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Rainforest Alliance: Biodiversity
Fifth graders compare biodiversity in their neighborhood and in the rainforest. In this biodiversity lesson, 5th graders read stories and gather information about the diversity of life found in their area and in the rainforest. As a...
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Deforestation
Students study the effects of deforestation. In this environmental lesson, students view a PowerPoint slideshow about the importance of trees. Students read The Lorax and discuss what the characters represent in our society.
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Walking for Water Mini-Unit
Students participate in an activity that requires them to consider the availability of water. In this "walking for water" activity, students read "Women Bear the Weight of Water," and respond to discuss questions regarding the article....
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Knocked Out by Trout
Learners work in pairs and read an article about the pacific tree frogs being knocked out by the nonnative trout. In this invasive species instructional activity, students create a graphic organizer to record their findings. Once the...
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What's For Dinner?
Students explore the food chain. They brainstorm and create a consumer-consumed food chains using magazine pictures and research materials. Students identify consumer-consumed relationships.
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Species on the Edge
Students study science. In this endangered species lesson plan, students examine sea turtles and actions that can be taken to help keep them alive. They work in small groups to research different species of turtles and share their...
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Species on the Edge
Learners examine sea turtles. In this endangered species lesson, students analyze sea turtle habitats. Learners hypothesize why sea turtles could go extinct.
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Charting Diversity
Students organize different species of plans and animals according to various characteristics. Students then determine what characteristics enable them to survive in their habitat. Game ideas and activities are included.
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Rx Rainforest:
Middle schoolers identify plant diversity in the rainforest and the role that animals and habitats play in scientific research. They differentiate between natural habitat and laboratory research and work collaboratively to produce a...
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Who's Coming to Dinner?
Students identify the role predators/prey play in food chains, differentiate between food chains and webs, identify factors that affect the balance in food webs, and propose solutions to protect endangered species' environments and...
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Transforming Food Energy: A Balancing Act
Students explain their role as consumers. They use a purchased calorimeter or make their own simple calorimeter to measure the energy content in selected foods. This interesting lesson really gets students thinking about what they eat.
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Ride the Arctic Climate Rollercoaster
Middle schoolers view interactive CD-ROM entitled The Arctic Climate Roller Coaster, research evidence of changes in climate through the years, record ways people responded to changes, and create short presentations to share evidence...
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Rain Reasons
Students explore how climatic factors influence the growth of plants. They create an experiment to find how variations in water, light, and temperature affect plant growth and describe how precipitation and geography can affect the...
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Forest Management Dilemmas
Students discuss forest management dilemmas and make uninformed decisions as to whether they are appropriate management techniques. They draw bar graphs of the class opinion for each dilemma. They use media sources to become more...
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One Square Meter
Students explore the concept of a quadrat study. Students select and investigate a site and conduct a quadrat survey. They take measurements, observe the area and analyze their findings.
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Into the Sea
Pupils display an awareness of the diversity of species in the coral reef, their habitat and adaptations. They conduct research to find and then color code the locations of coral reefs around the world.
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Carbon Dioxide Heats It Up
Students design an investigation to test whether vegetation in an area helps regulate the ambient air temperature. They make comparisons between the investigation and global changes in climate. In groups, they present their findings to...
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Birds Observed by Lewis and Clark
Pupils study and identify birds that Lewis and Clark saw on the Corp Of Discovery in ND. They create a PowerPoint on the characteristics and habitats of that bird and key information on how to identify them.
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Animals Lewis and Clark Encountered
Students conduct research on an animal Lewis and Clark encountered on their journey, compare numerous factors from past and present, and report findings to other groups by web page or discussion board.
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Fast Food: You Can Choose!
Students research the nutritional value of fast food. They assess which fast foods are best and worst to eat. They organize their data into tables and graphs and explain their findings to other students.
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Bats
Students model how the bones in a bat wing are organized. They develop questions about bat body parts based on photographs. They hypothesize how bats locate their food.
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Soda Bottle Compost: Nutrient Cycling in Action
Young scholars investigate, through their own experimentation, the important role wildlife play in nutrient cycling. Earthworms and compost are used in this experiment and different experimental setups be evaluated.
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Plants and Animals of Great Bay Animals and Plants of the Estuary
Students participate in a webquest about the plants and animals that inhabit an estuary. They role play as environmentalists researching this habitat and present the results of their research in a creative way.
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Photosynthesis
Sixth graders are introduced to the process of photosynthesis by discussion and then by participating in an experiment. They then answer questions as independent practice project.