Curated OER
Exploring Arizona's Biotic Communities Lesson 1: Mapping Biotic Communities
As part of a unit on Arizona's biotic communities, young ecology learners create a map. They describe how humans and animals adapt in their habitat. They take notes and create graphic organizers from articles they read. Beautiful maps,...
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Play Doh Map of Your State
Students create a state map using Playdoh. In this hands-on state geography lesson, students work in groups to form a three-dimensional map of their state using Playdoh made at home following a (given) recipe. Students use four colors...
US Mint
Desert Dwellers
What can a quarter possibly teach young learners about desert ecosystems? More than you might think. After displaying and discussing the included picture of the Arizona state quarter, the class participates in a series of shared reading...
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World Geography: Climate Change Round Table
Students are able to explain the suspected causes of relatively recent climate changes, specifically the observed global warming. They discuss how unusual or extreme global warming disrupts the balance of the earth's geo-spheres.
Out of Africa Wildlife Park
A Thematic Learning Guide to Lions
Written as an accompaniment to a field trip to the Out of Africa Wildlife Park in Arizona, this is an interdisciplinary, themed lesson on lions. Even if you cannot take your upper-elementary kids to this attraction, there are a few...
Agriculture in the Classroom
Wad-a-Watershed
What kind of impact do humans have on watersheds? Find out in a lesson that defines, explores, and promotes ways to protect our watersheds. The ultimate goal of the lesson is for learners to discover how a watershed is impacted by...
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Environment: How'd That Pollution Get There?
Students examine how global wind and water patterns aid in the spread of worldwide pollution. In groups, they read articles about the domino effect of pollution and create posters displaying its journey. On blank world maps, students...
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Preventing Forest Fires (Elementary)
Students complete activities to learn about the importance of fire prevention and protecting the diversity of the forest. In this forest protection instructional activity, students discuss forest fires and work in groups to research the...
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Explorit's Wetlands Quiz
In this wetlands worksheet, students complete a 31 question multiple choice on-line interactive quiz about wetlands. Included are questions about plants, animals and geography.
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A Message in a Bottle
Students investigate the motion of water currents by mapping the possible movement of messages cast into the ocean in bottles.They accurately plot the appearance of bottles on a world map and illustrate the flow of an ocean current...
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Arsenic and Human Health
Ninth graders concentrate on arsenic poisoning as an example of the connections among health, geography, and geology as they develop a persuasive presentation about the dangers of arsenic in the drinking water, targeting a specific...
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A Whole Lotta Shakin'
Students read first hand accounts of earthquake survivors in order to begin the describe the different types of earthquake waves and the order in which they arrive. They engage in using earthquake waves as a means to indirectly study the...
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Natural Disasters
Ninth graders write a description of a natural disaster. They list as many natural disasters as they can think of. The class discusses any natural disasters individuals have witnessed first hand. They watch a brief clip of a film that...
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Mapping Natural Disasters
Young scholars use Cartesian coordinates to plot current natural disasters. They relate location of natural disasters to their specific major project countries. Students tie in geometry within this lesson as connected to spatial...
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When Nature Strikes: Natural Hazards Safety
Young scholars observe the impact of natural disasters on humans, and become aware of the dangers of environmental hazards such as flash floods, tornadoes, and hurricanes.
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A world of oil
Students practice in analyzing spatial data in maps and graphic presentations while studying the distribution of fossil fuel resources. They study, analyze, and map the distribution of fossil fuels on blank maps. Students discuss gas...
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The Earth is an Orange
Students examine and identify the various types of maps. Using two types of maps, they compare the data that can be gathered from each one. They also identify and locate the continents and the oceans. They review the purposes of each...
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Drifting Continents, Dynamic Results
Students plot earthquake and volcano data using a Compass Rose Plotting. They explain the relationship between plate movement and connection. They draw conclusions that earthquakes and volcanoes occur in predictable locations.
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The Water Dilemma
Students read about and discuss the importance of easily available, clean drinking water. They participate in a role play scenario in which only one drinking fountain in the school has potable water.
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The Desert is Theirs: Adapting to Our Environment
Students determine how animals and people adapt to the desert environment. In this desert lesson plan, students review vocabulary about the desert and how humans have to make changes to accommodate their environments. They listen to and...
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The Díne (Navajo) Native American Tribe
Students participate in a variety of activities to become familiar with the Navajo Indians. In this Díne (Navajo) Native American tribe lesson, students understand where the Navajo tribe lived and find them on a map. Students discuss the...
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A Tough Nut to Crack
Children, based on a set of criteria, evaluate the quality of pecans. They research recorded history of pecan trees as well as how their seeds moved across western Missouri into southeastern Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Mexico. In...
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Cranes, Crosswalks, and Big Gulps
Pupils watch a video and answer questions based on wildlife jobs. For this wildlife lesson plan, students learn that biologists don't just play with animals but that there is a lot of study involved.
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Which Way is Up? The Tree of Life in Africa
Students read a book titled This is the Tree about a baobab tree and draw a picture and label the tree. In this tree lesson plan, students also write a paragraph explaining why they drew that tree.