Curated OER
Ecosystems
In this ecosystems worksheet, students complete a crossword puzzle with 35 questions about the different types of ecosystems and organisms in them.
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Marvelous Marshes of the Chesapeake
Third graders identify sources of salt water and fresh water that enter the Chesapeake Bay. They build a model watershed and describe how runoff enters the Bay.
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Earth Water Distribution and Water Consumption
Students explore the need for conserving fresh water and understand that it is a limited supply. In this water consumption lesson students participate in an activity and answer questions.
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Pond and Pond Organisms
Young scholars explore pond ecosystems. In this pond organism activity, students will use pond water and a plastic bad in order to locate and identify freshwater organisms. The activity is designed for younger grades, but includes an...
Curated OER
Got Water?
Students determine that delivering clean, fresh water to citizens around the world involves and affects politics, economics, international relations, and technology. They brainstorm a list of factors that might affect their town's...
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Wacky Water Critters
Students visit a local creek or stream. They collect water samples from the creek and observe and sort the "water critters" they find in the sample, observing smaller organisms under a microscope if necessary. They identify each organism...
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Relating Number of Insect Species to Water Quality
Students are asked to respond to questions such as:" Have there been surveys of the area to inventory the species?" (For example, for a wetland area, do they know what amphibians live there and how abundant they are?) Are there any...
Curated OER
Precious Water: Is it a Need, a Right, or a Commodity?
Pupils determine whether water is a need, a right, or a commodity. In this water lesson, students investigate land and water ecosystems through activities. Pupils also discover water as a resource and energy source as they observe and...
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Biological Sciences
Young scholars examine biodiversity and interrelatedness concepts. In this ecology lesson students go on a field trip and fill out a data sheet.
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Sensational Soil
Fourth and fifth graders explore soil by taking a simulated field trip under the earth. They go to an Internet site that runs a simulation which charges them with finding a source of pollution that could destroy all of Earth's soil, and...
Curated OER
Earth's Water Sources
General facts about Earth's water sources, human use, and the water cycle are outlined by this presentation. Slide three has a grammatical error and slide nine refers to the local watershed of the author, so you will need to make a few...
California Academy of Science
A Day inthe Life of a San Francisco Native Animal
Although the lesson is specifically about the San Francisco Bay area, it's good enough to be adapted to any local region. Children research what the landscape in San Francisco was like prior to settlement, they consider the types of...
California Academy of Science
A Day in the Life of a San Francisco Native Animal
Before Google, before Sillicon Valley, before the Gold Rush, the San Francisco landscape was a biome filled with grizzly bears, mule deer, tule elk, coyotes, gray fox, gophers, and moles. To explore the early days of yesteryear, kids...
American Museum of Natural History
Bio-Benefits
Kick-start a discussion of the importance of biodiversity with a colorful resource that touts the benefits of maintaining healthy ecosystems. The images stress the interdependence of all the elements of an ecosystem.
Curated OER
Food Webs in a Pond
Students explore food chains and food webs in a pond and identify common creatures found in ponds. They look for tadpoles, fish, mites and other creatures in a pond during a field trip for first hand research.
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Creating a Pond Habitat
Students create a pond habitat inside and outside their classroom. In this pond lesson plan, students create a habitat with animals, water, and plants in order to create a proper pond habitat.
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Where Oh Where Did the Rainwater Go?
Third graders conduct an experiment to determine how water moves through different soils found in the Apalachicola River watershed. They read a scenario, conduct the experiment, answer follow-up questions, and draw the water movement...
Curated OER
Biomes Internet Lesson
In this biomes worksheet, young scholars use an on line source to complete a table of the Earth's biomes. Students include the types of plants in each biome, the types of animals, the climate and any details about the biomes. Young...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Scrapping the Biomes
Fifth graders investigate biomes of the earth. In this biomes lesson, 5th graders explore eight different biomes which include the tropical rain forest, deciduous forest, grasslands, and taiga. They design an artistic scrapbook that...
Curated OER
Learning About Watersheds
In this learning about watersheds instructional activity, students answer 15 questions using links to web resources about water use in their community. This page includes numerous links to helpful websites.
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A Day in the Life of a San Francisco Native Animal
Students write from an animal's perspective. In this writing instructional activity students explore the landscape of San Francisco prior to the arrival of the explorers. Students research animals indigenous to the area.
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Watershed Landscape
Students demonstrate how water flows by building a human watershed using themselves. In this ecology lesson, students compare and contrast point-source and non-point source pollution. They write what they have learned from this activity...
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Salty Solutions
Students measure salt content in water. They determine salt content of four samples using a hydrometer.
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Wanted: Water!
Students determine what percentage of the Earth is water and how much water is needed by humans.