Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How We're Connected

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students take a survey in order to find out how they live in relationship to the environment. They take the time to investigate the differences between a need and a want. This is done as part of the self-assessment. Students also study...
Lesson Plan
NorthEast Ohio Geoscience Education Outreach

Ecosystems and Change

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Pairs of ecologists select an animal and investigate an ecosystem from its point of view. This simple lesson involves Internet research and putting together a presentation of collected information. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bird Interdisciplinary Possibilities

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students explore birds, their territory, breeding, and seasonal movement. They research and collect information on birds through writing letters to ornithologists, reading in books, comparing web sites, and observing pictures. Students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Let the River Run

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Learners explore the environment by reading a story in class. In this water formation lesson, students define environmental terms such as rivers, streams, gulf, oceans and lakes. Learners read the story A River Ran Wild and discuss the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Species Interactions

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Pupils research desert species to find where it lives, what it eats, and what species it interacts with directly. Upon completion of research, students construct a web of all the species as a class. This emphasizes the role each species...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

I Wonder Why There Is So Much Frass...

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine frass and try to determine what it is. They make observations and add to their growth charts on a daily basis. They make predictions and support them to end the instructional activity.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Recycling-Taking it Easy on the Environment

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners review the garbage/landfill graphs included with the lesson. They discuss the information on the graphs and discuss which garbage products come from their homes. Students collect examples of over packaging to share with class...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Forest Communities

For Teachers 4th - 6th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Environment: Water & Air

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
The introduction to the instructional activity mentions a sailor's limited capacity to store drinking water on his ship. Pupils then set up an overnight experiment to remove freshwater from salt water by distillation. There is a math and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Understanding Waves

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students examine the physical properties of waves to explore the word crest and trough. They use toys to study waves in air, water and light.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Beef and Beef By-Products

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students examine the various types of beef and the many uses of its by-products. They increase their knowledge by playing a game of "beef bingo."They discuss what parts of beef animals are their by-products.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Symbiosis: Help, Hinder or Destroy

For Teachers 6th Standards
Use background information and vocabulary to familiarize your students with the concept of symbiosis and the role agriculture plays in the shared relationship. They then write the vocabulary in their lab books or journals, and read the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Dissolved Oxygen and Temperature

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students are shown how temperature affects dissolved oxygen and they create a graph showing this relationship. They think about the adaptations of animals to live in different water temperatures. Students test four different water...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Dissolved Oxygen Introduction

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners are shown how dissolved oxygen enters the water. They are taught the difference between a water sample that has been exposed to the air and one that has not. Students brainstorm what organisms need to survive. They use dissolved...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Is Our Water Healthy?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students test water for a least one chemical characteristic. They hypothesize how a storm event might change the chemical characteristics of a stream. Students collect water samples and use the chemical test to test the water.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What If There's No Light?

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
students discuss the importance of light and the consequences of living without it. Using a plant as a demonstration, students predict and observe what happens to a plant when it does not receive enough light. In groups, they experiment...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Runoff: Intro to Watersheds

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students are taught that a watershed is, what types of basic land cover are impermeable and permeable to water. They trace the flow of water around their school and around their home. Students determine what watershed their school is a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Invasives and Marsh Birds

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students are taught that invasive plant removal can have a variety of impacts. They are shown this by using graphs. Students view maps of vegetation change on Iona Island. They discuss implications of changes on marsh birds using data...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Water Chestnut Graphing Activity

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students are taught how to format and enter data into an Excel spreadsheet. They make a graph and interpret graphed data. Students discuss possible impacts of water chestnut invasion. They graph data on water chestnut. Students report...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Water Quality with Samples

For Teachers 6th - 11th
Students recognize whether one wants to drink water, swim in it, or for the health of the organisms living in it. They prepare different water samples to observe and collect samples regarding the water quality.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bottled Water vs. Tap Water

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students analyze the similarities and differences between tap water and bottled water. They make informed decisions about their use of each. Students are asked if they drink mostly tap water straight from the tap or water fountain. They...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Wastewater

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers discuss what happens to their wastewater. They read about the wastewater treatment process. Students are asked what types of things get flushed down toilets or goes down drains in sinks and showers. They are taught what...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hudson Valley Rocks

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students identify each of the rocks provided and locate where in the valley they are found. They explain why the rocks came to be as they are in each location. In addition, they relate the exercise to how the Hudson Valley's geologic...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Glacial Groundwater

For Teachers 6th - 11th
Students study glacial deposition and groundwater in Dutchess County, new York. They identify the permeability rates in different glacial deposits and relate this information to ground water capacity of sediments found in Dutchess...