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Lesson Plan
Space Awareness

Ocean Acidification

For Teachers 5th - 11th
Learn the science behind ocean acidification and its effects on ocean wildlife. Young scientists conduct a laboratory investigation that monitors the acidity level of water. While burning a candle, learners capture the carbon dioxide in...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Gulf of Maine

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Pupils examine their own environments and make connections to larger ecosystems. They watch a video about the gulf of Maine and record the changes that have occurred. They research the gulf and create a food web.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Survival Of The Fittest

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders examine the concept of an ecosystem and how there is a variety of representations of life that exist there. They look at the equilibrium that is reached in stable communities and how the variable of change in...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Web Of Life - Overlapping Food Chains

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students perform an activity in which they discover what happens when food chains overlap in an ecosystem and discover the three components of a food web.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Climate Watch

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Students participate in a national survey of biological indicators of climate change by gathering and submitting data on local plants and animals.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Forest Succession

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students research environmental change and why forests cannot stay the same for long.  In this environmental growth lesson, students discuss the life cycle of a tree and examine tree cookies to discover the age of these specimens....
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Lesson Plan
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University of Wisconsin

A Rain Garden Year

For Teachers K - 12th
Pupils become plants in an interpretive play that depicts what happens throughout the seasons in a rain garden. As you narrate, students bloom, flower, and go to seed accordingly. The lesson is first in a series of lessons written for...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Changing How Things Look

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders use a literature study in order to investigate how organisms effect an ecosystem. They are asked questions about change taken from the book. Students also take a nature walk to make field observations.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Changing the Water in the Aquarium

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students discover the importance and how to change the water in an aquarium. As a class, they review the types of impurities that are found in water and discuss how to keep the tank as clean as possible. They develop a water change...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Down, Dung and Dirty

For Teachers 5th - 10th
Students observe the changes seen in succession and the biodiversity of a community through its species richness and evenness. They create a dung culture in a clear plastic cup from horse, goat or cow dung then observe the numbers of...
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Lesson Plan
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Population Connection

Meeting Human Needs

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed Standards
How to meet the needs of people around the globe—a question many ask. The fifth in a six-part series about human population and its effects on the globe, the eye-opening lesson includes discussion, a homework activity, and an in-class...
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Lesson Plan
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NOAA

Community Ecology and Sampling

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Seamounts in the Coral and Tasman Seas are home to more than 850 different species. Groups explore hydrothermal vents, researching the organisms found there and their energy source. They also learn about seamounts, exploring their unique...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Prairie Adaptations

For Teachers 12th
Twelfth graders consider the survival of prairie plants. They examine how some tallgrass prairie species are adapted to the conditions of their ecosystem. They make a prediction of how a species might change given new conditions.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Composting

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Using 2-liter bottles, junior ecologists create composting tubes in which they place nitrogen-rich and carbon-rich materials. They observe what changes occur over two weeks' time. Provide more specific direction to your class as to what...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Making Choices, Setting Goals

For Teachers K - 12th
Students compare wetland functions and values, and select those to be incorporated in the planned wetland. They formulate goals for the project as they model decision-making skills.
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Worksheet
Manchester University

Where The Forest Meets The Sea

For Students K - 2nd Standards
Join a father and his son as they explore an isolated location off the coast of Australia in the children's book Where the Forest Meets the Sea by Jeannie Baker. Engage young learners in reading this fun story with this series of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Population Density

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars use the scientific method to conduct an experiment and use varied methods to gather background information. They correctly use lab equipment and prepare tables and graphs that organize, conclude, and present their...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Autumn

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Take a walk through the forest as the leaves change color and fall from the trees, making way for a new ecosystem cycle to cycle through. An inquiry-based lesson plan examines how the process of decomposition eliminates tons of biomass...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

If You Mess With A Wetland, At Least Try to Make Amends!

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders examine the role of wetlands in an ecosystem. In groups, they use the internet to research how humans have disturbed and ruined the effectiveness of wetlands throughout the country. They pretend they are in charge of...
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Lesson Plan
NOAA

A Quest for Anomalies

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Sometimes scientists learn more from unexpected findings than from routine analysis! Junior oceanographers dive deep to explore hydrothermal vent communities in the fourth lesson in a series of five. Scholars examine data and look for...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Trail Adventure

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Young scholars create a trail with numbered specimens. Students complete an accurate and functional interactive trail activity brochure. They complete a web page tree identification guide and interactive identification activity. Young...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

White-tailed Deer: Beauty or Beast?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students use study guides and videos to discuss the positive and negative impacts of white-tailed deer populations. In this wildlife management instructional activity, students view slides and discuss the natural history and value of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

So -- What's Happening Here? On this Old Christmas Tree Farm

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students take a field trip to an old Christmas tree farm near their school. In groups, they gather data at the site and analyze the data in an attempt to discover what happened to the area. They identify human activities that led to the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bat Ecology

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Students, through hands on games and activities, discover how bats live and how bats benefit ecosystems. They play a game designed to show them how echolocation works and another to show how mother bats locate their young through their...