Curated OER
It's a Gas! Or is it?
Oceanography enthusiasts are given a series of thought experiments to consider in order to relate the solubility of gases and solids to underwater volcanoes. It is not particularly engaging to perform these thought experiments. Choose...
SF Environment
Waste-Less Lunch
Is it possible to have a waste-less lunch? Can your class become leaders in conservation? Discuss the importance of reducing waste during lunch time with a fun instructional activity that can be extended to everyday practices. First the...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Are You Bigfoot?
Scholars independently explore several websites to calculate their ecological footprint. Using their new found knowledge, they answer six short-answer questions and take part in a grand conversation with their peers about how...
Curated OER
Home Living/ Daily Living: Food Pyramid
What did you have for lunch? Did it contain all four food groups? Help your special education class make good food choices and recognize foods in each of the four food groups. They look at images and discuss the foods on the food pyramid...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Introducing Ecosystem Services
Purifying air and water, providing soil in which to grow crops, and moving water through its natural cycle are all services an ecosystem provides that benefit humans. Lesson four in a series lets learners explore and discuss the value of...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Introducing Ecosystem Services
Ecosystems provide many things humans not only use but also need in order to survive. The last instructional activity in the series of seven introduces scholars to the idea of ecosystem services, that ecosystems provide humans with many...
Curated OER
Investigating the Effect of Minerals on Plant Growth
How do different minerals affect the growth of plants? Budding botanists find out in a multi-week experiment that has them using solutions with specific mineral deficiencies. While there is a lot of preparation for the investigation,...
Curated OER
Trash Flash Through Time
Young scholars describe ways in which solid waste was disposed in the past and the present. They survey an older citizen about his/her solid waste disposal methods. They discover solid waste practices from long ago.
Curated OER
Introduction to Waste Management
Students research the difference between hazardous waste and municipal solid waste. Different companies in their community are researched to determine which are contributing waste in their region, what type of waste is generated, the...
Curated OER
Forest Management Techniques and Practices
Students study the different forestry techniques and the different harvesting choices. In this forest management instructional activity students use a map to see the various types of forests and what harvesting practices should be...
Curated OER
Bug Time
Students identify basic pest they find in the school yard. They discover and examine pest control. They also explain the benefits and risks of pests. High school students present a short lesson to third graders.
Curated OER
Best Management Practices for Water Quality
Fourth graders examine best management practices for water quality. In this water quality instructional activity, 4th graders explore unused land to identify areas of runoff, erosion, and effects of water flow. Students...
Curated OER
Logo Design and Ad Campaign Relating to Forestry Management.
High schoolers explore organizations that promote effective marketing strategies and create their own visual symbols that benefit effective forestry cultivation. In this creative lesson students study logos of organizations, create...
Curated OER
In the Wild
Third graders examine the concept of ecology and how animals are suited to their habitats. In this animal adaptation instructional activity, 3rd graders identify a variety of plants and animal species that live in a Beech forest.Students...
Curated OER
Wildlife and Highway Management
Students create a research questions about animal underpasses and how animals use them. In this animals lesson plan, students use their collected data to answer their question.
Curated OER
Hypoxia and the Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico
Students investigate the causes of hypoxia, the characteristics of a watershed, and how the actions and management practices of people can both negatively and positively affect aquatic ecosystems.
Curated OER
Examine the Trees in Your Community Forest
Twelfth graders examine selected tree species. In this tree lesson, 12th graders examine twenty selected tree species, identify them, and correctly map out the trees in the area.
Curated OER
I Don't Think We're in Kansas Anymore (Grades 2-5)
Young scholars give examples of erosion and weathering processes. They determine causes of America's Dust Bowl phenomena.Students define erosion as the condition in which the earth's surface is worn away by the action of water and wind.
Curated OER
Conservation in Action
Learners research the life and works of Rachel Carson. In this conservation lesson, students discuss environmental protection and why protection of wildlife is important. Learners read a Rachel Carson Fact Sheet and work in groups...
Curated OER
Chewin' in the Chesapeake
Students examine a web page on food webs and select a habitat to research. In this research activity students identify the organisms found in the food web and present their findings to the class.
Curated OER
Science Inquiry - Raisins and Sprite
First graders work in pairs to complete a science experiment involving raisins and Sprite. The pairs predict what they think happens when they put their raisin in a cup of Sprite. The students complete the scientific inquiry by drawing...
Curated OER
What's in That Cake?
Students explore the depths of the Gulf of Mexico. In this deep-sea habitat lesson, students construct edible models of deep-sea habitats as they bake cakes that include representations of the habitats and the organisms that live there....
Curated OER
Who Eats Whom in the Open Ocean?
Learners examine how organisms interact with one another in the ocean. In this science lesson plan, students discuss predators and prey in the ocean. Learners discuss food webs and how organisms interact with each other.
Curated OER
Waste Not, Want Not
Students consider the types of debris that litters beaches and conduct research on waste management. They then interview professionals in a particular field of waste management and write reports for a booklet about garbage and sewage to...