Rapid Ecological Assessments

How does your lifestyle measure up in terms of your ecological footprint? Young ecologists examine their impact on the planet using an insightful online calculator. A short quiz asks users to rank the size of their homes, their energy...

Learners explore, experience and experiment identifying the human impact on the environment of vegetative differences within the same biome. They assess what causes deserts, rain forests, savannahs, tundras and saguaros and how these...

Use science to solve the mystery of the Poplar murder. Pupils use forensic botany to determine if a suspect could be the killer. By analyzing images from a Transmission Electron Microscope, learners determine if the material found on the...

Explore animal habitats and reinforce speaking, listening, reading comprehension, and writing skills with a unit that focuses on the Arctic, desert, ocean, prairie, and rainforest. Enthusiastic scientists read informational text to...

Gardeners are given an individual plant specimen from a bouquet of local rain garden plants. They group up by their plant type and then make observations together, name the plant, and introduce it to the rest of the class. You then share...

You know you taught it, but did they learn it!?! A quick formative assessment asks pupils to describe both photosynthesis and cellular respiration before showing how they relate to each other. The lesson marks the 20th lesson in a...

Using stunning computer imagery, this resource introduces life science learners to cells. It zeros in on the animal cell and the function of its more prominent organelles. Additional support is offered in the form of a self-assessment...

Students examine and categorize plants in their own schoolyard desert garden and then observe other plant areas of their schoolyard.

George Wolfe explains the parts of a eukaryotic cell very energetically. Surface area and volume are reviewed in order to show that a giant amoeba could not exist. Show your junior high or high school class this video to begin talking...

Work samples, phenomena, assessment templates, and videos that directly address standard 3-LS1-1: plant and animal life cycles.