Curated OER
Litter Critters
Explore biology by conducting an organism search field trip! Young explorers discuss how litter impacts the environment and how some organisms find solace in the trash we leave behind. Several worksheets are included here.
Chicago Botanic Garden
Leaf Litter Ecology Lab
Some organisms spend their entire lives in leaf litter. The third in a series of six is a great lesson exploring the community of leaf litter. Groups gather and then spread leaf litter over white paper and remove leaves/twigs while...
Curated OER
Layers of the Forest- Leaf Litter
Students conduct an experiment. For this temperate forest lesson, students discuss what kind of animal life can be found in the forest. They read The Magic School Bus Meets the Rot Squad: A Book About Decomposition and complete an...
Curated OER
Get Supplies
Students engage in a activity that is concerned with the organization of a pet owner. The job of a pet owner is to be prepared. The activity is integrated with math as students play the game of attaining pet supply products and they...
Curated OER
Buried Treasure
Students examine the role of micro and macro organisms in the decomposition process. They record their observations and discuss. They also read a book about decomposition.
Curated OER
Be a "Peder-Reader" - A Discovery Activity
Students investigate millipedes. In this math and physics lesson plan, students examine the millipede's physical structure and characteristics by observing its behavior in given activities. Pupils will hypothesize whether they think the...
Curated OER
Forest Floor Terrarium
Students study the aspects of a forest floor ecosystem, including decomposition, the water cycle, food webs, the needs of living things, and physical vs. chemical change over an extended period. In addition, students conduct observations...
Curated OER
Investigating Soil
Fourth graders swap local soil samples with another school and examine the differences. They research soil properties, identify organisms that live in soil, create and maintain a biome of soil decomposition and design a poster to present...