National Park Service
Fire Ecology on the Rim
An engaging unit on wildfires includes three sections, including a background section with eight lessons and five activities, a field experience section with 13 lessons and five activities, and a conclusion section featuring an...
Curated OER
Taming Wild Land
Third graders consider the habitat needs of living things and how extensive farming in an area can affect the plants and animals of a region. They participate in a simulation to show how changing the habitat in one area can greatly...
Curated OER
Forest Succession
Students research environmental change and why forests cannot stay the same for long. In this environmental growth instructional activity, students discuss the life cycle of a tree and examine tree cookies to discover the age of...
Curated OER
Ocean Pollution
Students explore ocean pollution. In this ecology lesson, students view a video entitled This Pretty Planet and identify common biodegradable products. Students participate in activities designed to simulate the negative effects of...
Curated OER
Forest Ecosystem Field Trip
Students investigate the environment by participating in a class field trip. In this botany lesson plan, students attend a field trip through their local park or forest while listening to a nature guide. Students practice using their 5...
Curated OER
What Lives in the Forest?
Students investigate nearby forests and record their interactions with trees as well as wild life. In this ecology lesson, students read the book, In the Woods: Who's Been Here?, and attend class observational field trips through...
California Academy of Science
Ocean Acidification Mock Conference
In a comprehensive role playing activity, teens play the parts of different stakeholders in the realm of acidic oceans. They research, debate, and create a presentation from the perspective of either ocean organisms, the fishing...
Curated OER
The Great Pollinators
Young scholars discover the reproductive parts of a plant. In this biology lesson, students identify and categorize several different plants they dissect in class. Young scholars record their information using a data chart.
Curated OER
Scavenger Hunt
Young scholars explore area around schoolyard by participating in scavenger hunt, examine things that live there, such as noxious weeds, develop observation skills by using five senses, and find and identify ten to fifteen local, natural...
Curated OER
Pond Water Web
Students identify the different organisms in the food web. In this biology lesson, students create food chains using the information on cards. They explain what happens if an organism is removed or added in the web.
Curated OER
The Web of Life
Students demonstrate the interrelationships of animals and plants. In this ecology lesson, students discuss the things plants and animals need for survival and study the glacier food chain. Students simulate the web of life by using a...
Curated OER
What Parts Are There to a Plant?
Students explore botany by completing plant science worksheets. In this plant anatomy lesson, students examine real vegetables in class using magnifying glasses. Students identify the plants anatomy and complete worksheets discussing...
Curated OER
Building YOU from MOO
Students build protiens according to whether they are suppose to be a plant, a cow, or a person. They discover that all proteins are made from the same amino acids and it is just the order of these amino acids that change.
Curated OER
Interactions Among Living Things
Students role play predators and prey, classify organisms as predator or prey, and describe factors that affect population growth and size.
National Park Service
It's Not Easy Being Grizz
Grizzly bears can be up to 600 pounds and require a great deal of food, especially to survive hibernation. Comprised of multiple games, the third lesson of five only uses one setup. Pupils run around a large field, sorting and collecting...
Curated OER
What Are the Layers of the Rain Forest?
Students investigate the different levels of the rain forest by comparing it to an apartment. In this ecology lesson, students practice using forest related vocabulary words and complete a vocabulary data sheet. Students...
Curated OER
Wild, Wild Wetland Wildlife
Students investigate biology by participating in a science experiment. In this dissection lesson, students conduct a nature field trip around their school grounds and identify animals, plants, tracks and waste. Students dissect an owl...
Curated OER
Hands on Biome-Building
Young scholars explore Earth science by participating in an environment activity. In this biome lesson, students discuss the importance of a healthy ecology in order to sustain life, both animal and plant. Young scholars utilize a...
Curated OER
Flowers and Pollination
Students explore the environment by researching plant reproduction. In this pollination lesson, students define botany related vocabulary terms such as disc flower, petal and fertilization. Students dissect a flower with their classmates...
Curated OER
I See a Coyote
Students role-play coyotes looking for natural resources. In this natural resources lesson, students examine the relationship between animal life and the environment. Students play a game that demonstrates how natural...
Curated OER
Watersheds and Wetlands Lesson Plan
Students study the characteristics of wetlands and watersheds. In this wetlands and watersheds instructional activity, students study the characteristics of wetlands. They investigate the plants and animals that live there and will tell...
Curated OER
What Parts Are There to a Plant?
Young scholars identify and sort plant parts through hands-on activities and group discussions and then work with magnifying lenses and tape measures to document their observations on a student sheet.
Curated OER
Volcano Above the Clouds
High schoolers develop a travelogue to describe the distinct ecological regions of Mount Kilimanjaro. Students simulate mountain climbing. They describe the health issues that may affect climbers, and any necessary equipment or safety...
Curated OER
Listening to the Prairie
Students, in groups, visit an exhibit and for a prairie scavenger hunt to locate sunflowers and name products made from them. After sketching a prairie dog, they find nature cues farmers use when growing plants and raising animals. The...