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Dissolved Oxygen and Temperature
Students are shown how temperature affects dissolved oxygen and they create a graph showing this relationship. They think about the adaptations of animals to live in different water temperatures. Students test four different water...
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Composting in Schools: Observing Compost Microorganisms
Students explore composting. In this composting instructional activity, students use compound microscopes to observe the microbial communities in compost. Observations and documentation of changes will occur over the course of several...
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Collecting Compost
Students observe a composting box. In this soil lesson plan, students create a composting bin by using a bin, newspaper, worms, and food scraps. Students create a composting food web.
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Composting
Eighth graders collect data from Bottle Biology compost columns and record using Excel spreadsheet.
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De"compost"ition
High schoolers develop an understanding of the decomposition process and the parameters which influence the rate at which it occurs.
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Recycling Garden Waste
Students experience how to make compost. This lesson plan is ongoing with periodic checks and maintenance. They select a piece of ground around the school or around their homes to establish a compost pile. Organic materials are utilized...
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Make Your Own Newspaper Plant Pots
Young scholars make plant pots out of newspaper as part of a recycle, reuse, and reduce lesson. In this recycling lesson, students fold a piece of newspaper to make a pot in which to start plants. They fill it with compost and plant seeds.
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Give Me Back My School: A Back to Basics Approach to Ecological Restoration
Ninth graders research local geography to create successful, ecological school landscaping. They determine soil type, average weather patterns and temperature graphs and use the information to select ideal plants and plant maintenance...
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Red Worms Rock!
Second graders measure red worms. In this lesson, 2nd graders observe and collect data on red worms. Students measure the red worms and create a graph with the data they collect.
PBS
Cloud Clues
It's cloudy with a good chance of learning! An inquiry-based lesson begins with an exploration of transparent, translucent, and opaque materials. Young scientists then connect their learning to the different cloud types as they take the...
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Dissolved Oxygen and Respiration
Students are presented with the question, "Do plants that grow underwater use oxygen?" They create an experiment to test the presence of dissolved oxygen in the water using provided materials. Student experiments include a control jar as...
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Change Since 1609
Students recognize how the climate of the Hudson Valley has changed since the last glaciation. They explain these changes using a reconstruction of the land use changes in the Hudson Valley composed of confetti, Ziploc bags and other...
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Dissolved Oxygen Introduction
High schoolers are shown how dissolved oxygen enters the water. They are taught the difference between a water sample that has been exposed to the air and one that has not. Students brainstorm what organisms need to survive. They use...
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Is Our Water Healthy?
Young scholars test water for a least one chemical characteristic. They hypothesize how a storm event might change the chemical characteristics of a stream. Students collect water samples and use the chemical test to test the water.
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Aquatic Ecosystem Exploration
Learners visit a local stream, pond, creek, or river and collect macroinvertebrates. They sort macroinvertebrates and identify each species using a dichotomous key. Students decide on trophic levels and construct a possible food web for...
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What If There's No Light?
students discuss the importance of light and the consequences of living without it. Using a plant as a demonstration, students predict and observe what happens to a plant when it does not receive enough light. In groups, they experiment...
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Runoff: Intro to Watersheds
Young scholars are taught that a watershed is, what types of basic land cover are impermeable and permeable to water. They trace the flow of water around their school and around their home. Students determine what watershed their school...
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Invasives and Marsh Birds
Young scholars are taught that invasive plant removal can have a variety of impacts. They are shown this by using graphs. Students view maps of vegetation change on Iona Island. They discuss implications of changes on marsh birds using...
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Water Chestnut Graphing Activity
Students are taught how to format and enter data into an Excel spreadsheet. They make a graph and interpret graphed data. Students discuss possible impacts of water chestnut invasion. They graph data on water chestnut. Students report...
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Water Quality with Samples
Young scholars recognize whether one wants to drink water, swim in it, or for the health of the organisms living in it. They prepare different water samples to observe and collect samples regarding the water quality.
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Bottled Water vs. Tap Water
Learners analyze the similarities and differences between tap water and bottled water. They make informed decisions about their use of each. Students are asked if they drink mostly tap water straight from the tap or water fountain. They...
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Hudson Valley Rocks
Students identify each of the rocks provided and locate where in the valley they are found. They explain why the rocks came to be as they are in each location. In addition, they relate the exercise to how the Hudson Valley's geologic...
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Glacial Groundwater
Students study glacial deposition and groundwater in Dutchess County, new York. They identify the permeability rates in different glacial deposits and relate this information to ground water capacity of sediments found in Dutchess...
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Let's Build a Worm Bin
Students explore the process of decomposition. In this ecology and measurement lesson, students prepare a worm home to be used for vermicomposting. Students weigh a group of worms and the added food, recording this information on a data...