Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Changing Coral Reef Community Game

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students examine organisms that inhabit the coral reefs and their living requirements.  In this coral reef lesson students chart population changes and play a game.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Insect Biology and Ecology: A Primer

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Students explore insects and closely related organisms. They examine the growth and development of a lady beetle. Students classify insects and organize them. They investigate pest management.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Animals and the Food Webs that Love Them

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students study the animals that Lewis and Clark would have encountered.  In this animals lesson students study the food web and how human populations have affected them. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Flipbook Succession

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Young scholars review succession charts for their native area before going to an outside site to view the changes. At the site, they follow the transect line and observe the changes in the plant life. They draw the changes on note cards...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Saving the Bay

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students investigate water pollution prevention. In this ecology wastewater lesson, students activate prior knowledge about sewage, then view a video explaining the waste water sewage system used in the San Francisco Bay area. Students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Volcano Above the Clouds

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Learners develop a travelogue to describe the distinct ecological regions of Mount Kilimanjaro. They describe the health issues that may affect climbers, and any necessary equipment or safety precautions that the team may need at each...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Spring of Life

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students explore Florida's springs using video segments. In this video lesson plan, students examine Florida's springs ecosystem, the animals that live there and the red tide that threatens the environment. The lesson plan includes...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Succession and Microclimate

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Learners compare the population of insects in different microclimates. In this biology lesson, students collect data using probes to tabulate temperature and soil data. They predict how certain parameters change as an area goes...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Eco-Logical: A Coastal Logic Problem

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders study the characteristics of five coastal communities. They use logic cards and matching activities to identify the proper community for plant and animal species.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

the Wonder of Wetlands

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students explore the importance of the wetland ecosystem, its properties and functions, as well as, the many birds, animals, and plant life found there.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Portable Niche

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders, in groups, research animals, plants, and conditions found in ecosystems.
Lesson Plan
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Boom and Bust in the Ozark Forests

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Here is a hard-hitting, cross-curricular lesson on the effects that the deforestation of the Ozark forests in the 19th century had on the people, animals, and ecosystems of the area. The Dr. Seuss book The Lorax is used as a way of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Climate Change

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students discuss problems associated with a world climate change. They examine how animals would be affected if the world heated up.
Lesson Plan
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Solid Waste Recycling

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students seek scientific and technological solutions to envrionmental problems. They record class activities in a journal. They identify relationships among living things and their environments.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pharaoh Mountain Hike: Investigating Adirondack Life Zones

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students hike a local mountain and examine its life zones. They measure various components at each zone and collect leaf litter at the sites. At the mountain top, students make descriptive observations and complete a handout about the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Praire Biome Models

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders, in groups, list the physical characteristics of a biome and think of ways in which animals might have to adapt to live there and make a biome mobile ball that show the different types of habitats that shape the praire biome.
Lesson Plan
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Physiological Adaptations

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students investigate the concepts of genetics and how it is tied to the variations found within different species and how it is tied to adaptations. They review the theory of evolution and factors found to help create variation. The...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

U.S. History: Antebellum Heroes and Villains

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders research and write reports on key figures of the Antebellum Period. The projects also include pictures, bibliographies, and timelines about their assigned figure. In addition, 8th graders present oral reports to classmates.
Lesson Plan
Michigan Sea Grant

Invasive Species

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Learners identify invasive species to the Great Lakes and analyze their impact on the ecosystem. Using photo cards with pictures and facts, young scientists work in small groups to match invasive species with their corresponding...
Lesson Plan
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Biology: living Things and their Environment

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers recognize that organisms depend on other organisms.  In this organism instructional activity, students understand symbiotic relationships and competition.  Middle schoolers explain food chains and food...
Lesson Plan
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The Rainforest Community

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Students create a miniature rainforest ecosystem, a terrarium. Students then explain how the continuous flow of energy and food in the ecosystem allows it to sustain itself.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Charting Diversity

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Pupils organize different species of plans and animals according to various characteristics. Students then determine what characteristics enable them to survive in their habitat. Game ideas and activities are included.
Lesson Plan
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The Rain Forest

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Learners explain the basics of the tropical rain forest ecosystem. They list the four general layers of vegetation found in the tropical rain forest.
Lesson Plan
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The Rain Forest

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students acquire knowledge about the basics of the tropical rain forest ecosystem. They analyze the cause/effect relationship between humans attitudes and behavior and the evnvironment. Students list the four general layers of vegetation...