Setting Limits

The relationships within and between ecosystems can be explored. after examining an area for living and non-living things young scholars complete the same examination in the forest ecosystem. Students identify abiotic and biotic elements...

A critical look into the structure and function of ecosystems is here for young learners as a series of lessons and worksheet activities. Topics covered include land-based and marine ecosystems, connections to the water cycle, food...

Students work in groups and experience what it is like to be a hatchling marine turtle by playing a board game.  In this endangered marine turtles lesson, students research the threats to marine turtle hatchlings. Students then...

Students study the diversity of marine life and their habitats.  In this aquatic ecosystems instructional activity students complete a lab activity and experiment. 

Now is the time to educate tomorrow's citizens to care for the planet, and here is a lesson to help facilitate the process. Collect some marine debris and bring it into class. Have your class separate it into types and then test each...

Fifth graders examine plants and animals in two ecosystems and compare them. In this ecosystem survival instructional activity, 5th graders compare and contrast a coral reef and kelp forest ecosystem. Students investigate the...

Students examine the relationships between plants, animals, and the environment in ecosystems. They sort animal cards, collect natural materials from the schoolyard, and record an ecosystem web in the form of a poster.

Smithsonian Education presents Contrasts in Blue: Life on the Caribbean Coral Reef and the Rocky Coast of Maine. Teachers can download this comprehensive teaching package in which students explore two marine ecosystems, the coral reefs...

Third graders investigate the balance of ecosystems and how each species has different survival needs. They research on the internet using the site included. They then participate in activities/centers utilizing the facts they discovered.

Students perform experiments to examine if debris float, or blow in the wind. The effects of these characteristics on the marine debris are then discussed. They determine how a material can influence what becomes marine debris.