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Land Use
Students examine ecosystems that covered Illinois 200 years ago, investigate some living and non-living components of ecosystems, identify components of prairie system, create food webs, and observe human effects on environment. Lessons...
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Changing State
Students participate in an online lesson to investigate the effects of cooling and heating on water.
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Forces in Action
Students ask questions that can be investigated scientifically. They determine how to plan a fair test by changing one factor while keeping other factors the same, to use measurements to draw conclusions and use scientific knowledge to...
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Water Quality
Students investigate the water cycle and evaporation. They study the porosity and permeability of groundwater, and the capillary action in soil in this unit.
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Life cycles
Students identify and explain the parts of a flower and their role in the life cycle of flowering plants, including pollination, seed dispersal, and germination. Students recap the following information: that plants need light, warmth,...
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Changing State
Learners identify the changing states of water, water vapor and ice in the water cycle They investigate how each of these stages can be reversible. Students complete a worksheet describing the water cycle.
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De"compost"ition Activity
Students investigate the decomposition process and the parameters which influence the rate at which it occurs. They design a "controlled" experiment by comparing decomposition rates between two compost piles. Analysis questions include...
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What Is Sustainability
Students investigate the concept of how people are dependent upon natural resources and how they can apply them to be maximized in usefulness. The students are encouraged to develop an appreciation for the environment. They conduct a...
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Archaeology What Gets Preserved?
Students view a video on a culture and list what would be preserved over time. In this investigative lesson students study preservation and what gets preserved in different cultures.
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Mighty Oaks from Little Acorns
What does it mean to grow? To germinate? For the plan detailed here, class members investigate the growth process of an oak tree while focusing on the beginning stages of planting and germination. They plant seeds and record observations...
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Diaper Challenge
Middle schoolers compare the absorbency of a regular diaper and a swim diaper in fresh water and salt water. In this absorbency lesson plan, students mass the diapers and place them in water and determine the change in mass. They do the...
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Beautiful Bugs
Students investigate the life cycle of ants, ladybugs, and butterflies. They list the four stages of the butterfly life cycle, define symmetry and observe how ants make homes in dirt.
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TE Activity: Pollution Politics
Students examine how a bill becomes a law in the US Congress. They investigate legislation about global warming. They determine the role of engineers as they educate Congress, the public and other government institutions about global...
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Indiana Ice Investigations
Fourth graders create a model of the formation of Indiana by glaciers. Working in groups with appropriate materials, they create a model documenting how glaciers moved through the land and formed the geological structure and land masses...
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Ecosystem Relationships
Students study the relationship between the types of trees, soil, and organisms. They investigate the complex interactions and cycles at work in the forest and understand the factors that contribute to a healthy, sustainable forest.
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Erosion: Changing the Face of Earth
Fourth graders explore how the landscape of the planet can be changed by different elements of wind, water, ice and chemicals through hands-on activities. They examine pictures of areas around town and discuss anything they think is out...
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The Physical Environment
Fourth graders use damp sand, a baking pan, and water to simulate erosion. In this erosion lesson plan, 4th graders participate in a simulation to show what moving water does to land.
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Water Filtration Competition
Students design water filtration systems. They draw sketches and write paragraphs about their systems. After presenting their systems to the class, each group then builds their system and determines its effectiveness for purifying...
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The Copper Basin Problem
Students view a video about how human actions impact the environment. They design a set of experiments to address some of the problems and issues raised by the video.
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Worms in a Bottle
Students gain a better understanding of the worm and its role in the recycling of organic materials into simpler forms by constructing worm bottles and observing for 60 to 90 days.
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Urban Impact on Chollas Creek (California): A Field Study
Students, in groups, take samples from a creek and keep a field journal on their samples. They also perform tests on their samples.
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Do Plants Need Water?
First graders observe the effects of varying amounts of water, sun, and air on lima bean plants. They also predict and describe their outcomes in a written report.
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Rock Cycles, Crayon Cycles
Students examine the rock cycle and the path that rocks go through to rearranged in different ways. They define key vocabulary terms, then in small groups conduct a variety of experiments using crayon shavings as simulated rocks and...
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Permeability of Earth Materials
High schoolers observe and classify the permeability of a variety of materials.