Curated OER
The Physical Environment
Fourth graders use damp sand, a baking pan, and water to simulate erosion. In this erosion lesson plan, 4th graders participate in a simulation to show what moving water does to land.
NSW Department Mineral Resources
Aboriginal Use of Raw Materials
What's the difference between base metals and precious metals? Experimenting with natural metals is an interesting way for kids to learn about the world around them. Use a resource that contains over 30 pages of worksheets and...
National Park Service
Living & Non-Living Interactions
What better way to learn about ecosystems than by getting outside and observing them first hand? Accompanying a field trip to a local park or outdoor space, this series of collaborative activities engages children in...
Intel
Biomes in Action
A STEM project-based learning lesson, number four in a series of 10, focuses on human impacts to biomes around the world. Groups work together as environmentalists to research a specific biome, investigating human impacts on it. From...
Curated OER
You Can Depend On me
Discover the natural beauty of California. With a conservation bent, this activity delves into some of the attributes that make this state unique. Learners discuss Yosemite and the forest habitat. They focus on the things plants and...
Curated OER
Ecosystems
A critical look into the structure and function of ecosystems is here for young learners as a series of lessons and worksheet activities. Topics covered include land-based and marine ecosystems, connections to the water cycle, food...
Curated OER
What Are You Doing Here?
Students draw scenes of different environments and create unexpected visitors in those environments. They reinforce their understanding of the characteristics of different environments and the animals that do or do not live in these...
Curated OER
Discovering the Past Using the Future: Remote Sensing and the Lost City of Ubar
Students identify and locate specific locations on the Arabian Peninsula, the Rub al Khali Desert, and present day Oman. They identify other names for the lost city of Arabia as Ubar, the Atlantis of the Sands, Iran, and the city of towers.
Curated OER
Animals Around Us
Students view and discuss a Discovery Channel video that compares the animals found in four different habitats. They compare and contrast the characteristics of forests, deserts, wetlands and grasslands then choose one to depict in a...
Curated OER
Introduction to Wetlands
Students describe the characteristics of a wetland, identify plants and animals found there, and how those plants and animals have adapted to their environment. They visit stations, view a video, and complete a KWL about the wetlands.
Curated OER
Topography of Africa
Students study Africa's diverse landscape and investigate how these features impact the available water supply, food sources, and population distribution of the continent. They compare topographical features and
their affect on each...
Curated OER
Mystery Creek
Fourth graders are introduced to the Riparian Ecosystem. They define the following terms: riparian and riparian ecosystem. Students take a trip to the creek, where they make observations about the environment around them. They are...
Curated OER
Biomes of the World (and Canada)
Young scholars explore environments by analyzing food chains. In this biome identification lesson, students define a list of environmental vocabulary terms such as tundra, rain-forest and desert. Young scholars create a fictional self...
Curated OER
The Sahara: Home of the Tuareg
Students research and analyze the Tuareg and other groups as well, including their own, and examine the impact culture has on environment.
Curated OER
Camp Expedition
Students select an animal to research that lives in the camp environment. Students spend time using books and the Internet to research their animals, including size and appearance. Students create a mural to depict the environment and...
Curated OER
Animal Adaptations
Students use items from boxes to dress up classmates as animals adapted to a given environment.
Curated OER
Change or Adaptation
Learners identify the adaptive forces in the life cycle of plants, animals, and humans, isolate and identify the role that change and adaptation play in extreme environments and research and write a short term paper using MLA citations.
Curated OER
Protecting Holy Cows
Students study the interrelationships of organisms and their environments. They study ecological communities and determine what is necessary for survival. Students discuss and answer questions concerning a group's biome, habitat, food...
Curated OER
Where Is Japan? How Are We Alike And Different?
First graders use literature, maps, and globes to explain how physical environments in various parts of the world are similar to and different from one's own, and that certain areas have common characteristics and can be called regions.
Curated OER
Classifying Conundrum
Fourth graders identify plant characteristics from different environments and communicate that information in different ways. They use a simple scheme to classify Utah plants and animals and make observations and record them in a...
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Camouflage
First graders learn how plants and animals adapt to their environments. In this camouflage lesson, 1st graders watch a movie that explains animal camouflage, design a butterfly that blends into a classroom habitat, create a mini...
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Early Explorers
Fifth graders examine how the environment and climate affected Pre-Colombian settlements. For this civilization lesson, 5th graders view pictures of different Native American tribes in different places and discuss how different groups...
Curated OER
Improvisational Setting - "Where are You?"
Second graders explore setting through improvisations. In this theatre lesson, 2nd graders perform a variety of improvisations in different settings and chart how they established the setting in the different environments.
Curated OER
Yummy Plant Parts
Middle schoolers examine plant parts. In this botany lesson, students examine various edible plants and how their adaptations help them to grow. They observe stems, leaves, roots and flowers of plants and discuss the relationship between...