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Understanding How Potatoes Grow
Second graders make a KWL chart and brainstorm what they need for the project of growing potatoes. They choose one potato and plant it in water or peat moss cups and choose a location in which meets the needs of the plants and make 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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Gallery Walk Questions about Energy and Material Cycles
Students state the physical, chemical or biological processes associated with these environments: Pelagic ocean zone, California coat Cave, Indiana Barrier island beach, North Carolina Sand dune, Dunes National Park, Colorado Wetland and...
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Toward a Sustainable Agriculture
Students analyze organic production systems. In this organic agriculture lesson, students examine key organic practices for both crop and livestock. This lesson includes 5 different activities, 4 critical thinking questions and...
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Mapping West Virginia
Fourth graders explore West Virginia. In this Unites States geography lesson, 4th graders discuss the type of land and the cities in West Virginia. Students create two overlays, with transparencies, that show the natural land and the...
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Kirchhoff's Laws
For this circuit worksheet students study electronic circuits and how they get power. Students determine polarity and magnitude and work with Kirchoffs laws to answer 48 questions regarding circuits. Answers are revealed when...
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Ecological Dilemmas in Wetlands
For this ecological dilemmas in wetlands worksheet, students select a topic, use the links to websites for research, describe the topic, explain its impact on wetlands, identify alternatives and decide on possible...
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Cycles of Life in an Urban Habitat: Changes in Biodiversity
Second graders compare and contrast animate and inanimate objects. In this environmental science lesson, 2nd graders create simple food webs. They observe their environment and create a collage about it.
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Plant Growth
Third graders keep a journal and record the growth of their plant everyday over a two week period. With an observation written down for everyday of the week, they draw a picture of their plant in their journal on Monday and Friday...
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American Lives in Two Centuries:What Is an American?
Students decide what it means to be an American. In this historical perspectives lesson plan, students read Crevecoeur's "Letter from an American Farmer," and interviews with everyday Americans from the Works Progress Administration....
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The Portable Niche
Third graders, in groups, research animals, plants, and conditions found in ecosystems.
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Wide Open Spaces
Students examine the problem of groundwater pollution. In groups, they develop a solution to solve the problem of a local polluted water source. They also practice measuring the space between sediment particles and the rate of water flow.
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Whose Breakfast isn't for the Birds?
Students explore coffee production. In this cross-curriculum rainforest ecology lesson, students research regions where coffee comes from and investigate how the native birds in the rainforest are effected by coffee...
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Sediment Deposition Lab
Students set up a stream table, observe erosion, and record data on where various sizes of sediments settle. They draw conclusions as to what kind of sedimentary rock form in what locations.
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Phytoremediation
Students participate in a lab designed to facilitate the clean up and remove of substances ranging from heavy metals to dynamite. They focus on the remediation of copper. They discuss their results of this open ended inquiry experiment.
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The Miracle Fish: Learning to Design an Experiment
Young scholars develop procedures to explore the behavior of fish. In this scientific experiment lesson students from a hypothesis, write a question, identify different variables and controls in their experiment.
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Dynamic River Model
Students develop the concepts of flood stage, levees, floodplain, and the dynamics of river flooding. They construct river models and test various flow rates and volumes. This lesson has an excellent experiment for students to do.
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Investigating Space Requirement of Seed Plants
Students use scientific methods to investigate the effects of overpopulation of seed plants on growth in a limited living space. Students relate seed plant population findings to that of other organisms.
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Forest Ecology or Who Lives Here?
Students explore a hardwood forest. In this forest ecology lesson, students examine the diversity and animals and plants as they explore their habitats at Poricy Park Conservatory. Students determine how biodiversity and abiotic elements...
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Transpiration
Students interactively explore the term transpiration. In this science/ecology lesson, students discuss what they would do if they were thirsty while conducting research in Brazil. Additionally, students write descriptive words to...
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Mending Pottery
Students act as archaeologist and mend broken pottery to see what they can learn.
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Living or Nonliving
Third graders brainstorm a list of the characteristics of living and nonliving organisms. Individually, they find four nonliving and living items and the characteristics that make them fit into one of the categories. To end the lesson,...
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Mushrooms Can Save the World
Middle schoolers use mushrooms to solve problems. In this environmental lesson, students study how fungi have been used to combat environmental problems. Middle schoolers design strategies that employ mushrooms to combat other...
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Chemical Engineering: Volcanoes
Students study volcanoes using a chemical engineering project. In this volcanoes lesson, students create a model town and discuss the properties of a volcano. Students then make a volcano using a chemical engineering format for their...