Forests, through sequestration, capture excess carbon dioxide in our atmosphere and store it, aiding in climate change. The third installment in a four-part series on how climate impacts forests explores carbon sequestration....

The relationships within and between ecosystems can be explored. after examining an area for living and non-living things students complete the same examination in the forest ecosystem. Students identify abiotic and biotic elements in an...

Producers, herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, decomposers. To begin a study of the forest ecosystem, learners examine the connections among the members of ecological communities.

Students become familiar with the temperate rainforest.  In this forest ecosystem lesson, students identify the producers, consumers and decomposers in the forest ecosystem.  Students sort cards and identify the trophic level...

Third graders research insects using the internet sites provided. They research the role of insects as pollinators for plants, and the impact they have on our ecosystem. They participate in various activities/centers utilizing the facts...

Take class members on a field trip to the forest without leaving the classroom. Scholars learn content-related vocabulary and factors affecting forest health with class discussions and during a presentation. Scientists combine forestry...

Purifying air and water, providing soil in which to grow crops, and moving water through its natural cycle are all services an ecosystem provides that benefit humans. Lesson four in a series lets learners explore and discuss the value of...

Should gray wolves be removed from Yellowstone National Park? After researching the complex relationships between the various habitats and species at Yellowstone National Park,  including humans, class members take a position...

How does water pollution affect the environment? Provide your class with the resources to answer this question as they learn about eutrophication and ecosystem changes. Over two weeks, they simulate the effects of pollution on the...

Learners explain that while cities have unattractive features, the density of human life enables energy efficiency, mass transit, recycling, and other benefits which are difficult or impossible in rural areas. This is the fifth in an...

Students examine the causes and effects of alterations in a forest ecosystem and evaluate how human actions may only seem to have minor consequences, but can lead to extinctions of large numbers of populations. Students produce an...

As part of their examination of forest ecosystems, class members examine how foresters, biologists, botanists, geologists, and hydrologists work to together to develop a management plan for sustainable forests.

Class groups play a Forest Families card game to reinforce concepts presented in the first six sessions of a nine-lesson study of tress and forest ecosystems.

There otter be a better way. As a class, groups work together to create a food web based on the organisms in the kelp forest. Budding scientists watch a video on the kelp forest to see how the organisms create a food web and hear about...

To conclude their examination of forest ecosystems, class members consider the role forests play in the carbon cycle and how forests can offset climate change.

How is a movie theater like a desert biome? Compare systems to ecosystems with a set of activities that focuses on accessing multiple intelligences and building upon knowledge. As learners discuss the ways elements of an ecosystem depend...

With 90 percent of its land area covered in forests, Suriname, a country in South America, contains the largest percentage of forests throughout the world. Here is an activity that brings classmates together to learn about the...

Everyone knows a tree makes a sound when it falls, but what do we know about dying trees? Class members learn background information about Laurel wilt disease from a teacher-led presentation. Team members work with partners to read and...

Students discuss ecosystems, eliciting their current knowledge of an ecosystem. Students receive an Ecosystems document and look at the picture. Students brainstorm connection between the cover picture and ecosystems. The indicated...

One hundred metric tons of CO2 can accumulate in one acre of forest over time—that's a lot of carbon! In the activity, groups of middle school learners determine what makes forests important. They then solidify the concept by using a...

Most living things go unnoticed. Change that using a fun activity about the nutrient cycle. Pupils use hula hoops to mark areas of study and then make observations about the living things they see. They first make surface observations,...

Renewable, recyclable, and biodegradable. As part of their study of the forest ecosystem, class members read "Nature's Treasure Chest" about the many products made from trees and then craft their own recycled paper.

Seventh graders discuss the loss of animal habitats and the importance of refuge areas for them. They collect small pictures of animals found in their state and glue them to an outline of their state according to their range. Finally,...

Here is a hard-hitting, cross-curricular lesson on the effects that the deforestation of the Ozark forests in the 19th century had on the people, animals, and ecosystems of the area. The Dr. Seuss book The Lorax is used as a way of...