Cal Recycle
Conserving Natural Resources
Trying to plan an engaging elementary science unit on natural resources? Conserve your energy! This five-part series of lessons and hands-on activities has exactly what you need to teach young scholars about the importance of conservation.
Curated OER
Our Natural Resources
Your class will learn about natural resources and man-made items and differentiate between them. They chart resources from seven pictures and explain how each natural resource is used.
American Chemical Society
Natural Resources and Synthetic Materials
All synthetic materials began as natural materials. An engaging lesson begins with a hands-on activity and an example of the type of research that scholars perform independently. Then pupils receive a topic and begin researching the...
Curated OER
Native Americans and Natural Resources
North American Indian civilizations had already been in place for over 10,000 years before the arrival of European settlers. Introduce your young historians to Indian tribes that lived in the Chesapeake region in the...
Carolina K-12
Factors of Production and Economic Decision-Making
Class members begin this engaging economics activity by listing all the resources used in producing a car and using that example to draw parallels to the four primary factors of production: capital goods, labor, natural resources, and...
Curated OER
Lemonade For Sale
2-3rd graders listen to the story, Lemonade for Sale, by Stuart J. Murphy. In the story, children produce and sell lemonade to raise money for their clubhouse, create a product, classify the resources used in production as natural...
Curated OER
Natural Resources Product Booklet
Young scholars conduct a research activity and create a base product booklet that helps them recognize the resources that are available to them from the natural resources in the area that they live in.
Curated OER
Natural Resources: Can We Use Them Forever? Grade 2
Bright colors and animation are great ways to attract a young students attention. Students are introduced to the concepts of renewable and non-renewable resources as they pose the question, will our resources be around forever? This...
Curated OER
The Delicate Balance - Iowa's Natural Resources
Discover the natural resources in Iowa by studying it's history. In this environmental lesson, your students will observe a topographical map of Iowa and identify where its most valuable resources are. They complete an Iowa name...
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
Water, Water Everywhere
Water is one of the most precious resources on the earth. Explore water conservation, the importance of natural resources, and how water is used throughout the globe. Two complete activities along with discussion questions are used to...
City and County of San Francisco
I Want It! I Need It!
Discuss wants and needs with your elementary ecologists and get them to consider what would happen to our natural resources if we all got everything that we want. Learners play a card sorting game and take an ecological footprint quiz on...
Federal Reserve Bank
Messy Bessey's Holidays
Teach your class some fairly complex terms—factors of production, human resources, capital resources, natural resources, and intermediate goods—with a storybook (Messy Bessey's Holidays), plenty of visuals and handouts, and related...
Curated OER
Bird Brilliance!
First graders explore natural resources and search outdoors to find materials to create a bird's nest. For this bird's natural resources lesson, 1st graders listen to a book about birds and reflect on the various things birds use to...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Nature: Friend and Foe: English Language Development Lessons (Theme 6)
If readers don't understand key portions of a text, it may seem more like a foe than a friend. The second resource in a series of three ESL lessons designed to accompany the texts in Nature: Friend or Foe makes the texts easier to...
Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Education
Popcorn Economics
Scarcity of resources is a fundamental economics concepts that kids need to understand. You'll use a large bag of popcorn to demonstrate this concept. Have the class come up row-by-row to fill their snack bags with popcorn. By...
Curated OER
Coal Derivatives by Destructive Distillation
Chemists use the destructive distillation technique to produce three derivatives from a sample of bituminous coal. You will find background information, a materials list, procedures, and sample follow-up questions that you can use in...
Curated OER
Natural Resources and Your Christmas Tree
In this natural resources and your Christmas tree activity, students read about the raw materials used to make items associated with Christmas trees, match 12 items with materials, then color a picture.
EngageNY
Building Background Knowledge: How Canada’s Natural Resources Meet the Needs and Wants of People Today
Learners follow along as the teacher reads Products of Mining in Canada: From Batteries to Vehicles aloud. They then discuss the meaning of key terms and determine the gist of the text. Pupils do a second read and complete a graphic...
Curated OER
Three Little Pigs: Human, Natural and Capital Resources
First and second graders will learn about natural, capital , and human resources through the story The Three Little Pigs. They will listen to the story, write down what they know about straw, wood, and brick, then complete a chart...
Curated OER
Being Resourceful: Wisconsin quarter reverse
If your class understands goods and services then they'll be ready for this activity on various resources. After reading a series of books and engaging in class lecture and discussion, pupils will fill out worksheets. They will list...
SF Environment
Waste-Less Lunch
Is it possible to have a waste-less lunch? Can your class become leaders in conservation? Discuss the importance of reducing waste during lunch time with a fun lesson that can be extended to everyday practices. First the class examines...
Curated OER
Arkansas: A Natural State
Here is a wonderful lesson on natural resources found in Arkansas which is designed for kindergartners. The lesson could be easily adapted for any state. Some clever in-class activities, games, and a song are included in this...
Curated OER
Our Natural Resources
Learners investigate natural resources and man-made items. In this earth science lesson, students classify items from trash into man-made items or natural resources. Learners construct a flow chart to investigate the life cycle of a...
Curated OER
What Is Natural?
Your junior highers will learn about which objects are natural and classify objects as abiotic or biotic. Your class will trace human products to their natural resources using matter cycles and then create their own definition of nature.