National Park Service
The Secret of Life
Dead trees provide nutrients for the soil, food for animals, protection and a home for organisms, a seed-bed for new trees, and a place for nitrogen-fixing bacteria to live. In the activity, pupils collect decaying logs, expose them to a...
University of Florida
Unhealthy Forests and the News
Everyone knows a tree makes a sound when it falls, but what do we know about dying trees? Class members learn background information about Laurel wilt disease from a teacher-led presentation. Team members work with partners to read and...
Curated OER
Scientific Approach to Forest Management
High schoolers use wireless laptop computers to collect, store, communicate, and organize data from the 1999 Jasper Fire area. They collect data in the field and compare it to student-collected data from prior years to develop...
NASA
Erosion and Landslides
A professional-quality PowerPoint, which includes links to footage of actual landslides in action, opens this moving lesson. Viewers learn what conditions lead to erosion and land giving way. They simulate landslides with a variety of...
Biology Junction
Changes in Ecosystems: Ecological Succession
Can an area with no soil turn into a forest? Scholars learn about the process of ecological succession using an interesting presentation. It covers both primary and secondary succession in the building of new ecosystems.
Curated OER
Who Works in This Forest?
Pupils examine the variety of jobs that are related to working in the forest. Information on the different jobs is provided in this lesson plan for the teacher to share with the students. The pupils create a collage using magazines to...
Curated OER
Guetemala's Changing Forest
Eighth graders compare their local ecological zone to the tropical rainforest. In this natural ecology lesson plan, 8th graders complete an activity about the differences in ecological zones. They compare their biome to the Guatemalan...
National Park Service
Aspect, Treeline, and Climate
Head to the treeline and beyond to examine how this feature of the landscape affects weather and climate, which gives scientists clues about its health. Class members' observations of photographs provide the data that drives the...
Calvin Crest Outdoor School
Survival
Equip young campers with important survival knowledge with a set of engaging lessons. Teammates work together to complete three outdoor activities, which include building a shelter, starting a campfire, and finding directions in the...
Curated OER
Planting A Garden On Campus
Students investigate the school campus area in order to plan the best spot for a class garden. They create a map of the school and research the different types of soil that exist in order to find the best spot. The class takes the...
Curated OER
Succession and Microclimate
Students compare the population of insects in different microclimates. In this biology lesson, students collect data using probes to tabulate temperature and soil data. They predict how certain parameters change as an area goes through...
Curated OER
Visualizing Succession
Ecosystem change is easier to understand when you use hands-on activities.
Curated OER
How Many Hats Does a Farmer Wear
In this farmer worksheet, students make a spinning wheel to describe the jobs of a farmer. Students create 1 wheel with 8 different jobs for a farmer.
Curated OER
Terrestrial Ecosystem Response to Climate Change
An extensive investigation of the Earth's climate changes awaits your environmental science classes. This top-notch presentation begins by looking at the history of Earth's climate and then predicts the impact on each major terrestrial...
Curated OER
Pollution and Conservation
In this pollution and conservation worksheet, students read a passage on pollution and conservation, and answer short answer, multiple choice, and vocabulary matching questions. Students complete 27 questions.
Curated OER
Lesson 2: Timber Harvesting Methods and Logging Methods
Whereas very few learners study this topic, this lesson plan is written well! An organized and detailed teaching outline explains thinning, clearcutting, seed tree, and shelterwood methods of harvesting timber. Beautiful diagrams can be...
Curated OER
Tree Birthdays
Students investigate the growth of trees. For this tree growth lesson, students discover that trees make a ring each year they live. Students use new voabulary such as bark, phloem, and cambuim to talk about tree parts. Students create a...
Curated OER
A Wampanoag Thanksgiving
Students examine how the Wampanoag tribe celebrated Thanksgiving. They discover how they helped the Pilgrims when they first came to the New World. They identify the similarities and differences between people.
Curated OER
Island Biogeography
Students work in small groups to sort through photos of an ecosystem following a major disturbance. They place these photos in chronological order to show the process of succession. They then do an experiment with yeast to show the...
Curated OER
Crossword
In this crossword worksheet that focuses on natural disasters, students find the vertical word in the colored squares by filling in the right words in ten lines in the horizontal boxes. Answers appear at the bottom of the worksheet.
Curated OER
Remarkable Trees of Virginia
Students draw a picture of their favorite tree from memory, and then add detail as they learn more about leaf characteristics of Virginia trees. They will use their writing skills to nominate one or more of their favorite trees to the...
Curated OER
Have Fun With Technical Report Writing
High schoolers use Clarisworks Word Processing and Spreadsheet, Quick-Take Camera and Software, and produce a publishable technical paper.
Curated OER
Making a Human Tree
Students explore botany by defining the anatomy of a tree. In this environmental exploration instructional activity, students research plant vocabulary terms and discuss the uses of each word. Students create a "human" tree by...
Other
Temperate Forest Organization: Temperate Forest
Provides links to sites such as forestry, population, management, diversity, and fire. There are lesson plans, tours and educational links for teachers.