Curated OER
Species and Spaces - At Risk at Home
Eleventh graders explore and compare Canadian biomes and investigate species at risk. They describe population growth and eco-regions in terms of climate and geography. They research and create presentations about the natural history and...
Curated OER
Forest Management
Students analyze physical and biological changes in the Sequoia forest ecosystem, especially logging and fire management practices. They evaluate the controversy of how logging and fire management should be conducted in the Giant Sequoia...
Curated OER
Seafood: For the Love of Fish
Students role play a scenario specific to decision making in seafood management and conservation. For this marine science lesson, students estimate seafood consumption in their state. They recommend new regulations for better fishery...
Curated OER
Evaluate Ecosystems
Ninth graders conduct an environmental inventory on one ecosystem. They collect data, and write an environmental impact statement on that area. Students explain the interactions between different systems found within an ecosystem....
Curated OER
Pharaoh Mountain Hike: Investigating Adirondack Life Zones
Students hike a local mountain and examine its life zones. They measure various components at each zone and collect leaf litter at the sites. At the mountain top, students make descriptive observations and complete a handout about the...
Curated OER
Urban Ecosystems 5: In Defense Of Cities
Students explain that while cities have unattractive features, the density of human life enables energy efficiency, mass transit, recycling, and other benefits which are difficult or impossible in rural areas. This is the fifth in an...
Curated OER
Sun and Weather
How is the Earth's weather created? Middle schoolers will explain how the Sun's energy is transformed into different forms. They will perform mathematical calculations of volume, mass, and temperature. They they will explain the...
Kenan Fellows
The Little Stuff Can Make a Big Difference
Great things come in small packages! What better way to illustrate this point than a week-long look at nanotechnology? Earth science scholars explore water quality issues through lab activities, then research new innovations in nanotech...
Curated OER
Urban Ecosystems 4: Metabolism of Urban Ecosystems
Learners discover that material and energy uses by a city come from outside the city boundaries. They realize that the pathway of these material is linear instead of cyclical as they are in natural ecosystems.
Curated OER
Urban Ecosystems 2: Why Are There Cities? A Historical Perspective
Students investigate the importance of food surpluses to the historical development of urban ecosystems.
Curated OER
Blue Crabs - The Blue Crab's Chesapeake Journey
A plethora of information about the blue crabs of Chesapeake Bay will amaze and delight your marine biologists. They learn, through direct instruction, about the characteristics and life cycle of this fascinating arthropod. A highlight...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
The Day the Mesozoic Died
While this is not the traditional, step-by-step lesson plan, it is chock-full of material that you can easily incorporate into your earth history unit. Its main purpose is to serve as a guide to using a three-part film, The Day the...
Curated OER
Field Guide to Schoolyard Insects and Their Relatives
Your entire class works together to create an illustrated insect field guide. The intent is that they venture outside of the classroom, find a critter, and then research it using reference materials, insect books, and the Internet for...
Curated OER
Urban Ecosystems 2: Why are There Cities? A Historical Perspective
Second in a series of five lessons, this lesson encourages preteens to consider cities as urban ecosystems. First, they keep a food diary for a few days. They visit the Natrional Agricultural Statistics Service website for current data...
Curated OER
Urban Ecosystems 4: Metabolism of Urban Ecosystems
Cities are compared to living, breathing, metabolizing organisms. Fourth in a five-part series of lessons, this one focuses on the flow of materials through a city. Links to interesting websites and images make your delivery of...
Curated OER
Coral Reefs
Students research coral reefs and identify their benefits to humans, threats to the reef, how to reduce and eliminate threats, and more. In this coral reef lesson plan, students research the reefs, and take a field trip to an aquarium.
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...
Curated OER
Marine Life Protected Areas in the O.C.
High schoolers research a Marine Protected Area and determine the species' that benefit from its protection. In this marine lesson students present their findings to the class using PowerPoint.
Curated OER
Micro-Ecosystems
Students create a sustainable, self-contained ecosystem in a ten-gallon aquarium.
Curated OER
A Living Watershed
Students, through this series of lessons, use local resources, speakers, print and video materials, as well as standard text materials to study the ecosystem of the local watershed.
Curated OER
the Wonder of Wetlands
Students explore the importance of the wetland ecosystem, its properties and functions, as well as, the many birds, animals, and plant life found there.
Curated OER
Charting Diversity
Learners organize different species of plans and animals according to various characteristics. Students then determine what characteristics enable them to survive in their habitat. Game ideas and activities are included.
Curated OER
Finding the Basal Area of a Forest Plot to Determine Stocking Levels
Young scholars use graphs and plots to measure the basal area and stocking levels. In this graphing instructional activity students work in the field the use their data to help them complete a lab activity.
Curated OER
Fish Parasite Survey
Students count nematodes, cestodes and crustaceans on approximately one-hundred and fifty fish. They fill out autopsy reports for external and internal parasites then complete and discuss guide questions to make inferences about parasite...