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Wagons Ho! Hard Times! Hard Choices!
You have just hit the lesson plan jackpot! This isn't just a lesson, it's a ten-day unit covering westward expansion, pioneer life, and the Oregon Trail. Activities include baking, model building, role-play, newspaper writing, science...
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Praire Biome Models
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.
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Forest Habitat Fragmentation
Seventh graders discuss the loss of animal habitats and the importance of refuge areas for them. They collect small pictures of animals found in their state and glue them to an outline of their state according to their range. Finally,...
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Ecology
Learners explore, experience and experiment identifying the human impact on the environment of vegetative differences within the same biome. They assess what causes deserts, rain forests, savannahs, tundras and saguaros and how these...
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Exploring Regions of Our World
Examine how climate and landforms affect plants and animals that live in particular areas. Discover that these same factors affect peoples' homes, jobs, and recreational activities. Pupils research ecosystems and biomes, and then write...
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Boom and Bust in the Ozark Forests
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...
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Fish and Wildlife in America
Some of the details of the use of wildlife as food and crop resources are given at the beginning of this slideshow. Next, the historical problems with wildlife are explained, as are some mistakes that have been made leading to extinction...
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Illinois Entice Spoken Here
Eighth graders name a prairie animal when their name is called for attendance each day. They read books about Illinois or related topics. At present we have read Illinois, A Rookie Read About Geography Book by Allan Fowler.
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The Role of Fire in Healthy Prairie, Brush and Forest Lands
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...
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Identifying plants, animals, insects, reptiles, and birds on the prairie
Students identify all of the plant an animal life on the prairie. For this plant identification lesson students divide into groups and draw sketches of things they saw on the prairie.
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Listening to the Prairie
Students, in groups, visit an exhibit and for a prairie scavenger hunt to locate sunflowers and name products made from them. After sketching a prairie dog, they find nature cues farmers use when growing plants and raising animals. The...
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At Home on the Prairie
Learners discover the importance of the bison within the prairie ecosystem and Native American culture, and explain the importance of habitat and place to living organisms.
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Prairie Dog Prognosis
Students discuss the transmission of diseases from exotic pets to humans. They research different aspects of particular zoonotic diseases from the perspectives of the animal vector, the parasite, the infected human, and the carrier human.
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Links in the Chain of Life
Using the prairie dog community as an example, middle school ecologists examine the food web. Pairs of learners take one species in the community and research its role in the ecosystem. They share their findings with the rest of the...
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Habitat Happenings
Students examine the characteristics of the Prairie Creek Habitat in Illinois. In groups, they travel between various stations writing haikus and reading brochures. They identify what occurs in each habitat and identify the animals...
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An Uncertain Future
Learners study the distribution of large mammals and carnivores in an ecosystem. Using maps and historical data, they examine areas for these animals such as refuges, untouched forests, prairies and grasslands. Students determine actions...
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Taming Wild Land
Third graders consider the habitat needs of living things and how extensive farming in an area can affect the plants and animals of a region. They participate in a simulation to show how changing the habitat in one area can greatly...
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Create a Wildlife Montage
Students find and cut out pictures of American wildlife animals and draw separate American wildlife habitats. They sort their pictures by habitat and then glue each animal onto the correct habitat. They label each picture with the name...
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Sorting by Site: Missouri quarter reverse
Lewis and Clark took note of the animals common to their home state. As they traveled, they noticed that different places had different types of animals. Your class will use this model to compare and contrast elements that make up their...
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Animal Habitat Bar Graph
In this graphing activity, learners examine a prepared bar graph and record which habitat their chosen animal lives in: desert, city, forest, ocean, prairie, or fresh water. There are no directions but it appears that a class could use...
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The Coyote Population: Kansas Prairies
Students discover animal lifestyles by researching their ecosystem. In this animal statistics lesson, students research the geography of Kansas and discuss the reasons why wild animals survive in the open Kansas fields. Students complete...
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The Prairie Dog That Met the President
Pupils study the history of jazz music. They listen to various examples of jazz music and complete a worksheet in which they must identify the individual instruments they hear and identify characteristics of the genre of jazz music.
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Vocabulary: Kansas Prairies
Students explore the ecosystem by reviewing scientific vocabulary terms. In this environmental awareness activity, students identify the differences between abiotic and biotic factors and their relationship to the Earth. Students define...
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Farm Animals ABC Book
Students create an ABC book. In this language arts lesson, students create a page for an ABC book authored an illustrated by the class.