Outside Education
Water Cycle Adventure
Evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, accumulation. Steam, clouds, rain, lakes. Guide your class members on an imaginary journey through the water cycle with a water cycle adventure script.
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Native Beauty
Students plant wild flowers and maintain their garden. In this wild flowers lesson plan, students pick and prepare a gardening site, plant wild flowers, and maintain it everyday.
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Fires and Fire Suppression
Students examine their assumptions about forest fires. They explore the conflicts involved with the forest service's new strategy. in addition, they will study one case where a prescribed natural burn had a significant impact on a later,...
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Animals Around Us
Students view and discuss a Discovery Channel video that compares the animals found in four different habitats. They compare and contrast the characteristics of forests, deserts, wetlands and grasslands then choose one to depict in a...
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The Mission of Lewis and Clark
Students comprehend the various aspects of the Lewis and Clark expediton. They complete an idea web. Students work in small groups. They recall some important aspects of the Lewis and Clark expedition by performing the Corps of...
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Mammals: Mammals and Their Ways
Young scholars, in groups, observe, collect data, and analyze mammal behaviors.
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Seas of Grass
Students view a video clip about grasslands. They identify threats to grasslands and describe cultures which have adapted to grassland conditions. They discuss possible solutions to preserve grasslands as well.
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Ag in My Community; Agriculture
Learners build knowledge about agriculture as it relates to their communities' commodities. In this agriculture instructional activity, students brainstorm about conditions in their community with regards to growing different types of...
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A World of Soils
In this word search worksheet, students read several paragraphs about the types of soil. Students then use the bold words to complete the word search puzzle.
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Animals and Their Biomes
Students categorize animals according to their natural biomes using biome and animal flashcards.
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What's In Our Backyard?
Eighth graders investigate the importance of an ecosystem by studying their own backyards. In this environmental activity, 8th graders examine a schoolyard or backyard by marking quadrants and recording any animal or plant findings on...
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Forest Fires
Students discuss the benefits and problems associated with fire. They discuss the role that fire plays in maintaining healthy ecosystems. Students brainstorm ways that fire can be harmful, such as damaging homes, communities, and...
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Ecosystems Connect
Students investigate ecosystems near their school and across the world. They examine both living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) elements of each. They recognize ecosystems from various continents around the globe. The use of computers...
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Rice Farming in Texas
Third graders explore how rice farming came to Texas. In this rice farming lesson, 3rd graders discover the history of how farmers began to grow rice in the United States. Students color code maps and create a timeline for rice farming...
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Graze Like a Cow
Young scholars explore how a cow digests the grass they eat. In this science/math instructional activity, students compare the quality of forage. Additionally, young scholars determine the effects of rangeland health on the production.
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Habitat Sunprints
Students recognize various habitats and where they are found. In this habitat sunprints lesson, students observe the contents of habitats and record what the sunprint might represent. Students use blueprint paper and small natural...
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Bringing Illinois into the Curriculum
Students of all ages are introduced to the geography of Illinois. Depending on the grade level, they participate in different activities which allow them to discover Illinois in the past and present. They examine the animals and...
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Land Associations
Students identify and explore life forms of various biomes, define transitional regions, examine effects of abiotic and biotic interactions, research a biome, and produce newspaper that features environmental information. Lessons all on...
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WONDERFUL, WATERFUL WETLANDS
Young scholars list characteristics of wetland and describe the functions of a wetland.
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Diverse Environments
Students explore life forms in different environments. After exploring different biomes within their state, students research different plant and animal species within each biome. They prepare a group report on one feature of the region...
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Web of Life
Young scholars collect information about various organisms in a forest ecosystem and create a mural that depicts organism interdependence. They then simulate a food web using a ball of string.
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Animals and the Food Webs that Love Them
Students study the animals that Lewis and Clark would have encountered. In this animals lesson students study the food web and how human populations have affected them.
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The Web of Life - Ecosystem
Students examine the concepts of ecosystems and interdependence. They construct block pyramids to demonstrate interdependence, and map off an area to observe and identify animals. They create food chain mobiles and play a web of life game.
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Which One Matters?
Students study the balance necessary to maintain ecosystems and how changing that balance can impact the ecosystem. They identify and discuss the need for balance in any ecosystem and discuss how greenhouse gases impact ecosystems.