Factors That Affect Populations

Biodiversity is essential for every habitat, but many species are at risk due to pollution and other factors. Explore several different species native to Illinois in a gallery walk with posters that learners have created after research...

During this game, kids become migratory shorebirds and fly among wintering, nesting, and stopover habitats. If they do not arrive at a suitable habitat on time, they do not survive. Catastrophic events are periodically introduced that...

There are currently thousands of species around the world whose survival is in serious danger. This lesson allows young conservationists to explore this global issue by classifying at-risk animals by the various factors threatening their...

Lead young scientists on an investigation of fishery practices with the final installment of this four-part unit. Using a PowerPoint presentation and hands-on simulation, this lesson engages children in learning how fish populations are...

At first glance, grassland ecosystems might seem dull and uninteresting, but once you start to explore it's amazing the things you'll find! Through this series of engaging lessons, activities, and experiments, elementary students examine...

Students explore how engineers work together to solve problems.  In this environmental structures lesson students study the different factors that are used to plan buildings. 

After a discussion of the factors that affect seed germination, class groups harvest and preserve seeds from the school garden.

"If global warming is real, why is it so cold?" Distinguishing the difference between weather and climate is important when it comes to understanding our planet. In these activities, young scientists look at the climate patterns in a...

Math and M&Ms® go great together when introducing a modeling activity. Allow your learners to simulate population growth and decay of fish in a pond and share their reasoning for the change in fish. With such an impact we have on our...

Elementary ecologists pretend to be migratory hummingbirds. They fly between wintering and nesting grounds, trying to reach a habitat haven. In a musical-chair fashion, some birds will miss out, and are removed from the game. To further...