Curated OER
A Canadian Inventory: The Way We Are!
Students use the Canadian Atlas to discover an inventory of Canada's wealth and usage of resources. Using charts and graphs, they produce a wall of selected data of importance to the country and identify one issue of sustainability. ...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Building Ecological Pyramids
Looking for a fresh take on traditional food/energy pyramids? Conduct an innovative activity where pupils build their own! The lesson uses research data from Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique for a real-life safari touch. Scholars...
University of Southern California
How do Organisms Interact?
Examine how organisms interact through a hands-on experience. Learners study population dynamics and distribution during an informative five-lesson unit. The focus is on the ocean environment and the organisms within it.
NOAA
Plankton
Dive into the world of plankton. The 17th installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program introduces different types of plankton. Young scientists then use what they have learned to classify...
LABScI
Taxonomy: Who is in My family?
Find similarities in seemingly unlike organisms. The second instructional activity in a series of 12 builds the concept of a taxonomy and explores the use of a dichotomous key. Learners begin in part one by attempting to group a set of...
Curated OER
From Curiosity Cabinet to Museum Collection
Students study binomial nomenclature and museum-based research. They create a curiosity box, label the objects in their curiosity box , develop a classification scheme for the objects, and create a database of all objects collected by...
eSkeletons
Skeleton Scramble Puzzle: Suborder Prosimians
Explore the finer details of primate skulls with these puzzles, incorporating advanced scientific analysis of two suborders- Prosimians and Anthropoidea- and one superfamily- Hominoidea. Learners read about the unique characteristics of...
Curated OER
Mussel Ecology
Students are introduced to the marine environment of the mussel. The emphasis of the lesson is upon what human factors are present to influence the environment in positive and negative ways. They brainstorm in groups in order to conduct...
Curated OER
What Effect Does Climate Have on Wildlife?
Students explore the international scope of climate change. They identify variables that cause changes in the climate. Students examine how changes in climate affect the food chain.
Curated OER
Ball Identification Exercise
Fourth graders participate in a ball identification exercise to help them identify birds. As a class, their teacher throws them a variety of different sized and colored balls for them to describe. Using these factors, they work together...
Curated OER
PRIMATE CLASSIFICATION: Evolution, Cladograms,
Students transfer examples (names) of primates from their location in an outline hierarchy of primate groups into a set of nested boxes reflecting that same hierarchy. A cladogram can then be drawn illustrating how these groups are...
Curated OER
Dibble Pond Ecosystem
Learners collect specimen and analyze it. In this biology lesson, students analyze and evaluate the diversity found in specific environment. They use the correct terminology as they do their write up for the experiment.
Curated OER
How Does Your Ecosystem Grow?
Students consider that under certain conditions in nature tend to remain the same or move toward a balance. They observe populations and determine the functions (e.g., de-composers, producers, consumers) they serve in an ecosystem. They...
Curated OER
Food Classification
Middle schoolers are introduced to classification and some of the difficulties surrounding classification and how classification systems need to be able to adapt and how they may need to be changed when new information is discovered. ...
Curated OER
Marshland Ecosystems
Students identify animals in ecosystem depicted on 16th Century ceramic basin and classify them as herbivores, carnivores, or omnivores based on physical characteristics and prior knowledge, determine which life forms in ecosystem are...
Curated OER
Pendemonium Unnatural Selection: Quotation Marks
Students practice the correct use of quotation marks. In this grammar lesson, students watch and then discuss a video on the use of quotation marks. Students find examples of quotation marks in books and periodicals and then convert...
Curated OER
Create a Critter Collage
Students create a collage. In this animal classification lesson, students discuss why and how scientists classify animals. Students view pictures of different animals and decide which class each animal belongs to. Students compare...
Curated OER
Guetemala's Changing Forest
Eighth graders compare their local ecological zone to the tropical rainforest. In this natural ecology lesson, 8th graders complete an activity about the differences in ecological zones. They compare their biome to the Guatemalan...
Curated OER
Making Big Cats' Web Pages
Students investigate the lives of big cats by creating a website. In this web design lesson plan, students examine web authoring software in pairs as they read books on big cats. Students share their web page creations with the class...
Curated OER
Amphibians Internet Activity
In this amphibians instructional activity, students click on the links in the questions about amphibians to find the answers to the questions and then come back and answer the questions. Students answer 10 questions total.
Curated OER
Design, Grow, and Ponder in a Garden
A garden can inspire students to make mathematical connections.
Curated OER
Seafood: For the Love of Fish
Students role play a scenario specific to decision making in seafood management and conservation. In this marine science lesson, students estimate seafood consumption in their state. They recommend new regulations for better fishery...
Curated OER
Amphibians Crossword Puzzle
In this biology worksheet, students complete a crossword puzzle with 24 questions about different types of amphibians and functions of their body parts.
Curated OER
Making Paper
Students brainstorm why trees are important to humans and the value of forests. They then participate in making paper in class. They may decorate the paper adding glitter, dried flowers, etc.