NOAA
Deep-Sea Ecosystems – Life is Weird!
A pool of brine in the deep sea can be up to four times as salty as the surrounding sea water. The deep sea ecosystem relies on chemosynthesis and the organisms that live there are often strange to us. The lesson focuses on researching...
Curated OER
Compare and Contrast Night to Life is Beautiful
After reading Elie Wiesel's Night, watching the movie Life is Beautiful, and researching World War II, class members write a comparison essay on the book and film. This includes a prior knowledge activity, discussion in whole and small...
Curated OER
Who Am I? the Web of Life ... With a Twist!
Students are assigned a secret species identity. They identify with the help of the other players. Once all identities have been deciphered, players form a circle and, by passing a ball of yarn from "species to species", they form...
Curated OER
Web of Life - Role-Playing
Students role-play how organisms adapt to their environment. They play 20 questions with plant and animal habitats. They create a web of life to demonstrate how each plant and animal relies on the other for survival.
Curated OER
Week 8 - Sea Life
Using a magnifier, mini marine biologists examine the barbules of a bird feather. They swirl the it into a mixture of oil and water and then re-examine the feather. After the activity, discuss how the oily feathers pose a problem to sea...
Curated OER
Great Lakes Food Web
Students identify species and components of a Great Lakes food web. Using note cards, they place themselves in the correct order of the food chain based on the species present. They discuss what they believe happens to various species...
Curated OER
Marine Ecosystems
Students identify producers and consumers and construct a food chain from four marine ecosystems. They describe the delicate balance among organisms in each environment. In groups, students discuss the human activities that upset the...
Curated OER
Ocean Animals
Very young learners identify ocean animal pictures by their correct name and create a book of ocean animals. They read books and lean ocean animal vocabulary using the SMART Board. A well-designed instructional activity!
Curated OER
Water is Life
Krill is a very small ocean animal that is key to keeping the ocean ecosystem going. The class reviews food webs and chains, learns about the importance of krill, discusses krill anatomy, builds a model of a krill, and then has a...
Shodor Education Foundation
Life
How does life evolve? The interactive provides a simulation based on the Game of Life invented by mathematician John Conway. Users can run the applet with the preset rules and settings or adjust them to view whether overpopulation or...
TED-Ed
What is the World Wide Web?
Did you know that the World Wide Web and the Internet are not the same thing? Did you know that Tim Berners-Lee is considered the father of the Web? Networks, web servers, web hosts, website addresses, domain names, web languages,...
Curated OER
Life on Mars
Students research the feasibility of life on Mars and debate what it would need in order to sustain life. They work in teams to predict, research, infer, and explain their theory using models they build.
Curated OER
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...
Ingram
Teaching Guide Charlotte's Web
Enrich your study of Charlotte's Web by E.B. White with this useful resource. Included here are 22 discussion questions, 15 extension ideas, and 10 curriculum questions that cover characters, plot, farming, and much, much more.
Missouri Department of Elementary
Getting Caught in the Web
When it comes to teamwork, it's best not to drop the ball. Pupils stand in a circle, tossing around a ball of yarn to one another to create a web. Next, they use teamwork skills to keep a soccer ball from falling off the web before...
Arizona Department of Education
Be Independent / Life Management Skills
Living independently is about more than managing money. Learn how to manage time, balance responsibilities, and calculate overtime and income with a set of activities about life management skills.
Channel Islands Film
Human Impact on the Food Web of Santa Cruz Island
What happens when a non-native species is introduced onto an island? Santa Cruz Island, part of the Channel Island chain located off the coast of southern California, provides the perfect laboratory for young environmental scientists to...
Curated OER
Web of Life - Insects
Third graders recognize the importance of insects in the web of life, construct a web of life that demonstrates the importance of the web of life and discuss the insects' role in the ecosystem. They recognize factors that change ecosystems.
Curated OER
The Power of Words in "Charlotte's Web"
Students analyze the text in Charlotte's Web. In this language arts lesson, students dissect the passages from Charlotte's Web, specifically the adjectives Charlotte used to describe Wilbur. Finally, students play a game using "word...
Michigan Sea Grant
Food Web II
A food web consists of complex food chains and the more complex the web, the better likelihood of survival. Learners compare and contrast food webs and food chains and discuss concepts like the predator-prey and consumer-producer...
Curated OER
Review of Life Cycle
Students illustrate the life cycle of a butterfly. In this life cycle lesson, students use the book From Caterpillar to Butterfly and the Internet to learn about life cycles. Students use different types of pasta to represent the...
Curated OER
The Lifecycle of a Butterfly
Students study the life cycle of the butterfly. In this butterfly life cycle instructional activity, students examine and discuss a large diagram of the four stages of the butterfly life cycle. They read books and access web sites that...
Curated OER
Food Webs and Making Miniature Ecosystems
Students model a food web and create a miniature ecosystem. For this animal interactions lesson, students engage in a role playing game which simulates a food web. Students then build miniature ecosystems using pop bottles, snails,...
Curated OER
Marine Mammal Diving Reflex
Tenth graders discuss marine mammal diving reflex, and measure pulse rate while holding their breath under three conditions: control, warm water, and ice water to determine if humans exhibit marine mammal diving reflex.