NOAA
Stressed Out!
Are our oceans really suffering due to the choices humans make? The sixth and final installment in the volume of activities challenges research groups to tackle one of six major topics that impact ocean health. After getting to the...
Smithsonian Institution
Expedition: Insects
Get up close and personal with beautiful and sometimes dangerous insects in an exciting eBook activity! Pupils practice geography skills by reading a map with the location of six different insects. Scientists read about each insect,...
University of Florida
A Walk in the Woods
Take class members on a field trip to the forest without leaving the classroom. Scholars learn content-related vocabulary and factors affecting forest health with class discussions and during a presentation. Scientists combine forestry...
American Museum of Natural History
What do you know about Biodiversity?
What do your classes know about biodiversity? A 10-question online quiz asks questions related to biodiversity and species groups. As learners answer questions, they click on links to additional information. The lesson could be an option...
Purdue University
Invasive Plants: Impact on Environment and People
It's the attack of the invasive species! Young scientists simulate the behavior of an invasive species with a game-like activity. They assume the roles of native plants, invasive plants, and resources and watch the invasive plant takes...
Community Resources for Science
Food Webs/Clipfish
Human impact on habitats can be alarming. A hands-on activity has learners explore the impact of human interactions with different environments using a gamified approach. They simulate the impact of a species' abundance under different...
College Board
2003 AP® Environmental Science Free-Response Questions
One size fits all doesn't seem to be the right approach to endangered species. Using a four-part AP® assessment, learners respond to questions that address environmental concerns such as human population changes, invasive species...
College Board
2010 AP® Environmental Science Free-Response Questions
Scientists rely heavily on data to make predictions and find solutions. Young scholars become scientists as they analyze information presented to them to construct responses. They consider scenarios related to air pollution, invasive...
Serendip
Changing Biological Communities – Disturbance and Succession
After cutting down a forest to make a farm, how long would it take the environment to turn an abandoned farm back into a forest? Scholars study this exact scenario while they interpret many charts and graphs of the changing ecosystems as...
Science 4 Inquiry
Snakes in the Everglades
The Burmese python is on the loose ... and he's hungry! Illustrate the differences between causative and correlative relationships through an inquiry lesson. Pupils examine several sources of information to determine if there is a...
Channel Islands Film
Island Rotation: Lesson Plan 4
Foster's Rule? Allopatric speciation? After watching West of the West's documentary Island Rotation, class members use Venn diagrams to compare endemic species on the Channel Islands with mainland related species. They then create a...
Channel Islands Film
Santa Cruz Island - Visible Thinking Routines
Visible Thinking Routines are designed to help learners deepen their understanding of what they are learning and enable them to communicate their understanding of concepts to others. Individuals adopt one of these routines to use to...
Channel Islands Film
Santa Cruz Island - Writing for Information
After re-viewing a documentary segment on the restoration of Santa Cruz Island,, individuals craft an essay in which they compare the views of the various stake holders featured in the video and identify the point of view they find the...
Channel Islands Film
Santa Cruz Island Restoration Narrative
What would you be willing to do to save an animal from extinction? After re-viewing a video about the restoration of the Island Fox on Santa Cruz Island, individuals adopt the point of view of one of the key players in the debate and...
Channel Islands Film
Natural Resources, and Human Uses of Plants and Animals
As part of their study of the restoration projects on Santa Cruz Island, class members demonstrate their understanding of the connections among plant life, animals, and the actions of humans by crafting a model that reveals these...
NOAA
Build Your Own Ocean Ecosystem
Hold the sea in the palm of your hand! Amateur oceanographers work together to create models of an ocean ecosystem in the sixth and final installment in a series. Raise awareness of global ocean health issues through guided research,...
National Park Service
Who Grows There?
More than 127 non-native species live in Glacier National Park in Montana and their infestations are growing! Pupils read about and gather samples of exotic plants. Participants create a master book of pressed plants and complete a...
It's About Time
Competition Among Organisms
Who knew plants could be so competitive? Join your class as they observe plants competing for space and nutrients. Middle and high schoolers describe possible effects of introducing a new species into an already established ecosystem,...
ARKive
Invasive Species
Learn about how invasive species and introduced species impact the environment around them with a presentation and lesson plan. After viewing the presentation, learners go to the library and computer lab to look up various species and...
National Geographic
Eat an Alien Invader
If you are looking for a lesson plan about invasive species to ocean habitats, you have arrived! Introduce the concept to learners and have them read an article about marine invasive species. Vocabulary, relevant web links, and a cute...
Curated OER
Hemlock Trees and the Pesky Pest, The Woolly Adelgid
Young scholars review Excel and how to create graphs with this program. They create two graphs in Excel, one showing the average number of woolly adelgid egg sacks on the outer 15 cm of hemlock branch at sites sorted by latitude, then...
Curated OER
Wanted: Invasive Species
Learners create a WANTED poster about an invasive species to an ecosystem. In this invasive species lesson plan, students watch a video and research an invasive species and create the WANTED poster about it.
Curated OER
Great Lakes Ecology
High schoolers are able to use a secchi disk to measure the turbidity of water by determining the depth at which the sechi disk is no longer visible and using the data in a formula to quantify the results. They are able to use Vernier...
Michigan Sea Grant
Invasive Species
Learners identify invasive species to the Great Lakes and analyze their impact on the ecosystem. Using photo cards with pictures and facts, young scientists work in small groups to match invasive species with their corresponding...