Curated OER
Building a Butterfly Garden
Students examine the habitat and life cycle of a butterfly. In this early childhood lesson plan, students identify the parts of a butterfly, as well as the stages of the butterfly life cycle. Students also plant a garden in which they...
Curated OER
Hydroponics
Students examine how to grow plants using a hydroponic system. In this hydroponics lesson students identify the advantages and disadvantages of growing plants hydrologically.
Curated OER
Producers -- Focus on Trees
Learners examine the needs of trees and plants. For this forest ecosystem lesson students use seedlings to investigate the basic necessities of plants. They discuss the consequences of these basic needs not being met.
Curated OER
Plant Life Cycle
Fourth graders explore the plant life cycle. They discuss the sequence of events in the life cycle of the plant and illustrate how the life cycle never ends. Students explore the importance of water, sunlight, and nutrients during the...
Curated OER
CULTURING PLANTS FROM EMBRYONIC PLANT TISSUE
Students use this laboratory exercise as a growth medium that contains the macronutrient and micronutrient needs of plants. They observe the effects of different hormones on tissue cultures and must use variations of the basic growth...
Curated OER
Culturing Plants from Embryonic Plant Tissue
Student groups use lima beans to represent dicots and corn to represent monocots, soak the seeds, and separate the embryos from the cotyledons. They then place the seeds in Petri dishes in agar and observe for at least one week recording...
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
Cotton Seed Planting
Students using scientific inquiry will observe and record in daily journals their findings on cotton seeds. They measure, graph, and then communicate their discoveries about plants to each other.
Curated OER
Plant Reproduction
Learners investigate seeds and plant life by creating a germination chamber. For this botany lesson, students investigate the relationship between flowers and the fruit they produce while examining the structure of the flower. Learners...
Cornell University
Weed IPM
Go on a weed hunt! Scholars gain insight into the characteristics of plants and examine the outdoor environment in order to identify five different types of weeds. Learners then show what they know with a one-page reflection.
Forest Foundation
Forest Health
Young foresters examine the strategies, like prescribed burns and thinning, that are employed to ensure healthy forests.
Curated OER
Compost and Composting Experiments
Students investigate the composting process through a variety of experiments. For this ecology lesson, students discuss the benefits of composting. They examine how compost affect plant growth.
Curated OER
Sewage Matrix and Field Experience
Learners visit a sewage treatment plant and use an exercise to identify the effects of given sewage components on humans and the environment when sewage treatment is bypassed or fails. They read the provided "sewage matrix" worksheet and...
Curated OER
Nitrogen Fixation, OR What a Gas!
Students gain skill in the design, implementation, and reporting of a scientific research project using the scientific method. They set up an experiment to determine the effect of adding the Rhizobium bacteria to one group of legume...
Curated OER
Leaves
Students engage in a lesson which gives them a better understanding of how the water system of a plant works. They make leaves that demonstrate how the water moves through them. Students use coffee filters, water and food coloring to...
National Park Service
Reduce Our Carbon Footprint, Let’s Compost!
Roll up your sleeves and get a little dirty with this elementary and middle school compost lesson. All you need is a large plastic container, a couple old newspapers, some organic waste, and a few hundred worms and you're ready to start...
Biology Junction
Changes in Ecosystems: Ecological Succession
Can an area with no soil turn into a forest? Scholars learn about the process of ecological succession using an interesting presentation. It covers both primary and secondary succession in the building of new ecosystems.
Virginia Department of Education
Organisms in Symbiosis
Searching for an activity that allows emerging biologists to explore symbiosis up close and personal? Pupils collect samples and view lichens through a microscope and conclude with a discussion about the relationship they have with other...
Curated OER
Designing a Germination Experiment - Part 1
Students experiment with seeds and germination. In this natural science lesson, students discuss the stages of germination. Students engage in a 4 part hands on science activity to view the process of germination.
Curated OER
The Needs of Living Things
Students watch video clips of animals and plants in their natural environment, to gather evidence that all living things have basic survival needs. Students draw pictures of real or imaginary pets eating, drinking, breathing, and taking...
Curated OER
It Ain't Easy Being Green!
Students explore the needs of plants. In this science lesson, students plant seeds and place one in a sunny spot and the other in a dark area. Students observe what happens.
Curated OER
Forest Friends Forever
Students investigate how to use the senses to gather information about objects such as size, shape, color, texture, sound, position, and change (qualitative observations are utilized throughout this lesson). They investigate and explain...
Curated OER
From One Seed Grow Many Seeds
First graders practice identifying plants by singing a song. In this plant life lesson, 1st graders sing the song "Parts of a Plant" which is based on the anatomy of sunflowers. Students discover agriculture techniques while viewing a...
Curated OER
Gardening for Beauty, Food, and Enjoyment
First graders create their own garden. In this plant lesson, 1st graders discover the essential elements for a plant to grow. They planted their own garden and read the amount of space needed and the sunlight preferred for each plant.