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How a Seed Grows: And Who Grows It
Second graders explore botany by viewing video clips in class. In this seed growth instructional activity, 2nd graders identify the types of seeds that grow specific plants and what the optimal conditions are for growing seeds. Students...
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Who Takes Care of the Maya Forest Corridor?
First graders study the animals in the Maya Forest Reserve. In this conservation instructional activity, 1st graders create a graph to compare the environment of animals to their own. They design a 3D model of these two environments.
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What Plants Need in Order to Survive and Grow: Light
Students conduct an experiment to evaluate whether plants need light to survive and grow. They observe and gather data about plant responses to different growth regimes, analyze the data, and make conclusions about basic plant needs.
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What Plants Need in Order to Survive and Grow: Soil
Students conduct an experiment to evaluate whether plants need soil to survive and grow. They plant two seeds, one with soil and one without, make predictions, and record and analyze the seed germination results on a worksheet.
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Plant Growth
First graders investigate how seeds are moved and how plants grow. In this plant growth lesson, 1st graders listen to stories, play a game, and view a PowerPoint about plant growth. Students examine various seeds and recognize how they...
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Tree Rings
Fourth graders explore tree rings. In this plant biology lesson, 4th graders construct a KWL chart on tree rings and examine real tree rings. Students identify the changes that happened during the tree's life and its actual age. Students...
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The Hand Drill: An Example of a Screw
Young scholars examine how a screw works as an inclined plane and a hand drill works as a screw. In this physics activity, students complete two hands-on activities working with simple machines including screws and hand drills. This...
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Amazon Rainforest Conservation, Brazil
Students explore the concept of understanding the effects of disturbances in an environment. In this life science lesson, students use the game Jenga to help capture the idea of environment disturbances. Students discuss the effects of...
Virginia Department of Education
Weather Patterns and Seasonal Changes
Get your class outside to observe their surroundings with a lesson highlighting weather patterns and seasonal changes. First, learners take a weather walk to survey how the weather affects animals, people, plants, and trees during...
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Inside the Egg, Hatching Chickens
Students conduct an egg candling activity to show the life inside a fertile egg. Students discuss the needs the egg has of the hen, as well as similarities and differences between plants and animals. Students complete a life cycle wheel...
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A Rainbow Under the Sea: How Do Animals Survive in the Ocean?
Second graders, with adult help, create a PowerPoint presentation on a selected ocean animal.
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Vermicomposting
Fourth graders explore insect life by viewing a soil presentation in class. In this composting lesson, 4th graders read assigned text about the process of composting soil and the necessity of soil in plant life. Students view video clips...
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School Forest
Sixth graders explore the concept of biodiversity. In this biodiversity lesson, 6th graders discover a variety of planets and animals that live in forests, and how a rotting log benefits that environment. Students also locate seven...
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Living vs. Nonliving
Students explore the characteristics that distinguish living things from nonliving things. Students examine video clips and still photographs to gather evidence and develop criteria to decide if something is living or nonliving.
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Making Cents of the Senses
Students explore sight and hearing. In this senses lesson plan, students read Brown Bear Brown Bear, discuss how eyes are used for sight, and chart the eye color of the students in the class. Students discuss how hearing is important,...
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Amazon Rainforest Conservation, Brazil
Students explore rain forests. In this rain forest instructional activity, students participate in a "BioBlitz" of their schoolyard, observing and recording every living thing in a designated area. Students visit websites about rain...
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Characteristics of Snakes and Turtles
Students examine the characteristics of snakes and turtles and compare/contrast reptiles with mammals. They watch a video, answer discussion questions, complete information charts, conduct Internet research, and create a habitat diorama.
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Allelopathy Experiments
Students explore how allelopathy works in plants. In this botany lesson, students explain how this phenomenon affect other organisms. They read and analyze an article about allelopathy and discuss its flaws.
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What Plants Need in Order to Survive and Grow: Air
Students conduct an experiment to determine whether plants need air in order to survive and grow. They discuss natural resources, analyze slides, and observe and record data from the experiment.
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Learning About Plants- Flowers for a Special Occasion
Students explore the parts of plants and discover that plants need to grow. In this plant instructional activity, students discuss the parts of the plant and plant petunias. Students can share their plants with friends or families.
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Adaptable Mandibles
Learners define adaptation and highlight example of adaptation in birds and other animals. They study feeding techniques of seabirds and investigate the effect that trash has on wildlife.
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Mellowing With Age, A Closer Look
Learners realize that aging is a "natural, continuous process" and develop sensitivity to the needs, desires, and capabilities of the elderly by interviewing elderly community members and photographing age related things.
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How Does a Green Plant Grow?
Students of all ages can explore the question "how do seeds grow?", design an experiment to answer the question, predict the outcome of the experiment then conduct the experiment.
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Learning From Leaves: Adaptations To Differing Light Levels
Students, in groups, examine plants with different light levels. They are given plants from a tropical and desert region. They write a hypothesis at the beginning of the experiment.