Freeology
Nature Observations Journal
A journal template makes observing nature a breeze. Super scientists identify an interesting object in nature, draw it, list its details, and compose a written descriptions of their artwork.
Royal Society of Chemistry
Observing Chemical Changes—Microscale Chemistry
Want to add a wow factor to your current chemical changes lesson plan? Try a microscale experiment with colorful precipitates! Partnered learners conduct 10 single displacement reactions and record their observations.
Berkshire Museum
Nature Journaling: Experience the Outdoors Through Writing and Drawing
Step into the great outdoors and develop young scientists' skills of observation with a nature journaling lesson plan. Given a specific focus or goal, children practice making and recording observations of nature through written...
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.
Museum of Science
Nature Bingo
Hit the jackpot by playing nature bingo. Scholars go on a nature walk and record observations in their notebooks. They see how many types of trees and insects they observe and play a nature bingo game where they find different natural...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Recognizing Change (Observation vs. Inference)
What is the difference between making inferences and making observations? Young climatologists refer to a PowerPoint to make observations on each slide. They record their observations in a provided worksheet before drawing a...
Curated OER
Science-Observation Skill Builders
Pupils explore observation while making connections between observation skills and careers (like how farmers observe the weather). They view a variety of nature photographs on the computer and practice their observation skills by...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Gorongosa: Making Observations Activity
Do you have young scientists wanting to make new discoveries rather than just completing the same experiments? Young scientists use their observational skills to identify animals and patterns in animal behavior. Through tracking...
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.
Curated OER
Nature Walk
Students participate in a mini field trip around the neighborhood to observe nature and changes that are occurring during fall. They collect leaves of various colors, shapes and sizes on their trip. Upon return to the classroom, they...
Denver Art Museum
So Much to See, So Little Time
How do humans and animals impact the environment? What is land division? Youngsters tape off a 12x12 inch square in an outdoor natural space. They sketch everything they see, then compare their drawings as a class. They will then be...
EngageNY
Building Background Knowledge and Making Inferences: What Is a Natural Disaster?
That's a disaster! Scholars complete a gallery walk to view images and make inferences about natural disasters. They fill out a note catcher about what they observe and infer any questions they may have. They then participate in a World...
Curated OER
The Effect of Natural Selection on Genes, Traits and Individuals
Rotating through five stations, evolutionary biologists explore the question of how changes in DNA facilitate the changes in a population over time. High-quality, colorful cards of animals, skeletons, skulls, and DNA sequences can all be...
Curated OER
The Delicate Balance - Iowa's Natural Resources
Discover the natural resources in Iowa by studying it's history. For 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...
Curated OER
It's Natural!
Here's a nicely designed learning exercise that will allow your young scientists to learn about common materials and products that come from nature. They also looks at synthesized products that come from a factory. This simple matching...
Curated OER
Nature Art
In this nature art lesson, students take a nature walk and collect items with different sizes, textures and colors. Students use the items they collect to make a collage.
PHET
The Dynamic Nature of the Sun
In this second lesson of the series, pupils learn to observe similarities and differences in photos of the sun and record them in a Venn diagram. Then, small groups practice the same skill on unique images before presenting their...
EngageNY
The Graph of the Natural Logarithm Function
If two is company and three's a crowd, then what's e? Scholars observe how changes in the base affect the graph of a logarithmic function. They then graph the natural logarithm function and learn that all logarithmic functions can be...
Fluence Learning
Writing About Literature: Nature in the Writings of John Muir and Emily Dickinson
As an assessment of their skill in crafting a compare and contrast essay, class members read and compare the portrayals of nature in excerpts from naturalist John Muir's My First Summer in the Sierra and from poet Emily Dickinson's "The...
Curated OER
Summer Activities: The Wonders of Nature!
Students examine the world of nature. In this early childhood lesson plan, students develop observation skills as they bird-watch and make rainbows, experimentation skills as they explore seeds and carrots, prediction skills as they...
Curated OER
Outdoor Observations
Fifth graders attain data using their senses. They record information. They develop observation skills and explore how to investigate. They gain appreciation for nature through their observations.
ARKive
Darwin and Natural Selection
A presentation on Darwin's theory of evolution and natural selection could be a good addition to your biology class. It provides general information about how animals adapt to their surroundings, as well as how organisms create more...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Nature Walk: Extra Support Lessons (Theme 2)
Reinforce concepts such as long vowels, spelling patterns, sound clusters, double-final consonants, and syllables with a nature-themed unit. Through a series of extra support lessons, learners compare and contrast using a Venn diagram,...
EngageNY
Learning to Observe Closely and Record Accurately: How to Create a Field Journal
Look carefully. Scholars practice observing and recording the natural world around them by looking out a window or viewing an image. Learners discuss how their experience compares to that of Meg Lowman in The Most
Beautiful Roof in the...