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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Carbon Dioxide Heats It Up

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Young scholars design an investigation to test whether vegetation in an area helps regulate the ambient air temperature. They make comparisons between the investigation and global changes in climate. In groups, they present their...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sustainable Southern Belize: Coral Health Lesson Plan

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders investigate coral reefs and the dangers they face by labeling and drawing.  In this oceanography lesson, 5th graders view a PowerPoint presentation of photographs of coral reefs in Belize.  Students investigate and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Wax On, Wane Off

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students investigate the cycles of the moon through an in class experiment.  In this lunar lesson, students utilize a tennis ball and their own head to simulate the moon and Earth and create moon phases by observing the tennis ball from...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Solids and Water

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students investigate mixtures made of water and familiar solid materials. They observe and discuss the changes that occur immediately and set the mixtures aside for a day. Finally, students observe the mixtures, note changes, and graph...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Whose Breakfast isn't for the Birds?

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Learners explore coffee production.  In this cross-curriculum rainforest ecology instructional activity, students research regions where coffee comes from and investigate how the native birds in the rainforest are effected by coffee...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Dirty Decomposers

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Students explore the ecosystem by conducting a ziploc bag experiment. In this recycling lesson, students identify decomposer organisms in our environment and how they speed up the recycling process. Students utilize a ziploc plastic bag,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring Fish Anatomy and Commercial Fishing Gear

For Teachers 1st - 6th
Students investigate commercial fishing by exploring the technical methods.  In this environmental lesson, students identify the fish that are most commonly consumed by humans and trace their path from ocean to plate.  Students examine...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Environmental Issues

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Learners investigate the natural resources on earth by reading a book in class.  For this environmental lesson, students read select pages from the book Alaska by Rebecca Stefoff and discuss their feelings on the material.  Learners...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Living With the Heat: The Ring of Fire

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students investigate the planet Earth's infamous ring of fire and the life that thrives from it.  In this ocean environment instructional activity, students investigate hydrothermal vents and how organisms thrive off their heat....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bodies of Water

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Learners investigate the geography of the Earth by identifying bodies of water.  In this global geography lesson, students read a list of bodies of water which they must identify in a word scramble.  
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Green Are You?

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students investigate environmental care by listing ways they preserve the Earth each day. In this green living habits lesson, students collaborate in groups to brainstorm ways they can "be green" more often in their communities. Students...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Class Conservation Corps (CCC)

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students investigate how the loss of soil, a valuable natural resource, affects their lives through loss of productive land to grow food, loss of coastal land mass, and poor water quality from runoff. They design a project to keep soil...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Drought

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students gain knowledge about the impact of drought in agriculture. They investigate soil types, water flow, and various erosion conditions which occur during a drought and see how farming practices changed after the 1930's.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Frog's Life Story

For Teachers K - 8th
Students investigate the lives of frogs by completing several worksheets.  In this biology lesson, students discover the life cycle of a frog from tadpole to death.  Students complete frog life cycle puzzle as well as create a life cycle...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Indoor Environment: A Magazine Publication Project

For Teachers 1st - 8th
Students demonstrate knowledge of Indoor Air Quality by creating a class magazine. A link to order a free Action Kit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is provided so teachers can build background knowledge. Performance...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Is Electricity?

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students investigate vocabulary words associated with electricity.  In this electrical lesson, students utilize the Internet to research what electricity is and how it works.  Students create an actual circuit in class using a battery,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Climate Change

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students explore environmental care by researching the impact of human beings on our planet. In this climate change lesson, students utilize the Internet to read informational text about climate change and the effect it will have on our...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Understanding the Indoor Environment:Preventing and Fixing Indoor Air Pollution

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students explore air pollution.  In this environmental studies lesson, students work with a partner to create a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting possible solutions to prevalent indoor air pollution problems.  Students discuss and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Solids in Bottles

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Learners use funnels to put the five solid materials into clear bottles with caps. They observe how the particulate materials look, sound, and move when they shake and roll the bottle. Finally, students write "sound and touch" poetry.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Natural Inquirer Ecosystem Article Lesson

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students discover new ways to preserve the ecosystem by completing graphic organizers.  In this environmental lesson, students read an article from the Natural Inquirer in small groups and fill out a graphic organizer based on the...