Advocates for Human Rights
The Right to a Clean Environment: Water
First, young citizens learn about water consumption by doing some research themselves on their home water usage and sharing their findings with the class. Then, they do some brainstorming and devise a plan to reduce water consumption.
Alliance Theater
The Jungle Book Post-Show STEAM Lesson
An ecosystem is really just the flow of energy through many different living organisms. A study of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book leads to an environmental science activity in which learners study how various factors can affect...
Curated OER
Home Living/ Daily Living: Food Groups
What are the best foods to eat, and how much is too much? Kids discuss the importance of eating the right amount of each of the four food groups. They discuss the food pyramid and make meals by cutting and pasting foods from a magazine...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Geological History of Oxygen
Earth didn't always have oxygen, so what caused the change that allows humans to live here? Learn about the change in O2 levels throughout geological history through an interactive graph. Each section offers greater detail on the changes...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Migration, Adaptation, and Changing Climates
People adjust to their environments without even thinking about it—even if it's simply throwing on a sweatshirt. Lead the class in a discussion about the adjustments people make in their daily lives as an introduction to adaptations,...
Curated OER
Regulating the Internal Environment
This presentation begins with the many problems multicellular organisms which rely on diffusion encounter. There are many diagrams of mammalian organ structures, and they are labelled with their relevant functions. This an excellent...
Scholastic
Awesome Adaptations
Engaged learners discover how an owl beak works and how animals adapt to their environment. This task is part one of a three-part series.
Curated OER
Living and Non-Living
Fourth graders are divided into small groups and collect 4 objects from the playground. They take 5 to 10 minutes to classify their groups and discuss their findings including the terms "living" and "non-living". As a class they discuss...
Curated OER
Classifying Living and Non-Living Objects
Students investigate living organisms and define the properties of a living species. In this life characteristic lesson, students examine plants in their class and discuss whether or not they are alive. Students create a...
Curated OER
Aquatic Science and IPC
Learners explain the importance of water in our daily lives. In this aquatic science lesson, students identify different ways to purify water and make it potable. They design and construct a water filter based on researched information.
Curated OER
Living vs. Non-Living Things
Fourth graders describe the characteristics that determine if something is living, dead, or non-living. They determine the difference between living and non-living things. Students determine if an object is living or non-living and...
Curated OER
"Habitat'
First graders explore and explain that different plants and animals live in different kinds of environments. They illustrate various plants and animals and how they survive in the places where they live. A nature journal for enrichment...
Curated OER
How Organisms Live Successfully in Their Environments
Young scholars compare the climate and organisms found in different environments, then give examples of how plants and animals adapt to their environment. They design an animal who adapts using camouflage to a made-up environment.
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...
Curated OER
Week 8 - Sea Life
Using a magnifier, mini marine biologists examine the barbules of a bird feather. They swirl the it into a mixture of oil and water and then re-examine the feather. After the activity, discuss how the oily feathers pose a problem to...
Curated OER
Urban Ecosystems 4: Metabolism of Urban Ecosystems
Cities are compared to living, breathing, metabolizing organisms. Fourth in a five-part series of lessons, this one focuses on the flow of materials through a city. Links to interesting websites and images make your delivery of...
Smarter Balanced
Environmental Interdependence (Environmental Awareness)
Whether introducing a study of environment awareness or preparing your classes for a performance task related to environmental interdependence, you will find this resource useful. Key terms and concepts are introduced so that all...
Curated OER
Hot and Humid, That's Manu
Elementary and middle schoolers participate in a demonstration of the heat and humidity of the Manu rainforest environment. They watch and discuss a video, calculate the humidity and temperature in the humidified tent, and write a...
Consortium for Ocean Science Exploration and Engagement (COSEE)
Arctic Smorgasbord
Though the walrus spends roughly one third of its time on land, it eats organisms that live on the bottom of the ocean. The first in a series of five, the lesson uses a variety of plant and animal cards to have scholars build an arctic...
Curated OER
Carrying Capacity
Young biologists identify how plants and animals are affected by changes in their ecosystem and environment. The concepts of succession, maintenance of habitats, interrelationships, and adaptation are all discussed. This...
Curated OER
Solid Waste Recycling
Students seek scientific and technological solutions to envrionmental problems. They record class activities in a journal. They identify relationships among living things and their environments.
Curated OER
Suited for Space
A fantastic lesson on survival in outer space should excite your learners! Pupils explore the challenges that living, working, and surviving in space elicit. They focus on the spacesuit itself; how it protects astronauts, and enables...
Curated OER
Hawaii's Sandy Shores
Investigate Hawaii's sandy shore ecosystem! Start by creating a vocabulary list and having your class complete a KWL chart. Next, pass out the "I think of" sheet. Each learner will then choose a word from a beach bucket and add it to...
Curated OER
Specialized for the Sea
Students use pictures and make a mural to investigate how ocean animals are adapted to certain parts of their environment.