Michigan Sea Grant
Survival Game
Musical chairs may be a classic game, but Ruffe Musical Chairs is a unique lesson plan on invasive species! Using the time-honored game, pupils role play the behaviors of the invasive fish called Eurasian ruffe. Learning about this...
Curated OER
Project Helping Hands
Students work as a team to help improve the quality of life in rural Africa and develop a plan how to spend grant money the United Nations has provided them with.
Curated OER
Alternative Snowflakes
Learners discover how snowflakes in nature are really formed, and recreate this process with paper and glue. This art lesson gets some scientific learning in as well.
Curated OER
Planet Protectors
Students explore ways to protect the earth. In this environmental issues and technology lesson, students investigate the water quality in their community and compare their findings to the water quality in other geographic...
Curated OER
Earth Science
Students explore how water and waves erode the earth. In this erosion lesson students determine the processes of wave erosion and building.
Curated OER
Water: H2O = Life
For this earth science worksheet, students explore and describe animals and their adaptations, including their habitats, physical characteristics, and competing organisms. They also explore and describe how others use water around the...
Curated OER
A Tour Down the Hudson River
Students discuss how the Hudson River is an ecosystem made up of both biotic and abiotic factors. They view the PowerPoint the Journal Down the Hudson River. Students become aware of where the Hudson River begins and ends, the plant and...
Carnegie Mellon University
How Power Plants Work 1
First of three lessons, this is a great start to a unit on energy. As you demonstrate, learners discover different types of energy and how it is converted from one form to another. They then focus in on the generation of electricity by...
Carnegie Mellon University
How Power Plants Work 2
In this second of three lessons on power plants, future engineers find out how we generate electricity and how coal-powered plants operate. They work in small groups to make electromagnet generators to light LED bulbs. A set of...
Carnegie Mellon University
How Power Plants Work 3
Double, double toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble! Find out what drives a turbine to generate electricity and whether or not it has an impact on the environment. A discussion and lecture is divided by a hands-on activity in...
Curated OER
Hoot: Vocabulary: Magic Squares
Define words with numbers in a fun vocabulary activity. Using words from Hoot by Carl Hiaasen, learners use a grid to match words and their definitions, and to find the magic number that is the same when the numbers are added from...
Curated OER
Ecological Cycles Part 1
Knowing about the hydrologic cycle is the first step to understanding the carbon cycle. Upper graders discuss the earth's water content, polar ice caps, and the concept of the ecological cycle as it applies to carbon, nitrogen, and other...
California Academy of Science
Carbon Cycle Role Play
Anytime you make concepts clear with role playing or hands-on experience, it's a win for the whole class. Ping-Pong balls are used to represent carbon in a carbon cycle role-play activity. In small groups, children first discuss what...
Curated OER
Urban Ecosystems 2: Why Are There Cities? A Historical Perspective
Students investigate the importance of food surpluses to the historical development of urban ecosystems.
Curated OER
Plankton Parade
Plankton isn't just a tiny cartoon character, it's also a very important food source for animals around the world. Budding scientists discuss the types and functions of plankton, including where they are found, how they are caught, and...
Curated OER
Arsenic Contamination: Natural Disaster or Human Induced?
High schoolers list as a class the sources of arsenic contamination of water. They describe the major health effects of arsenic contamination in a letter. Students identify the regions that are affected by it.
Curated OER
A Primary Industry and its Environmental Impact in a Region
Students research and write about the importance of a primary industry in an assigned region of Canada. They study the environmental impact of developing a primary resource.
Curated OER
Microbiology Design Challenge
Students discover dangers to human health by researching what's in our drinking water. In this water purification lesson, students discuss the conditions of water in undeveloped countries and why it is unsafe to drink....
Curated OER
Save a Drop for Me
Students discuss the meaning of philanthropy and how it applies to people caring about the water supply. In this water conservation lesson, students explore possible water conservation activities and select a project. Students will...
Curated OER
Agriculture is a Cycle
What do a bicycle and the life cycle have in common? Cover this and more with the series of cross-curricular activities included in this plan. Learners do everything from making bracelets that represent the life cycle to checking out the...
Curated OER
Fire Triangle in the Forest
Students investigate the physical properties of fire by creating storyboards. In this elements lesson, students view a video clip of forest fires and identify the cause. Students create large storyboards defining the three...
Curated OER
Developing a Child's Sense of Place
Students develop empathy with the natural world; visual and aural senses of spatial awareness; and initiate sound and space awareness, movement, indoor/outdoor, map-making and nature activities that correlate with a child's sense of play.
Curated OER
Venomous Marine Animals
Students name and describe six venomous marine animals. After participating in an activity, they define new vocabulary words. In groups, they complete worksheets to use while researching a specific venomous animal of their choice. ...
Curated OER
Water Ph
Eighth graders study the concepts of acids, bases, salts and neutralization. They discuss steam adoption program, acid rain and other ecological implications. They use indicators to obtain pH values of household chemicals and to...