Curated OER
Pond-life Safari
Students determine the living and non-living parts of pond life. In this pond life lesson, students examine the plants, animals, and insects that live in ponds. They look through a variety of print media, cut out pictures, and arrange...
Curated OER
Plastic Bag Pond
Students investigate the pond water from a local water source. They collect the pond water from the bottom or near vegetation in order to obtain the best sample possible. Then they use microscopes in class in order to examine the life...
Curated OER
Water, Water Everywhere (Pond Animals)
Second graders examine the characteristics of animals who live in a pond environment. In groups, they describe the various stages in the life of a frog and identify the characteristics of other pond animals. Using this information,...
Curated OER
Visualizing Vocabulary in an Ecosystem
Sixth graders observe the pond ecosystem. For this ecosystem lesson, 6th graders observe the organisms at the pond and create a poster that illustrates the pond.
Curated OER
Mosquito Life Cycles
Students gather mosquito eggs to record the mosquito life cycle using drawings, descriptions, and any other appropriate means. In small groups, they analyze and describe the process of complete metamorphosis. They classify mosquitoes...
Curated OER
Your Blooming Pond
Pupils model a pond system that becomes enriched with nutrients (fertilizer). They manipulate variables, make observations over time, and draw conclusions that may lead to further inquiry. They, in groups, simulate a pond environment.
Curated OER
Invisible Life
By setting up an aquarium in the classroom, learners are able to describe some macroscopic and microscopic organisms that are found inside. This well-designed, and educationally rich lesson requires pupils to use microscopes to view...
Curated OER
Week 3: Pollution Source and Effects
Lab groups set up an experiment to observe what happens over time in collected pond water when fertilizer, representing pollution, is added. This website does not include student lab sheets, but background information, materials, and...
Curated OER
Speedy Succession
Fifth graders investigate how a pond ecosystem can change into a prairie or grassland ecosystem. They observe a small pond ecosystem in a two liter soda bottle, and examine and record changes over a two-week period of time on a worksheet.
Curated OER
Burnaby Lake Field Trip
Students identify different organisms found in the lake ecosystem. In this life science instructional activity, students discover the predator-prey relationship through a game. They explain how beavers adapt to the environment over time.
Curated OER
Speedy Succession
Fifth graders identify how a pond can change into a grassland. An ecosystems lesson where learners identify pioneer and climax species, and recognize that ecological succession can take up to 100 years or more. Some excellent activities...
PBS
Population Simulation with M&M's
Math and M&Ms® go great together when introducing a modeling activity. Allow your learners to simulate population growth and decay of fish in a pond and share their reasoning for the change in fish. With such an impact we have on our...
Curated OER
How Do Plants and Animals Change the Environment Around Them?
If you have elodea and snails in your classroom aquarium, or if you have access to a pond with these organisms, your young biologists can set up a controlled experiment to determine how certain ecosystems respond in light and dark...
Curated OER
Tadpole Diary
Second graders examine the life cycle by observing tadpoles. After reading the book, Tadpole Diary, they draw the stages of tadpole development and write sentences about what they think is happening.
Curated OER
Fishing
Students explore the techniques and basic needs of the fisherman. In this fishing instructional activity, students view a demonstration of the use of fishing equipment. Students research Iowa farm ponds and design a class mural from...
Curated OER
Life in a Cup
Third graders make and maintain a mini terrarium. They keep a daily journal of what happens in their terrarium and record daily observations and measurements.
Curated OER
Sustaining Life Under the Ice
Students design and conduct experiments in order to identify the components of lake water environments that are affected by winter ice cover. They use the experiment results to propose effective human management of these ecosystems.
Curated OER
Measurement of Biotic and Abiotic Objects
Students identify biotic and abiotic factors. In this environmental study lesson, students conduct a series of experiments to collect and record data and draw conclusions based on the results.
What affects Frog metamorphosis?
In this lab, students explore pollutants which affect frog metamorphosis using household pollutants (vinegar, oil, and bleach) and sponge capsules.
Curated OER
Hummingbirds and Flowers: A Study of Co-Adaptive Relationships
Hummingbirds and flowers need each other to survive! Pupils explore the co-adaptation of hummingbirds and the flowering plants. They explain how a flowering plant has adapted to be pollinated by a hummingbird and how the hummingbird has...
K-State Research and Extensions
Water
How are maps like fish? They both have scales. The chapter includes six different activities at three different levels. Scholars complete activities using natural resources, learn how to read a map, see how to make a compass rosette,...
Calvin Crest Outdoor School
Survival
Equip young campers with important survival knowledge with a set of engaging lessons. Teammates work together to complete three outdoor activities, which include building a shelter, starting a campfire, and finding directions in the...
Gwinnett County Public Schools
Analysis of the Tuck Everlasting and The Birchbark House Text Exemplars
Looking to introduce some text-based questions into your ELA lessons? Practice the kinds of skills the Common Core demands with the seven text-based questions and the essay prompt provided here. Designed to be a three-day lesson, day one...
Curated OER
Diffusion through Membranes
Students identify diffusion and its processes through experimentation and calculations. They also use a CBL and conductivity probe to measure the conductivity of various solutions and study the effect of concentration gradients on the...