Lesson Plan
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Wood is Everywhere!

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders diagram and label the parts of a tree. For this lesson plan on how trees obtain food, 5th graders diagram and label the parts of a tree, and determine the diameter, height, and age of a tree.
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Clouds and Your Weather

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders identify clouds and the weather associated with them. They use informational articles and personal weather observations to learn about the relationships between weather fronts and clouds.
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What's Up? Clouds and Your Weather

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders identify clouds and the weather that is associated with them.  For this weather lesson students work in groups and design their own weather map.
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Sky and Cloud Windows

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Young scholars monitor the weather, clouds, and sky. In this weather lesson, students create a sky and cloud window to focus their sky observations. They write observations in a notebook and include the date, time, cloud cover, types of...
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What Goes Around Comes Around!

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students create an ecosystem in a jar to show a model of the water, carbon, and nitrogen cycle. Working in small groups, they research and present orally the information they find on this cycle.
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Dust in the Wind; Chemicals in the Water

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore mechanical and chemical weathering at stations. They articulate some mechanisms of chemical and mechanical weathering through exploration in a lab. Students stations describe how chemical weathering differs from...
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Environmental Responsibility

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students discuss the importance of recycling and preventing pollution. In groups, they complete mini-studies on various environmental issues and evaluate different consumer products. They use global warming data to determine the...
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How Much Carbon is Held by the World's Forests?

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders identify how much carbon is held by the world's forests. For this forestry lesson, 7th graders study the carbon cycle and discuss what role humans have had on climate change. Students write a one page paper on how...
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Dissolved Oxygen Introduction

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students 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 dissolved...
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The Global Precipitation Measurement Mission (GPM) Lesson

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Introduce your class to one of the ways that technology is benefiting humanity. The Global Precipitation Measurement Mission involves the data collected by nine satellites from different countries with a united focus on studying world...
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Latent Heat and Clouds

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students explore latent heat and how it relates to clouds in the atmosphere.  In this earth science lesson plan students investigate how clouds are formed. Students examine clouds and the water cycle.
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Plants and Animals Depend Upon One Another

For Teachers 1st
First graders study plants and animals and how they depend on one another. They also study that plants give energy to animals and provide oxygen needed for life. Finally, 1st graders give examples of the roles plants and animals play...
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The Sun Affects Earth

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders read, write, and listen to information about the sun and its effects on the Earth.as it relates to its axis, orbit, rotate, and revolution.  In this solar system lesson plan, 3rd graders examine how the sun...
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RIDING THE WIND

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students locate the Trade Winds, Westerlies and Polar Easterlies on a map, explain the impact of the rotation of the Earth, and plot a route for a round trip voyage from New York to London.
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Up, Up, and Away

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders observe the changes that water has when there is a change in a state of matter. In this lesson they observe the results of applying heat to water with the end result of conversion to a gas.
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Lake Superior Ecology Unit

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders research Lake Superior and its ecosystem. Students investigate the lake's cycles of mixing and stratification and how these cycles affect the biology of the lake. This lesson contains five days of activities.
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Oh Panther

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students play a game that replicates the balance of prey and predators in an ecosystem. In this physical education lesson, students follow the instructions to play "Oh Panther!" Students collect data regarding the game and discuss the...
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Succession in the Classroom

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students investigate their environment by growing plants in class.  In this botany lesson, students discuss the lifespan of plants and animals and how they must be cared for continuously over time.  Students grow a plant in...
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Ozone Hole Expert Groups

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Research topics associated with the hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica. Researchers write five facts about their topic and one question for each of those facts. They present what they learned to the rest of the class. Six topics are...
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Aquatic Ecosystem Exploration

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students 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 web for...
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Water in Earth's Hydrosphere

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Environmentalists test stream water for temperature, pH, and turbidity. Each group shares their information and then the class makes an overall evaluation of the water quality. A slide show sets the backdrop for the teaching portion and...
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Cold Fronts

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students determine its' direction of movement, and list at least five weather conditions associated with the specific front, given animations of several atmospheric variables during a cold front passage. They list at least three weather...
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Food Web Chasey

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students work together to review the concepts of food webs and food chains. They describe the role of plants and animals when dealing with the cycling of energy. They identify any behavioural strategies to help the animals survive.
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Making Good Decisions

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students examine the consequences of behaviors and what the concept of trade offs are.  In this good decision instructional activity students read an article and answer questions on making good decisions.