Curated OER
Dissolved Oxygen and Temperature
Learners are shown how temperature affects dissolved oxygen and they create a graph showing this relationship. They think about the adaptations of animals to live in different water temperatures. Students test four different water...
Bonneville
Compost Bioreactor Design
Organic waste is a hot topic. The second of three installments in the Bioreactor Water Heating unit challenges pupils to create bioreactors that collect energy released from compost. After watching videos on the properties of water and...
Curated OER
Composting in Schools: Observing Compost Microorganisms
Pupils explore composting. In this composting lesson, students use compound microscopes to observe the microbial communities in compost. Observations and documentation of changes will occur over the course of several weeks.
Curated OER
Let's Make a Compost Cake
Students create a compost cake. In this gardening and decomposition science instructional activity, students review and describe the "nutrient cycle." Students create a compost pile, measure and record the dimensions and temperature of...
Curated OER
Collecting Compost
Students observe a composting box. In this soil lesson, students create a composting bin by using a bin, newspaper, worms, and food scraps. Students create a composting food web.
Curated OER
Composting
Eighth graders collect data from Bottle Biology compost columns and record using Excel spreadsheet.
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De"compost"ition
Students develop an understanding of the decomposition process and the parameters which influence the rate at which it occurs.
Curated OER
Recycling Garden Waste
Students experience how to make compost. This instructional activity is ongoing with periodic checks and maintenance. They select a piece of ground around the school or around their homes to establish a compost pile. Organic materials...
Curated OER
Decomposers at Work!
Students design and conduct investigations that illustrate the process of decomposition. After a lecture/demo, students simulate the process of soil composting in the classroom. They closely chart the decomposition of their soil.
Curated OER
Make Your Own Newspaper Plant Pots
Students make plant pots out of newspaper as part of a recycle, reuse, and reduce lesson. In this recycling lesson, students fold a piece of newspaper to make a pot in which to start plants. They fill it with compost and plant seeds.
Curated OER
Planning A School Garden
Students discover how to plan a vegetable garden. Each student take responsibility for growing one vegetable from seed, to transplanting the seedling into the soil, and providing the plant with light, moisture, temperature and healthy soil.
Curated OER
Give Me Back My School: A Back to Basics Approach to Ecological Restoration
Ninth graders research local geography to create successful, ecological school landscaping. They determine soil type, average weather patterns and temperature graphs and use the information to select ideal plants and plant maintenance...
Curated OER
Red Worms Rock!
Second graders measure red worms. In this lesson plan, 2nd graders observe and collect data on red worms. Students measure the red worms and create a graph with the data they collect.
Curated OER
Dissolved Oxygen and Respiration
Students are presented with the question, "Do plants that grow underwater use oxygen?" They create an experiment to test the presence of dissolved oxygen in the water using provided materials. Student experiments include a control jar as...
Curated OER
Tides in the Hudson
Students view an illustration of the Hudson River watershed and identify the bodies of water shown. They discuss what happens when fresh and salt water mix. Students view a teacher demonstration of the stratification of fresh and salt...
Curated OER
Change Since 1609
Young scholars recognize how the climate of the Hudson Valley has changed since the last glaciation. They explain these changes using a reconstruction of the land use changes in the Hudson Valley composed of confetti, Ziploc bags and...
Curated OER
Paleoclimate of the Hudson Valley
Students recognize how the climate of the Hudson Valley has changed since the last glaciation and be able to explain these changes. They reconstruct the paleoclimate of the Hudson Valley.
Curated OER
Dissolved Oxygen Introduction
High schoolers are shown how dissolved oxygen enters the water. They are taught the difference between a water sample that has been exposed to the air and one that has not. Students brainstorm what organisms need to survive. They use...
Curated OER
Is Our Water Healthy?
High schoolers test water for a least one chemical characteristic. They hypothesize how a storm event might change the chemical characteristics of a stream. Students collect water samples and use the chemical test to test the water.
Curated OER
Aquatic Ecosystem Exploration
Young scholars visit a local stream, pond, creek, or river and collect macroinvertebrates. They sort macroinvertebrates and identify each species using a dichotomous key. Students decide on trophic levels and construct a possible food...
Curated OER
What If There's No Light?
young scholars discuss the importance of light and the consequences of living without it. Using a plant as a demonstration, students predict and observe what happens to a plant when it does not receive enough light. In groups, they...
Curated OER
Runoff: Intro to Watersheds
Students are taught that a watershed is, what types of basic land cover are impermeable and permeable to water. They trace the flow of water around their school and around their home. Students determine what watershed their school is a...
Curated OER
Invasives and Marsh Birds
Students are taught that invasive plant removal can have a variety of impacts. They are shown this by using graphs. Students view maps of vegetation change on Iona Island. They discuss implications of changes on marsh birds using data...
Curated OER
Water Chestnut Graphing Activity
Students are taught how to format and enter data into an Excel spreadsheet. They make a graph and interpret graphed data. Students discuss possible impacts of water chestnut invasion. They graph data on water chestnut. Students report...