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Beaver Ecology
Students explore the lives of bgeahvers. They identify the physical and behavioral adaptations that help beavers survive in their environment. Students compare and contrast how beavers influence the ecology of both forest and aquatic...
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Determining the Age of Fossils
Students examine the concept of radioactive dating. In this radioactive dating activity, students investigate how to determine the ages of fossils and rocks as they learn about half-life radioactive decay.
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Acid Rain
Students use real-time weather maps to determine the likelihood of acid rainfall in a region. Students apply their understanding of interaction between weather systems, land and air pollution, to address acid rain and the effects on...
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Atmospheric Cells
Students recognize that the sun is the source of energy driving atmosphere cells. They relate the motion of the atmospheric cells to mantle convection cells. Students recognize that the function of atmospheric cells is to move heat from...
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Plant Science: Introduction to Photosynthesis
Students explore the process of photosynthesis in plants. They discuss the purpose of photosynthesis and its components. Students discuss the importance of photosynthesis for plants and they examine the parts of the plant that play an...
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Water Retention and Soil Variation in Local Ecosystems
Students identify the differences in local soil types and the relationship between soil size and water retention. They are introduced to microenvironmental conditions in ecosystem sustainability.
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Dirty Decomposers
Seventh graders design and conduct experiments to determine what environmental factors favor decomposition by soil microbes. They use chunks of carrot for the materials to be decomposed, and their experiments are carried out in plastic...
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Ecology and the St. Lawrence River
Ninth graders complete a unit of lessons on ecosystems, organism interactions, and energy flow. They create a key for known species of fish, diagram the movement of energy through an ecosystem, and create and present food chains and food...
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Structure of the Earth
Sixth graders define atmosphere and hydrosphere, explore through experimentation how the atmosphere was formed, and describe the layers of the Earth's atmosphere and their distances.
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Classroom Composting
Students discover the benefits of composting. They identify the steps of decomposition as well. They are read a book and discuss what items decompose.
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Tree Friends
Students are introduced to tree structure and use. They identify their special tree using all senses except sight. Students identify six different internal parts within a cross section of tree trunk (bark, phloem, xylem, cambium,...
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Exploring the Physical and Chemical Properties of Polymers
Students identify the physical and chemical properties and explore the differences. In physical and chemical property lesson plan students test polymers for the differences between the physical and chemical properties, record their...
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Toward a Sustainable Agriculture
Young scholars examine how to use ecological analysis to animal production systems. In this sustainable agriculture lesson students examine where the nutrients flow in a system and complete several activities.
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Miller-Urey Experiment Amino Acids & The Origins of Life on Earth
Students study the Miller-Urey Experiment including its history and criticism. In this origins of life lesson students repeat this experiment to see how it works.
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Studying Exothermic and Endothermic Reactions
Students explore the mesosphere and lower thermosphere globally and achieve a major improvement in our understanding of the fundamental processes governing the energetics, chemistry, dynamics, and transport of the atmospheric region....
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What We As Students Can Do To Save Our World
Students investigate air and water pollution, and the conservation of natural resources.
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Drifting Continents, Dynamic Results
High schoolers plot earthquake and volcano data using a Compass Rose Plotting. They explain the relationship between plate movement and connection. They draw conclusions that earthquakes and volcanoes occur in predictable locations.
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Fallout!
High schoolers plot the locations of fallout from two disasters that polluted much of the world's air. They plot the ash fallout from the 1980 Mt. St. Helen's eruption to see what the wind patterns in the United States look like overall....
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Air Pollution Over Where?
Students predict the movement of an air borne pollutant using their understanding of air currents. They determine which governments and/or communities should be contacted to be forewarned. They also explore the properties of their...
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Dissolved Oxygen Lesson
Students investigate what dissolved oxygen is and why it is important to aquatic life and what factors influence levels of dissolved oxygen in a lake. They study how to use MS Excel to make charts to show trends and correlations.
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Ecological Citizen
Students examine the interconnectedness of living and non-living things that constitute an ecosystem. They examine fallen trees,insects, living trees, leaves, food webs, and forests. They conduct various activities and write poems about...
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Weather "Toons
Student use a variety of resources including print, CD-Rom and Internet information to study a weather process. They design a weather cartoon citing the bibliographic sources from their research.
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A Message in a Bottle
Young scholars investigate the motion of water currents by mapping the possible movement of messages cast into the ocean in bottles.They accurately plot the appearance of bottles on a world map and illustrate the flow of an ocean...
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What's Making It Look So Brown Outside?
Ninth graders analyze cars and particulate matter in the atmosphere. They analyze results of particulate pollutants and identify which vehicle gives off more particulates. They identify sources of particulate matter and relate to...