Curated OER
Forest Communities
Students identify tree specimens. For this tree specimens lesson, students collect different parts of a tree from the areas around the school or their home. They then work in groups to create booklet that identifies tree...
Curated OER
What is Life? Demonstrations & Discussion
Display seven items for your biologists to consider. Are they living or non-living? How can you tell? This is a simple outline of what you can display and questions that can be discussed as this topic is explored. One way to use this...
Curated OER
Planting Wheat with Little Red Hen
Students discuss the cycle of growing wheat, and then plant their own in foil pans. After the wheat grows for a couple of weeks, students participate in a story retelling activity reinforcing the concepts of the process.
Curated OER
Air Quality
Learners participate in many activities examining air quality. They examine the purpose of a greenhouse and make predictions. They also collect data and make graphs and charts.
Curated OER
Plant Explorers
Students investigate how plants take in water, nutrients, and light. They create artwork showing how plants survive in different environments.
Curated OER
The Alphabet Garden
Third graders transplant, tend and observe a plant for each letter of the alphabet in a school garden. They work individually to research and select a plant that will grow in their local climate. Students then care for and observe the...
Curated OER
Tree Identification/Tree Art
Seventh graders identify and examine a deciduous and coniferous tree. Using the descriptions, they discover the types of tress in their local area. As a class, they practice identifying trees on a walk in a park collecting leaves. They...
Curated OER
Perspectives on Animals
Engage your class in a discussion about humane treatment of animals by recognizing the basic rights of all races, religions, classes, etc. Have volunteers stand on a milk crate without shoes until they become uncomfortable as an example...
Curated OER
Nature Walk
Students participate in a mini field trip around the neighborhood to observe nature and changes that are occurring during fall. They collect leaves of various colors, shapes and sizes on their trip. Upon return to the classroom, they...
Curated OER
Toward a Sustainable Agriculture
Read about sustainable agriculture and complete related Internet activities. After reading background information about the economics of sustainable agriculture and the problems with the industrial food system, your students click on...
Curated OER
Making Weather-Tracking Tools
Students build tools to help track the weather. In this weather lesson, students follow directions to build a rain gauge, barometer and hair hygrometer.
Curated OER
Creating a Pollinator Garden
Students build a pollination garden. In this pollination instructional activity, students read directions and build a pollinator garden that will produce flowering plants for pollinator organisms to use in pollination of other plants.
Curated OER
Plants Reproduce and Grow in Various Ways
Third graders take a walk around the outside of the school and examine their clothing to see if they picked up any seeds while on their walk. They discuss how seeds travel and how a new plant thus can form. They then observe root...
Curated OER
Structures Of Life
Learners investigate the basic conceptual structures of plants, with the focus being the parts that contain seeds. They comprehend that organisms that have fruit for the holding of seeds for replication of the species. The students work...
Curated OER
Teaching Biology Through Problem-based Activities
Students plant seeds and observe the life cycle of the organism. They experimentally research the effects of radiation on seed growth. Students determine the effects of environmental pollutants on harvested seed.
Curated OER
Sprouting Sprouts!
Students plant sprout seeds and make observations. In this lesson about planting, students make observations, predictions, and record information. Students analyze how the sprout plants grow and determine if any of the four sprout seeds...
Curated OER
Land Use Issues
Students discover seeds are a source of life. They also label the parts of a seed and examine the conditions which are needed for the seed to start growing. They follow the life cycle of seeds.
Curated OER
Birds and Birdfeed
Fourth graders examine the basic survival needs of birds before examining a suet ball as an example of what birds eat. They conduct an experiment with pine cones, bird seed, vaseline, and peanut butter. By observing the birds, they...
Curated OER
Using the Scientific Method to Determine Which Conditions Best Favor Plant Growth
Seventh graders examine how the environment can affect biological processes. They identify the best conditions for the germination of bean seeds. They record and analyze their data. They write about their observations in an essay.
Curated OER
How Does it Affect Plants?
Students examine the effects of acid rain on plants. They observe the growth of seeds and the health of different plants for a month. They share their findings with the community.
Curated OER
Weeds on the Windowsill
Students study farming and reasons to control weeds. They examine pesticides necessary for the control of weeds and the damage to the environment. Through experimentation, students plant seeds in different soils and determine if seeds...
Curated OER
READY, SET, PLANT
Students identify the basic steps a gardener takes in planting seeds. Students identify the many uses of tomatoes. Students examine the seeds and try to identify them. Students place their plants in a sunny window and water them when...
Curated OER
We are where and what we eat
Students explore concepts of plants they eat, where and how they grow and are introduced to genetic diversity. They examine seed characteristics, look at their different sizes, shapes and germination time. They also set up seeds to...