Curated OER
Making Weather-Tracking Tools
Students build tools to help track the weather. For this weather lesson, students follow directions to build a rain gauge, barometer and hair hygrometer.
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Cloud Poems
First graders make daily observations about clouds, write in their cloud books, make cloud charts, and make a poem about clouds.
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Prairie Mural Project
Seventh graders construct a large mural of a praire showing plants, and animals that would live there.
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Citifying the Country
First graders present a list of the attributes of a region and tell how changes occur in a region.
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Cloud Observations using GLOBE Protocols
Students observe which of ten types of clouds are visible and how much of the sky is cloud covered. They see that by observing clouds, we can get information about temperature, moisture, and wind conditions in different places in the...
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Look at Those Leaves!
Students observe leaves in hands-on ways. As they observe attributes, they will group the leaves according to these attributes and consider any patterns they see emerge. In addition, they will communicate what they have learned about...
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Prairie Adaptations
Twelfth graders consider the survival of prairie plants. They examine how some tallgrass prairie species are adapted to the conditions of their ecosystem. They make a prediction of how a species might change given new conditions.
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Climatic Zones
Third graders recognize and locate Frigid, Temperate, and Torrid climatic zones on the word map or globe. They explain that plants, animals, and human societies display adaptations to the climates they live in .
National Park Service
Petrified Forest National Park
Poetry Soup, a reading and writing unit constructed by the Petrified Forest National Park, will have scholars hungry to learn about nature. The cross-content unit contains topics related to history, science, and language arts. Content...
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Biomes: Extreme Climate
Learners create a web connecting global warming, the Arctic, and wold climate. They write a paragraph explaining the role of the Arctic in world climate.
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Extreme Climate
Middle schoolers discuss global warming, greenhouse effect, permafrost and other key words. In this climate lesson students create a web that connects global warming, the Arctic and world climate then write a paragraph explaining...
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Phytoplankton
In this phytoplankton worksheet, students read and study online information on plankton blooms to answer 8 short answer questions about the topic.
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Illinois' Habitats Happening
Students use the scientific inquiry method to examine the ecosystems and biomes in Illinois. Using the characteristics of a local habitat, they identify the best conditions for an ecosystem to survive and how a slight change can damage...
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Life Cycle of Butterflies
Learners identify ways plants and animals make changes related to the seasons, specifically focusing on the life cycle of butterflies.
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Learning Lesson: The Shadow Knows I
Students examine the elevation of the sun to discover the changes in seasons. They observe and measure the length of their shadow. They compare this measurement to one taken four months later.
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How Warm is the Water?
Students research how surface sea temperature changes throughout the year. They draw a time series of sea surface temperatures for each month of the year and a depth profile for a summer and winter month using an OceanExplorer Profiler...
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Fall Slumbers
Students observe changes in a selected tree leaf near their homes during the fall. Twice each week students record changes in the leaf using words, pictures, and numbers.
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Mammals, Mammals--Everywhere!
Students explore the habitats of mammals and their physical characteristics. They research examples of mammals that must deal with daily changes in their habitat and how they cope with them. In small groups, students create a table...
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How Does Climate Affect Our Shelter Needs?
Fourth graders investigate how weather influences shelter choices. They explore the concept of insulation and discuss some traditional Native American shelters. They discuss the shelters used by the Okanogan people during the various...
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Celebrate The Four Seasons
Students investigate cause and effect and compare and contrast how recurring cycles are evident in multiple aspects of their education. They answer questions in the chosen field. Students model each aspect by interpreting, perceiving and...
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Modeling Shadows
Students demonstrate understanding of shadows by creating a physical model of concepts taught.
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Tree Cookies
Students identify heartwood, sapwood, and a tree's annual rings, infer from a tree's rings what damage or stress might have occurred in its life, and make a time-line of human history that coincides with a tree's rings.
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Orbits Worksheet #1
A diagram of Earth's path around the sun, including the position of the moon, is displayed at the top of the worksheet. Five multiple questions get astronomers to analyze the diagram considering what is going on in the solar system. Use...
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Dating a Volcanic Eruption
Students discover the various ways in which tree rings can give information. After a brief disucssion of concentric tree rings, they use cross section cut outs of tree rings to identify the time and type of various naturally occuring...