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The Edge of Home
Students explain why some species of plants and animals occur in more than one area. They watch as the teacher puts an overlapping circles on the chalkboard, students are asked to predict what kinds of things they would expect to find in...
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Habitat Mural
Learners build a collage of an ecosystem. The goal is for them to understand interactions in a community, plant and animal adaptations, and how all life depends on plants. This activity is based on Wump World and students describe what...
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Look Up - Birds
Students investigate the concept of birds. They identify five different types of birds and name the characteristics that make them different than other living things. Students also name the different parts of the bird and how they are...
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The Rainforest
Second graders investigate the five different layers of the rainforest. They conduct research to find details pertaining to the animals and the interactions of the existing food chain in each layer of the forest. Students construct a...
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The Schoolyard Safari
Students engage in a activity to find out more information about insects. They collect and observe different insects found on school property. They research the insects once they have been classified. Also a video is used to create a...
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Which Animals Should Be Saved?
Fifth graders investigate the concepts related to the endangerment of different animal species. They conduct research using a variety of resources. The skills of prediction are used to show the possible outcome of the extinction of a...
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Food Chains
Fourth graders investigate food chains. They review cycles and discuss ecosystems. They select an environment and create a food chain in small groups. They write their food chain and label it for the class to evaluate. They create...
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The Basics of Creature Connectedness: Biodiversity Diversions
Students study biodiversity. They participate in a scavenger hunt to look for presence of wildlife and connections in nature. They create a collage about Venezuelan biodiversity in small groups and present to the class. They write a...
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Wild Thing!
Sixth graders view several segments of the video, "How Animals Survive." They discuss elements of survival. Students list living and nonliving things found in their backyards and schoolyards. Students work in groups to complete the...
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Fish In a Bottle
Students work together to build their own fish ecosystems. As a class, they share their prior knowledge about catfish and use a diagram to label its body parts. They record their observations of the ecosystem and determine what they...
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Information Fluency Unit
Fourth graders, after defining the task and searching for some creative strategies, role play being a Park Ranger who tries to save Big Bend from being removed from the National Park system in Texas. They support the keeping of Big Bend...
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Web of Life
Students collect information about various organisms in a forest ecosystem and create a mural that depicts organism interdependence. They then simulate a food web using a ball of string.
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Forest Food Web
Students explore the elements of a forest ecosystem. They examine the elements needed to form a forest food web. Students construct and describe food webs that include nonliving elements of the ecosystem.
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Aquatic Ecosystems
Ninth graders record information on aquatic ecosystems and create a labeled diagram of an ecosystem of their choice. They can choose from an ocean zone, estuary, river, lakes, or beaches. The student has to explain their biome of choice.
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The Environment and Interactions of Living Organisms
Students study the environment and interactions of living organisms. They identify abiotic and biotic factors and create a foldable and vocabulary cards. They create a poster illustrating soil and watch a video to study symbiosis.
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Biomes and Ecosystems
Students study biomes and ecosystems. They watch videos on rainforests and the food web and select a country of ancestry or interest to research. They write a report on the flora and fauna of their selected country. They present to...
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Ecosystems
Students create plots of land in three different ecosystems and use AppleWorks to collect data for research. This activity includes a downloadable worksheet and can be accomplished in four days.
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Exploring Ecosystems
Fourth graders create an ecosystem as a class. They have already produced smaller ones. They use a pond or something similar on school grounds to meet the needs of certain plants and animals of their ecosystem. Specifically created will...
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Making Connections, Linking Population and the Environment
Students find out that all habitats have a carrying capacity. They explore how the world's human population has grown markedly in the 20th century, and that humans impact environmental health. Students investigate that people can and...
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Investigating Local Ecosystems
Students investigate the habitats of local plants and animals. They explore some of the ways animals depend on plants and each other. Students observe living organisms in a local ecosystem and create detailed drawings and descriptions...
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The Rain Forest
Students acquire knowledge about the basics of the tropical rain forest ecosystem. They analyze the cause/effect relationship between humans attitudes and behavior and the evnvironment. Students list the four general layers of vegetation...
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Plants and Animals Depend Upon One Another
First graders study plants and animals and how they depend on one another. They also study that plants give energy to animals and provide oxygen needed for life. Finally, 1st graders give examples of the roles plants and animals play...
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Home, Home on the River
Students examine the complex issues that result from human use of ecologically sensitive areas. They investigate these issues from the point of view of their major/career path.
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Water Retention and Soil Variation in Local Ecosystems
Students identify the differences in local soil types and the relationship between soil size and water retention. They are introduced to microenvironmental conditions in ecosystem sustainability.