Howard Hughes Medical Institute
EarthViewer Climate Guide Activity
What did Earth look like 4.5 billion years ago, and what was the climate like then? Scholars explore a view of Earth throughout history. They observe continents moving, temperatures fluctuating, and huge changes in ecosystems. A activity...
Curated OER
Tropical Forest Food Chain
Learners explore the interdependence of the animals and plants in tropical rainforests. They explore the importance of conserving biodiversity and tropical food chains. They create a tropical forest food chain and identify species that...
Curated OER
Coral Reefs Endangered
Learners identify different types of nutritional relationships in a coral reef system and trace the energy flow. In this marine biology lesson students create a simulation of acidification of the coral reef.
Curated OER
Down, Dung and Dirty
Students investigate the stages of succession in animal dung communities. They create a dung culture using fresh cow, goat or horse dung then record data on the fungal species that appear over a two week period.
Curated OER
Let's Get Specific
High schoolers explore how different species thrive. In this speciation lesson students research and complete a lab activity.
Curated OER
The Kapok (Ceiba) Tree
Students explore the rainforest. They listen to The Great Kapok Tree and create a web using Inspiration software. They research kapok trees and create posters to make others aware of the plight of the rainforest. They role-play the...
Curated OER
Interactions Among Living Things
Students role play predators and prey, classify organisms as predator or prey, and describe factors that affect population growth and size.
Michigan Sea Grant
Sea Lamprey
Learners discuss the types of technology that are used to control the population of sea lamprey in the Great Lakes. They explain the parasite/host relationship and understand the devastating impact invasive species have on ecosystems....
Channel Islands Film
Human Impact on the Food Web of Santa Cruz Island
What happens when a non-native species is introduced onto an island? Santa Cruz Island, part of the Channel Island chain located off the coast of southern California, provides the perfect laboratory for young environmental scientists to...
American Museum of Natural History
Saving Species
Some scientists dedicate their lives to researching and protecting endangered species. An online lesson teaches about three scientists around the world who do just that. They learn about spiders, mollusks, and reptiles from North...
Curated OER
Marine Sanctuaries
Students delve into diverse marine ecosystems and the problems they face. They discover students the national marine sanctuaries found in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and off the coast of American Samoa.
Curated OER
A Walk in the Woods
Eighth graders observe and identify the different levels of the forest. In this forest zones lesson students observe, identify and name a variety of forest components and describe how humans impact the forest ecosystem.
Curated OER
A Tale of Two Wetlands
Students observe 2 separate wetlands (following downloadable worksheets) and record 10 similarities and 10 differences between them. Then they present their recommendations to the class who roleplay the government's wetland conservation...
National Science Teacher Association
Middle School Sampler: Science
Focus on inquiry-based learning in your science class with a series of activities designed for middle schoolers. A helpful packet samples four different texts, which include activities about predator-prey relationships, Earth's axis and...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
The Anthropocene: Human Impact on the Environment
Will human existence define an epoch? Many scientists think we are in a new epoch, the anthropocene, defined by humans and our impact on the environment. An online interactive demonstrates the immense impact humans have had on every part...
College Board
2013 AP® Environmental Science Free-Response Questions
While well intentioned, human intervention sometimes has negative effects. Learners explore this and other environmental topics as they respond to four free response exam questions. Topics span from the implementation of bioelectric cars...
Curated OER
Relating Number of Insect Species to Water Quality
Students are asked to respond to questions such as:" Have there been surveys of the area to inventory the species?" (For example, for a wetland area, do they know what amphibians live there and how abundant they are?) Are there any...
Curated OER
Ecological Organization
Students examine the concepts in the ecological organization unit. For this ecological lesson students explore news articles that have to do with the study of ecology.
Michigan Sea Grant
Wetlands
Wetlands may not sound particularly ornate, but they are as important as any habitat! With a hands-on activity, young scientists build a wetland model and observe its many functions in action. They discover the importance of wetlands to...
Curated OER
Animal clues
Fifth graders use general knowledge to make educated guesses about the habitat and survival strategies of animals from Australia, Antarctica and Africa. They research to confirm and check ideas and group animals in a variety of ways.
Curated OER
Coral Reefs Endangered
Pupils research where in the world coral reefs are located. In this ecology lesson, students create food chains and food web. They simulate growing coral reefs to understand their characteristics better.
Curated OER
Assessing Water Quality in a Local Creek by Sampling Aquatic Macroinvertabrets
Learners experiment collecting macroinvertebrates from a stream and identify the specimens collected and then log in the information into a data table. From the data, they make qualitative and quantitative interpretations of water quality.
Curated OER
Critical Habitat
Students watch the video clip and create a web map showing the cycle between producers, consumers and decomposers. They also tell why it is important to conserve the old-growth forests.
Curated OER
It's all Interconnected
Students participate in a number of activities to investigate the food web, species extinction, predators and prey, and biological diversity.