Illinois Department of Natural Resources
Section Two: Why is Biodiversity Important?
Explore soil, genetic traits, natural resources, and pollution in a series of lessons that focus on biodiversity. Kids complete experiments to learn more about the importance of varied genes and organisms in an ecosystem.
Global Oneness Project
Resiliency Among the Salmon People
Is losing cultural traditions the cost of social progress, or should people make stronger efforts to preserve these traditions? High schoolers watch a short film about the native Yup'ik people in Alaska and how they handle the shifts in...
Michigan State University
Bug Lyphe!
Introduce ecology classes to biodiversity and interdependence in ecosystems with a PowerPoint presentation. Then, they get up-close and personal with the invertebrate world by collecting insects, classifying them, and graphing their...
Curated OER
If the Forests Could TAlk
Third graders research insects using the internet sites provided. They research the role of insects as pollinators for plants, and the impact they have on our ecosystem. They participate in various activities/centers utilizing the facts...
Curated OER
Visual Vocabulary
Students interpret and name the vocabulary termed acted out by the mime. In this science/language arts/physical education activity, students are given a set of vocabulary terms to discuss within their group. Next, students place all...
DePaul University
Contrast and Evaluate Fact and Opinion
How can you tell when an author is expression an opinion or stating a fact? Use two short reading selections to emphasize the difference between a statement that you can prove and one that you can't. The first passage explains food...
Curated OER
Our Earth
In this Earth's environment worksheet, students complete a crossword puzzle given 35 clues about a variety of topics related to our Earth. Topics include ecosystems, precipitation, biomes, energy transfer, soil, weathering and rocks.
DePaul University
Breaking the Food Chain
Throughout history, the growth of big cities has resulted in the destruction of ecosystems. In the case of Chicago, IL, a grassland that was once home to bison, deer, wolves, and foxes quickly became a booming city of over three million...
Earth Day Network
Conserving Water Through Art!
Having fresh, clean drinking water is a privilege many people take for granted. Help raise awareness about the scarcity of water and the importance of conservation by discussing different ways water is used in everyday life. Brainstorm...
Curated OER
Numbers in Art
Students choose a number from one to twelve and tell a number story about it. They listen to the teacher read "Numbers in Art" by Lucy Micklethwait. Students choose three numbers from one to twelve and view works of art while looking for...
Curated OER
Animal Habitat Dioramas
What a better way to have learners show what they know than with a diorama? Kids research an animal, its habitat, ecosystem, and environment in order to create a three-dimensional diorama. Have older children write a short paper on their...
Illinois Department of Natural Resources
Section One: What is Biodiversity?
Four intriguing and scientific activities invite learners to explore the natural resources of their town. The activities cover concepts such as genetic traits, organizing species in a taxonomy, the differences between different species...
Rain Bird Corporation
Rain Forest Teaching Curriculum
Take young naturalists on an exploration of the world's tropical rainforests with this extensive collection of lessons and activities. Whether its creating leaf and flower prints or investigating the absorption spectrum of chlorophyl,...
Curated OER
Community and Ecosystems
Students complete a unit of lessons on ecosystems. They participate in online activities, create a diorama, write journal entries, and develop a Hyperstudio multimedia project on a selected ecosystem.
Curated OER
Ecosystem Interactions Web
Students pick an ecosystem (forest, desert, coral reef, open ocean, grassland, mountain, savanna, etc.) and design an interaction web for their chosen ecosystem. Each group shares their ecosystem's web of life with the class.
Curated OER
How do people use ecosystems and their resources?
Students examine how natural resources are reusable, renewable or nonrenewable. For this ecosystems lesson students see the effects humans have on ecosystems and complete an art lesson activity.
Curated OER
Energy Flow in Ecosystems
Learners, in groups, create a slide show about the ecosystem and answer critical thinking questions based on their research.
Curated OER
The Integration of Science and Math Through Ecosystems
Students use the disciplines of math and science to examine ecosystems. In groups, they calculate the amount of supplies they would need to live in the classroom for one day, a week and a year. Using this information, they apply it to...
Curated OER
Ecosystem Energizers
Fourth graders see how the flow of energy through an ecosystem made up of producers, consumers, and decomposers carries out the processes of life and that some energy dissipates as heat and is not recycled.
Curated OER
In the Company of Wild Butterflies
Students discover the life cycle of a butterfly and explain the different stages. In this exploratory lesson students watch a video and create insect art and they will get an opportunity to view live specimens of butterflies.
K12 Reader
What’s Eating You?
Introduce your class to producers, consumers, and pollinators with a reading passage. Class members read the text and respond to five related questions.
Curated OER
Ecosystems Beneath the Surface
Sixth graders create a KWL chart about microorganisms. In this biology activity, 6th graders create and label a diagram on a microbial mat. They investigate the processes involved in the carbon, oxygen and sulfur cycles.
Science Matters
Island Fox Outreach
Off the coast of California lives a wild animal called the Island Fox. Experts discuss the importance of the Island Fox to the Channel Islands and the balance the fox creates within its ecosystem. The lesson concludes with a reading of...
Wild BC
Bearly Any Ice
After reviewing food chains, your class members participate in an arctic predator-prey game that exemplifies the impact of climate change of food availability. If you are in a hurry, skip this lesson, but if you have the time to...