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Culture, Crisis and Population Explosion: A Deweyan Approach in the Classroom
Students read various arguments posed by John Dewey when it comes to population growth. In groups, they use magazine articles and the internet to find issues related to populations and complete experiments to identify the challenges...
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An Introduction to the Marine Environment and Geology of City Point: A Model for Experiential Teaching
Students begin the lesson by researching the history of City Point, Connecticut. Using a map, they color areas they were asked to find and discuss why the areas are important to the community. As a class, they are shown recent slides...
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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...
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Classroom Aquaponics: Exploring Nitrogen Cycling in a Closed System
Students investigate nutrient cycling in a simplified desktop ecosystem involving aquarium and hydro-ponically grown plants. They set up an aquarium with 10 gallons of water at least a week before the lab is planned and place...
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Acid Rain
Simulated acid rain, a dilute sulfuric acid solution, needs to be prepared for this demonstration. After a condensed lecture on acid rain, you will apply the solution to a sample of granite and a sample of limestone. Your young...
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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...
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This Stuff Makes Me Sick
High schoolers participate in a lab showing the effects of pesticides on Lumbriculus variegatus. Several extensions and variations are also included in this lesson including one which relates the experiment to how pesticides enter our...
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Dissolved Oxygen and Photosynthesis: 1
Young scholars are taught that plants produce oxygen underwater, and they design an experiment that test this question. They discuss whether plants give off oxygen, and how to measure this. Students measure the increase in dissolved...
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Bioethics
Learners are introduced to the issues surrounding bioethics and begin to discover how some of these values can influence decision making. The exciting part of this lesson is the constructivist method used to engage students of all...
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Nature and Fitness Trail
Students plan stations for a nature and fitness trail and construct an accompanying e-Book for extended descriptions at each station. Data on the human impact on the environment is gathered in this lesson.
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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.
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Micro-Ecosystems
Students create a sustainable, self-contained ecosystem in a ten-gallon aquarium.
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Campus Habitat Improvement Plan
Young scholars work to improve a plot of land. They assess the needs of the environment and formulate a plan. They plant trees and gardens, build bird boxes, construct waterholes. etc.
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Colorado Animals Newsletter and Directed Web Page
Young scholars select a Colorado animal, develop a Directed Web page, and research their animal. Each member of the group combine their research and develop a Newsletter.
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Stomata: Microscopic Openings that Let Plants Breathe
Learners participate in a lab experiment to observe and measure the opening and closing of stomata. They focus on photoperiod, locate and identify stomata on a leaf and explain the role of stomata in the daily functioning of a plant.
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Waste Management
Students investigate the amount of trash they generate, the problems that result and possible solutions.They complete four activities regarding household trash, biodegradability, packaging, and recycling.
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Photosynthesis in a Jar
Students simulate Joseph Priestley's experiments using a bell jar. They demonstrate that oxygen is necessary for fire and animals but that given time, plants can create oxygen, allowing fires to burn and animals to breathe.
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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.
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Field Experiments on Succession
Student develop a hypothesis regarding the effects of either mowing or fertilizer upon the diversity of plant species in a grassland ecosystem. They set up experiment field plots and measure species richness.
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Supermarkets, Sustenance and Sustainability
Students investigate jungles and the people who depend upon them. In this sustainability lesson plan, students research wild life conservation and discover the importance of a jungle to Amazonian people. Students create a group...
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An Interdisciplinary Deer and Human Population Study
Students answer the question, "What environmental problems arise due to animal and human overpopulation and what might need to be done to combat these problems?" They play games, graph data and write proposals about the question.
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Terraqua Column
Sixth graders create a TerrAqua column. In this ecosystems lesson, 6th graders build a TerrAqua column to conduct investigations on how living things impact the ecosystem.
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A Walk in the Woods
Eighth graders observe and identify the different levels of the forest. In this forest zones lesson students observe, identify and name a variety of forest components and describe how humans impact the forest ecosystem.
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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.