Curated OER
Economy Or Environment: Which Comes First?
Students compile a portfolio of work from a unit on Maine's natural resources and economy. They choose four of their best assignments from the unit then synthesize the ideas in each to write an essay or construct a visual history on the...
Curated OER
Tightrope Trials
Students research the concepts of center of mass and how to make different things balance. They make symmetrical cut-outs of different "creatures" and experiment with how they balance on a tightrope of string.
Curated OER
Emily Dickinson & Poetic Imagination: "Leap, plashless"
Students analyze the poems of Emily Dickinson and write their own nature poem. In this poetry analysis lesson, students read Dickinson poetry and analyze the use of imagery, sound, and metaphor. Students write their own nature poem using...
Curated OER
Acid Rain and pH
Students study acidic and alkaline balance. In this acid and pH levels lesson, students read information about pH, the formation of acid rain and its impact on environments. Students then complete an experiment to learn about the effects...
Curated OER
Kente Straw Weavings
Fourth graders explore world culture by creating an arts and crafts project in class. In this weaving lesson, 4th graders identify the Kente culture and their uses for straw and other natural elements in their communities. Students...
Curated OER
Beluga Balancing Act
Students study beluga whale populations and the issues they face. In this beluga lesson students compare the issues that the whales are facing and name ways people can help.
Curated OER
The Delicate Balance within a Forest Ecosystem
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...
Curated OER
Renewable vs. Non-Renewable Resources
Here's a fine instructional activity on renewable and non-renewable sources of energy for your 5th graders. In it, learners list a number of natural resources on the board, then try to sort the resources into appropriate categories. This...
Curated OER
Building an Ecologically Balanced Living Space
Students design and build an ecologically balanced living space based on the principles of an old growth forest. They take one part of a house (or structure in the community) and redesign it according to the principles of the forest cycle.
Curated OER
The Government and Natural Rights
High schoolers are introduced to some basic ideas the Framers used in creating the kind of government they thought would best protect the natural rights of each individual and promote the good of all. At the conclusion of the lesson,...
Curated OER
Watershed Management
Learners investigate the concept of a watershed. They conduct research into the concept using a variety of resources. Students take a field trip to a local watershed to make observations. The outcome is a report concerning the outside...
Curated OER
Soils
Learners apply knowledge of soil, environmental impacts, economics, multiple human demands, and use given data for a proposed scenario in making land use decisions. They debate land use issues and/or scenarios and discuss a case study.
NOAA
Hurricanes
Here's a hurricane lesson that's sure to catch your eye! Pupils learn about the unique balance of conditions required to form one of nature's most destructive forces. The interactive illustrates how hurricanes form, grow, and affect...
Curated OER
AP: Chapter 44: Regulation of the Internal Environment
When nature calls, you need to answer. Physiology learners discover that it is a just your body's way of regulating pressure and water content. Along with osmoregulation, they also examine thermoregulation, two vital processes with which...
Baylor College
Your Nutrition Needs
It takes some work to ensure you have a balanced diet, but once you know the types of foods that are good for you, it becomes second nature. In the sixth of seven lessons about energy and nutrition, learners create a healthy eating plan...
Curated OER
Survivor!
Students play a game in physical education class to examine how a deer survives. Using nature as a guide, they discover how it is constantly changing due to weather, food, water, pollution and predators. They discuss the characteristics...
Carnegie Mellon University
Bathtub Model
Using a colorful infographic handout and a guide sheet, hold a class discussion about how a bathtub can serve as a model for the greenhouse effect created by Earth's atmosphere. Participants will understand that as energy or matter is...
Curated OER
Basics of Environmental Science
Ninth graders explore environmental concerns of the community and identify the basic needs of people, wildlife and domestic animals. Working both individually and in groups, they also define natural resources and compare and contrast...
Science Matters
Island Fox Outreach
Off the coast of California lives a wild animal called the Island Fox. Experts discuss the importance of the Island Fox to the Channel Islands and the balance the fox creates within its ecosystem. The lesson plan concludes with a reading...
Curated OER
Our Geometic World
Students walk around the neighborhood and identify various polygons and lines in buildings, nature and other objects. They design a building using various geometric patterns, shapes and lines. Students complete a descriptive writing of...
Curated OER
Urban Heat Islands: An Introduction to Energy Transfer and Transformation
Elementary school physical scientists explore kinetic mechanical energy by dropping a golf ball on different surfaces. They discuss how human made materials might react to light differently from nature made materials. This lesson plan...
Curated OER
What Makes A Community Sustainable
In this environment worksheet, students read three different case studies in order to apply them to the categories of finding the best possible choices to make for helping a community flourish.
Curated OER
Caterpillars To Butterflies
Students observe the life cycle of a butterfly. They read butterfly/caterpillar themed books. They sequence the lifecycle from eggs on a leaf to an adult butterfly. They release their butterflies into a natural habitat after singing and...
Curated OER
Caterpillars To Butterflies
Students gain an appreciation of nature by teaching them about the life cycle of the butterfly. They set up a terrarium so they can observe the changes a caterpillar goes through.