OER
Will It Grow?
Fifth graders conduct experiments involving plants. In this science lesson, 5th graders design an experiment involving plants. Students use the scientific method to design their experiments.
Curated OER
Making Pretzels
Students explore how people use plants for food. They use pretzels to see how wheat can be turned into food.
Curated OER
Food chains and webs
Here is an extremely simplistic look at food chains and webs. It depicts three different food chains, each containing a plant, plant eater, and meat-eater. Learners fill in the missing part of each chain by using the images provided at...
Curated OER
Photo Synthesis and Transpiration
Middle schoolers germinate pea seeds and plant the seeds. They experiment with different amounts of light and darkness on the plant growth.
Curated OER
Metamorphosis Magic
Students play rock-paper-scissors and create a play to demonstrate the butterfly life cycle. In this butterfly life cycle lesson plan, students also plant a butterfly garden with plants that attract butterflies.
Curated OER
Water Cycle Bracelets
Young scholars engage in a lesson that investigates the hydrological cycle. They create bracelets with different colored beads that represent parts of the cycle. Students can follow the cycle in the order of the beads. The lesson...
Curated OER
Habitats
Students examine how different living things interact with their environment. As a class, they discuss the characteristics of a habitat and write the list on the board. In groups, they focus on one habitat and create a mural of the...
Curated OER
Exploring Biomes Lesson 3: Endangered Biomes
Future environmental scientists compare data from two different conservation strategies. Alone this lesson is sufficient, but as part of the Exploring Biomes unit produced by the Arizona Fish and Game Department, it becomes top-notch.
Curated OER
Sea Water and Agriculture
Young scientists examine how even a small rise in sea level can lead to salinisation of valuable agricultural land. First, everyone takes part in a simple demonstration which shows the negative effects salt water has on plants. Peer...
Curated OER
Put Your Habits to Work in Math
Learning how to read an expository text is an essential skill. The questions on this two-page worksheet lead pupils to understand that the title, heading, diagrams, photographs, problems and captions all support the main idea of a...
Curated OER
Current Events Quiz #3
Useful as a blast from the past, this current events activity is outdated (Fall 2001). Many global events are part of these fifty questions, but quite a few of them are very specific to pop culture and sports. This could be helpful in a...