Make a premium terrarium. Learners create a miniature terrarium to study ecosystems. They use a clear container, along with rocks, soil, moss, leaves, woodland plants, earthworms, and bugs to construct their terrariums.

Ecology explorers collect soil and invertebrates from a monoculture and a polyculture area. They relate the number and types of invertebrates to the surrounding environmental conditions. This activity can be used as an introduction to...

Students research leaves and their life cycle as well as their importance to the environment. After discussing photosynthesis, habitats, and nutrients for the soil, students collect and identify fallen leaves. Students use their...

Water wizards write short answers and fill in the blanks about Earth's surface water and groundwater. They also identify the condition of the soil in a diagram. Use these two worksheets as a reading comprehension assignment if your...

Observing plant succession doesn't have to be a decade long process. A hands-on lesson has groups study succession over a designated space. Learners use their observation skills to record differences in plant and soil characteristics in...

Pre-readers and primaries can help farmer rabbit to plant some delicious fruits and vegetables. From soil preparation and pest control, all the way to the harvest, little ones participate in the entire process!

Primary graders repurpose items brought from home to create containers for plants. After poking holes in their containers, kids add soil and plant seeds or transplant an item, and then observe and draw conclusions about which items...

Arsenic in drinking water is a common problem in third world countries. Young chemists create a procedure to calculate the mass percent of arsenic in the soil. The virtual lab allows individuals to experiment with different methods.

Can you feel that? Can you smell that? Since pupils can't ask worms about their sense of smell and touch, they design and complete an experiment to answer these questions. Individuals expose nematodes to different stimuli using their...

Responsible farming is important for maintaining natural resources. Eager scientists complete a WebQuest to explore what happens to nitrogen when it enters the soil. They learn about the chemical makeup of nitrogen-based molecules...

Most living things go unnoticed. Change that using a fun activity about the nutrient cycle. Pupils use hula hoops to mark areas of study and then make observations about the living things they see. They first make surface observations,...

Can plants grow on the moon? The second lesson in a five-part series has pupils explore the resources available on the moon to determine if plant life is possible. They use lava rocks as their soil and draw conclusions about the...

In this solar energy worksheet, students experiment with soil and water to determine if they heat at different rates. They record the temperature of the soil and water under light and in the dark. They graph their data and answer...

Students create their own landfill where they observe materials that will and won't biodegrade. In this biodegrading lesson, students discuss the concept of a landfill and what materials biodegrade into soil and which ones stay in the...

Students investigate the erosive impact of water. In this erosion activity, students research the impact of water on terraced and non-terraced hillsides. Students create an erosion model to have a hands-on experience with the soil.

Groups create splashboards and use them to perform a series of experiments to determine the effect of rain on erosion.

Students take plants of their own choice and pollute the soil with a pollutant of their own choice or one assigned by the teacher. They regularly record observations such as plant growth, health, and soil pH.

In this soil coloring worksheet, students color a picture of a cartoon-style mole. Students color the words "There are thousands of soil types."

Students investigate changes caused by water flowing over soil.

What is an alien's favorite game? All-star baseball! Scholars start defining living and non-living. Then, they conduct experiments to research if life exists, keeping in mind that life could be in many forms, not just human. 

In the sixth lesson in a series of 21, scholars use NASA data to graph and interpret albedo seasonally and over the course of multiple years. This allows learners to compare albedo trends to changes in sea ice with connections to the...

Is qualitative or quantitative research more convincing when it comes to climate change? In the eighth lesson during this 21-part series, scholars begin by performing a quantitative analysis of deforestation and urbanization. Then, they...

Second graders complete activities to observe the effects of erosion. In this erosion lesson, 2nd graders define erosion and learn the process. Students complete an erosion experiment.

Sixth graders collect soil samples and record the location of the samples by using GPS.