Eleventh graders discuss who Lewis and Clark were and the importance of their expedition, list plants, animals, and birds found along the Lewis and Clark Trail, report on a specific species, and prepare a newspaper that implements...

Middle schoolers examine the consequences of cutting down large amounts of forests throughout the world. In groups, they use the internet to complete a module taking them on a tour through different temperate forests. To end the...

Students explore biology by creating a poster with classmates. In this oceanography activity, students identify the importance of coral reefs to the ocean's ecology and examine a food web of ocean animals. Students define a list of...

Students identify the adaptive forces in the life cycle of plants, animals, and humans, isolate and identify the role that change and adaptation play in extreme environments and research and write a short term paper using MLA citations.

Students identify auxins from their structural formulas. They understand the process of refluxing in chemical synthesis. Students perform thin layer chromatography using silica gel plates to differentiate chemical substances.

Sixth graders read and discuss background information and brainstorm reasons for wildfires. They use a Venn Diagram to list the similarities and differences between wildfires and prescribed fires and then track the weather forecast for...

Students explore the forest. In this ecosystems lesson plan, students rotate through sensory activity centers, brainstorm, and read about temperate forests.

Students analyze scientific vocabulary words. In this life science vocabulary lesson, students complete a worksheet using VisualThesaurus as they evaluate words related to plants and animals and how the words are used.

Students design an appropriate and usable storyboard and then create a claymation video. They take digital photographs frame by frame, then assemble the stop-motion movie using video software.

Students conduct hands-on experiments. In this life cycle instructional activity, students are able to observe a variety of animals as they travel through their life cycle (brine shrimp, mealworms, frog eggs and chicken eggs). Students...

Learners define home and understand that home is not the same to everyone. In this homes lesson, students participate individually and in groups to create a classroom definition of home. Learners discuss the events in the story the Shape...

Students identify habitats and understand why they are important to our environment.  In this environmental lesson students design their own habitat, observe and record data on the impact their habitat has on the environment.

Students examine the role of Purple Loosestrife in Illinois and Indiana rivers. In groups, they collect a wide variety of plants in a wetland and raise beetles in a controlled environment. They introduce the loosestrife into the...

Students take samples from local freshwater sources and examine them for macroinvertebrate life. They take samples from both shallow and deep freshwater environments, measure temperatures, and classify organisms found in their samples.

Students gain a better understanding of what it means to eat seasonally through learning about traditional hunting, gathering, and food preparation methods of Athabascan tribes. By interacting with Native American Elders and...

Learners explain why dissolved oxygen is important in aquatic ecosystems. They evaluate the optimal dissolved oxygen levels for living organisms.

Students examine life under the sea to discover coral gardens and microhabitats. They demonstrate learning by creating an edible marine ecosystem with a sheet cake, icing, and different candies.

Students complete a Web quest about Biddy Mason's journey Westward to California as a slave and her ultimate rise to one of the wealthiest and generous woman of the Westward Movement. They present an exhibit of their research.

Third graders conduct an experiment to determine how water moves through different soils found in the Apalachicola River watershed. They read a scenario, conduct the experiment, answer follow-up questions, and draw the water movement...

Students explore how gene sequence analysis can be used to examine phylogenetic similarities of different organisms. Students work in groups to simulate a gel electrophoresis separation of fragments using poster board to create their gel.

Sixth graders complete a five-week unit investigating the eight major biomes of South America. They conduct Internet research, collect short-term and long-term climate data, and create a HyperStudio slideshow stack about a selected biome...

Students describe what global warming is, what causes global warming and the impact to our world. They study the threat of global warming and its relationship to the use of fossil fuels.

Students study public land management agencies and their missions. They research a management agency, design a superhero to represent the agency and describe the skills and training needed to manage public lands. They include the...

Students explore the concept of drought and its significance as a natural hazard. For this drought lesson plan, students complete 13 questions on an "Introduction to Drought as an Ecosystem Stressor" worksheet and discuss the responses...