+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Youth Activity: How People Get Their Water Reservoirs: "Holding Tanks" for Drinking Water

For Teachers K - 8th
Students experience and participate in "Riding the Water Cycle" with this lesson. They explore, analyze and study the role of reservoirs in maintaining a reliable supply of drinking water. Each student constructs a model of a reservoir.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Koala Life Cycle

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students ask and answer questions about the koala life cycle while visiting the zoo. In this koala lesson plan, students review mammal characteristics, read books about koalas, and answer questions about koalas while at the zoo.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"Five Little Seeds"

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders complete various activities related to the plant life cycle. They read the book "The Tiny Seed," read and discuss the poem "Five Little Seeds," complete a "Plantenstein Mystery" and other online activities, write and...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Do Plants Need?

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Learners experiment with plants. In this plant lesson, students research the needs of plants. Learners determine if all plants have the same requirements for growth.  In small groups, students experiment with different plants.
+
Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Nature's Life Cycle

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Become a member of the Pollution Patrol and stand up to litter! After discussing the life cycle of seeds and discussing how plants figure into the food chain, young conservationists engage in several activities involving podcasts,...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mealworms

For Teachers 1st - 3rd Standards
Crawl into the world of the darkling beetle with this scientific investigation. Watch as the insects move through the larval, pupal, and adult stages of life, recording observations along the way. Discuss the necessities of life as young...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
Curated OER

Acid Rain

For Teachers 4th - 5th Standards
Create a simulation of acid rain in your classroom with lemon juice and bean plants to help kids study the effects of pollution on plants. In addition, learners will listen to a story and write responses based on guiding questions.
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
University of Washington

The Carbon Cycle

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
When it comes to the carbon cycle, the sky really is the limit. The activity begins with observing a closed ecosystem in a bottle. Then, scholars discuss and answer questions on the carbon dioxide and oxygen cycles. 
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

PLANT LIFE CYCLES

For Teachers K - 5th
Student learns about the life cycle of plants by watching a time-lapse video. This activity provides pupils with further evidence that all living things grow and change as they progress through their life cycle.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Carbon Cycle Capers

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students examine the carbon dioxide cycle in the atmosphere. In this element lesson, students discuss the relationship between carbon dioxide on Earth and the plants that store it. Students play a game to ensure their understanding. 
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
Curated OER

The Water Cycle--Model Simulation

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students build a model to simulate parts of the water cycle. They recognize and explain the essential elements of the water cycle.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Review of Life Cycle

For Teachers K - 2nd
Young scholars illustrate the life cycle of a butterfly. In this life cycle lesson, students use the book From Caterpillar to Butterfly and the Internet to learn about life cycles. Young scholars use different types of pasta to...
+
Lesson Plan
Nuffield Foundation

Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria in Root Nodules of Leguminous Plants

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Fixin' to add a great resource to your plans? Scholars perform an experiment to investigate nitrogen-fixing bacteria from plant roots. Along the way, they learn about the concepts of symbiosis and mutualism.
+
Lesson Plan
US Environmental Protection Agency

Carbon Through the Seasons

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Meteorologists view an animated video by the Environmental Protection Agency to learn how the carbon cycle works, and then move into groups to analyze and graph actual data of the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration from Hawaii's...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rock Cycles, Crayon Cycles

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students examine the rock cycle and the path that rocks go through to rearranged in different ways. They define key vocabulary terms, then in small groups conduct a variety of experiments using crayon shavings as simulated rocks and...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Moebius Strips

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Learners make Moebius strips and use them to demonstrate the interconnectedness of an environment. They explore the natural cycles (water, oxygen/carbon dioxide, carbon, nitrogen) within the environment. They describe how the cycles are...
+
Lesson Plan
Cornell University

Metamorphosis

For Teachers 4th - 5th Standards
Looking for an insect unit that addresses multiple skill strategies? Young entomologists explore multiple life cycles of insects that go through metamorphosis. The brainteasers and mobile activity spark learner interest before guiding...
+
Lesson Plan
Science Matters

Photosynthesis-Cellular Respiration Cycle

For Teachers 5th
The balance of nature can be a wondrous thing! With the 19th lesson of the 21-part series on systems, learners explore the cycle of photosynthesis and cellular respiration using a lab-based activity. Groups set up different test tubes...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Agriculture is a Cycle

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students explore cycles in nature. In this cross curriculum agriculture lesson, students define "cycle" and research weather and planting folklore. Students make a bracelet in which individual colored beads represent the many "cycles" of...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Plants and the Water Cycle

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students study the role of plants in recycling water by collecting water vapor that is emitted, or transpired, by green plant leaves. They collect and measure the water that transpires through the tiny pores of plant leaves. Afterwards,...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Water Cycle Activity

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
Students build a model and observe the cycle of evaporation and condensation that occurs in the water cycle. They see how the water cycle works, such as water condensing on the side of the jar and drops precipitating into rain that...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

An Environmental Puzzle: The Carbon Cycle

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars are introducced to how respiration and photosysnthesis cycle carbon through ecosystems. They read background information that describes the role of the Sun as Earth's ultimate energy source and explains how the energy...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Biomes and the water cycle

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students create a desert biome and a prairie biome and see how plants survive in both. For this biomes lesson plan, studnets create their biomes and see how the water cycle effect each biome and plant differently. 
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Local Hydrologic Cycle

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students draw the water cycle as it occurs in their community.  In this water cycle lesson, students observe demonstrations of sublimation and infiltration.  They also use photographs or their own drawings of their environment to label...