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Mighty Oaks from Little Acorns
What does it mean to grow? To germinate? For the plan detailed here, class members investigate the growth process of an oak tree while focusing on the beginning stages of planting and germination. They plant seeds and record observations...
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Diaper Challenge
Young scholars compare the absorbency of a regular diaper and a swim diaper in fresh water and salt water. In this absorbency lesson plan, students mass the diapers and place them in water and determine the change in mass. They do the...
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Beautiful Bugs
Students investigate the life cycle of ants, ladybugs, and butterflies. They list the four stages of the butterfly life cycle, define symmetry and observe how ants make homes in dirt.
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TE Activity: Pollution Politics
Students examine how a bill becomes a law in the US Congress. They investigate legislation about global warming. They determine the role of engineers as they educate Congress, the public and other government institutions about global...
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Indiana Ice Investigations
Fourth graders create a model of the formation of Indiana by glaciers. Working in groups with appropriate materials, they create a model documenting how glaciers moved through the land and formed the geological structure and land masses...
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Ecosystem Relationships
Students study the relationship between the types of trees, soil, and organisms. They investigate the complex interactions and cycles at work in the forest and understand the factors that contribute to a healthy, sustainable forest.
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Erosion: Changing the Face of Earth
Fourth graders explore how the landscape of the planet can be changed by different elements of wind, water, ice and chemicals through hands-on activities. They examine pictures of areas around town and discuss anything they think is out...
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The Physical Environment
Fourth graders use damp sand, a baking pan, and water to simulate erosion. In this erosion lesson plan, 4th graders participate in a simulation to show what moving water does to land.
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Water Filtration Competition
Students design water filtration systems. They draw sketches and write paragraphs about their systems. After presenting their systems to the class, each group then builds their system and determines its effectiveness for purifying...
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The Copper Basin Problem
Young scholars view a video about how human actions impact the environment. They design a set of experiments to address some of the problems and issues raised by the video.
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Worms in a Bottle
Students gain a better understanding of the worm and its role in the recycling of organic materials into simpler forms by constructing worm bottles and observing for 60 to 90 days.
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Urban Impact on Chollas Creek (California): A Field Study
Students, in groups, take samples from a creek and keep a field journal on their samples. They also perform tests on their samples.
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Do Plants Need Water?
First graders observe the effects of varying amounts of water, sun, and air on lima bean plants. They also predict and describe their outcomes in a written report.
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Rock Cycles, Crayon Cycles
Students examine the rock cycle and the path that rocks go through to rearranged in different ways. They define key vocabulary terms, then in small groups conduct a variety of experiments using crayon shavings as simulated rocks and...
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Permeability of Earth Materials
Students observe and classify the permeability of a variety of materials.
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Seeds of Wetland Life
Students participate in several activities on seed exploration. In this biology lesson, students classify seeds according to their dispersal method. They explain the different adaptations plant have to disperse their seeds.
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Aquifer Model
Learners, after researching and brainstorming about aquifers and locating aquifer maps of Texas, participate in the building of a model of an aquifer complete with a pumping station. They also answer a variety of questions at the...
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PLANT LIFE CYCLES
Student learns about the life cycle of plants by watching a time-lapse video. This activity provides students with further evidence that all living things grow and change as they progress through their life cycle. Student conducts a...
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Making a Terrarium
Students construct and maintain model of natural habitat, suggest improvements to the model of the natural habitat to make it more realistic and habitable, and demonstrate careful observation and recording of how animals survive in their...
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Pet Rocks
Students complete a variety of activities related to the physical characteristics of minerals. They classify and group candy, classify rocks and complete a Pet River Rock worksheet. Students try to guess which rock goes with each...
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Parts of an Ecosystem
Fourth graders study the Great Salt lake and the ecosystem that encompasses it. They study the relationship between an individual of a species, a population of that species, a community that includes that population, and the...
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Where Do Plants Get Their Food?
Students think about the historical development of the scientific method. They design an experiment that replicates van Helmont's, using only specified materials. Pupils then improved upon van Helmont's procedure and also consider the...
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THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY
Students describe the movement of water within the water cycle and identify the states of water as it moves through the water cycle.
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The Interdependence of Birds and the Great Salt Lake Ecosystem
Tenth graders participate in the "Checks and Balances" game. This game lets them experience the interdependence of oragnisms specific to the Great Salt Lake. They recieved informaton about food chains, food webs, trophic levels various...