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Exploring Forest Objects
Students explore the forest. In this ecosystems lesson, students rotate through sensory activity centers, brainstorm, and read about temperate forests.
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Forest Decomposition
Students explore decomposition. Students define and describe components of the decomposition process. Students make a composter in a terrarium. Students record observations and changes weekly, drawing conclusions about the results of...
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Living Things Experience Diverse Life Cycles
Second graders will study and explain the meaning of growth, development, and life cycle. They describe how plants grow and develop and observe an animal to show how it grows, changes, and reproduces throughout its life.
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Making & Breaking : The Rock Cycle
Students examine the rock cycle and how rocks can change over time. In this geotechnical engineering instructional activity students draw a diagram of the rock cycle.
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Solid Waste Recycling
Students plan a "no garbage" lunch and hold a classroom contest to sort grabage into what can and what can't be recycled. They assess the importance of reducing the amount of garbage in the environment and set up a book recycling program.
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Animating Motion
Students apply what they recall about objects in motion by animati ng sequences of pictures that model a set of physical conditions. They animate the orbital motions of the Earth, the space shuttle, and the Moon based on calculations of...
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THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY
Students describe the movement of water within the water cycle and identify the states of water as it moves through the water cycle.
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Let's Go Fly a Kite
Students complete activities to learn about wind. In this wind activity, students study wind in an open field and use a kite to complete their observations. Students make a series of drawings to show how they flew their kites and explain...
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How Trees Contribute to the Water Cycle
In this water cycle instructional activity, 3rd graders conduct an experiment where they observe and calculate how water transpires in different types of trees. Students engage in a class discussion and use Venn Diagrams to compare...
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Forests of the Sea
Students read about and conduct experiments to learn about the vegetation under Monterey Bay. In this Monterey Bay lesson, students read about and look at brightly colored pictures of the different types of seaweed that grows in the bay....
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Structures and Behaviors of Planarians
Students investigate planaria of the phylum platyhelminthes. They use DigiScope technology to observe and describe the structure and movements of planarians.
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How Does Climate Affect Plant Growth?
First graders compare plant samples obtained from two different sites to explore how climate affects plants.
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Habitat, What is That?
Students explore animal habitats. In this environmental stewardship lesson plan, students match animals to their habitats in a classroom activity. Students also observe a firefly habitat and read Fireflies. Students create bulletin...
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The Gifts of Trees
Students examine the various things trees give us. They read the book, "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein, cook a food using a tree fruit, create notepads using unused paper, construct a picture frame with twigs, and write a poem.
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This One is for the Birds
Middle schoolers create a bird feeder to form their technological skills and create a better bond with nature. In this nature lesson plan, students use websites, technology, brainstorm ideas, and build models.
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Tree Anatomy
Students learn the basic anatomy of a tree through exploration of tree centers.
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Storage, Use, Pollution,& Clean Up of Water
Students synthesize water resource educational posters into class presentations based on the poster's theme. Working in groups, they make presentations on wastewater, water uses, watersheds, groundwater, wetlands,water quality, and...
Channel Islands Film
Human Impact on the Food Web of Santa Cruz Island
What happens when a non-native species is introduced onto an island? Santa Cruz Island, part of the Channel Island chain located off the coast of southern California, provides the perfect laboratory for young environmental scientists to...
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Europe – Religion and Reformation
Ninth graders examine the Reformation. In this European history lesson, 9th graders explore the 95 theses of Martin Luther and discuss the reaction of the Roman Catholic Church to his ideas. Students then take a quiz based on the lesson.
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Celebration Symbols and Their Meaning
Students develop a symbol that represents something they wish to celebrate or include in a celebration of their choosing.
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Intro to Civil Engineering and Hydrology
Students identify the processes involved in the water cycle. In this math instructional activity, students explain what civil engineers and hydrologist do. They watch a video about flooding in Texas.
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Economics, Ecology, & Ethics
Pupils are introduced to the concepts of economics in a ethical way. In groups, they examine a shift in an economy and discover the effects of the shift. After reading an article, they evaluate it and they write their own conclusion to...
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Art of Biodiversity
Students familiarize themselves with values of biodiversity. They comprehend that biodiversity has inspirational and cultural values. Students locate five works of art on Zoo grounds that represent biodiversity in some way.