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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Can We Keep the Lake Clean?

For Teachers K - 3rd
Learners are introduced to the water cycle. They help draw a picture of a lake ecosystem, adding human impacts that affect water quality. Students help fill in the components of a drawing of a water system. At the end of the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Abundant Lakes

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students define lake life zones. They define stormwater runoff and its effects on lakes. They identify the relationship between decaying substances and water pollution. They construct a freshwater food web.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

To Be Salty Sea Ice Or Not

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore what type of solutions freeze. They design their own experiments to compare how fresh water and salt water freezes. In addition, they write their observations in a journal and complete analysis questions.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Case of the Threespine Stickleback

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students examine why some freshwater populations of stickleback fish.  In this macroevolution instructional activity students read a study packet then answer questions. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Water Cycle and Ecosystems

For Teachers K - 3rd
Young scholars explore the water cycle. In this investigative lesson, students examine the water cycle process. They will record their observations and discuss marine and freshwater ecosystems.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ecosystem Food Web Mural

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Learners create a food web mural about an ecosystem of the freshwater marsh. For this food web lesson plan, young scholars write about the organisms and how each one depends on another.
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Lesson Plan
Earth Day Network

Conserving Water Through Art!

For Teachers K - 5th
Having fresh, clean drinking water is a privilege many people take for granted. Help raise awareness about the scarcity of water and the importance of conservation by discussing different ways water is used in everyday life. Brainstorm...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Gravel Run - Freshwater Spring

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners perform five lab experiments dealing with water run. Students monitor gravel run water quality. They conduct a bioassessment and collect information on water quality. Learners organize and analyze collected data.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Ecosystems

For Students 6th - 12th
In this ecosystems worksheet, students complete a crossword puzzle with 35 questions about the different types of ecosystems and organisms in them.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"Using Cichlids To Demonstrate the Effects of Human Activity On Ecosystems"

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Students explore the freshwater ecosystem of Africa's Lake Victoria by creating a freshwater aquarium. They investigate factors affecting the aquarium's ecosystem and conduct lab activities.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Eye On Conservation Drainage Basin

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers are able to describe the importance of wetland vegetation. They describe the impacts human activities have on water systems. Students compare and contrast the effect of different soil types on water filtration.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

It's Too Salty!

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students examine water shortage and the process of changing salt water to fresh water. They examine a world map, define key vocabulary terms, conduct experiments involving seeds and salt water and creating distilled water, and illustrate...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

LD50 of NaCl to Gammarus spp.

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students learn the meaning of LD50 through lecture and discussion. Through experiment, students graph and calculate the LD50 of salt on fresh water amphipods. Students compare results of the experiment with pesticides and pollutants.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Animal Habitat Bar Graph

For Students 2nd - 3rd
In this graphing activity, students examine a prepared bar graph and record which habitat their chosen animal lives in: desert, city, forest, ocean, prairie, or fresh water. There are no directions but it appears that a class could use...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Density: Floating, Sinking, and Suspending

For Teachers 2nd - 6th
Students observe teacher demonstrations that illustrate density. In this density lesson, the teacher demonstrates how air bubbles in a carbonated drink can cause a raisin to float and how an egg sinks in fresh water, but floats in salt...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Crawdad Grab

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students explore biology by conducting a freshwater fishing activity. In this crawdad activity, students discuss what a crawdad is, where they are found and how they can be prepared as a meal. Students utilize string, alligator clips,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Wacky Water Critters

For Teachers 4th - 9th
Students visit a local creek or stream. They collect water samples from the creek and observe and sort the "water critters" they find in the sample, observing smaller organisms under a microscope if necessary. They identify each organism...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

"Our Lakes" Crossword

For Students 7th - 12th
In this lakes worksheet, students complete a crossword puzzle by figuring out the vocabulary words associated with the 15 clues given.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Channel Catfish

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students study the life and biology of the Channel Catfish. In this aquatic biology lesson, students will examine the external and internal features of the catfish along with their breeding habits and environment. This lesson includes...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Water Water Everywhere and Not a Drop to Drink!

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers describe limitations of fresh water resources on ships at sea. They realize the value of fresh water on the ocean and around the world. Students gain a knowledge of the process and economic cost of desalinization.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Oceanography

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders identify saltwater and freshwater habitats and the resources found in them. They compare and contrast the two habitats and discuss their findings. They discover the resources bodies of water can provide.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Effect of Tides & Elevation on Wetland Plant Communities

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students comprehend how tides can impact shoreline plant communities through the study of a freshwater tidal marsh. They use actual tidal data to show that tidal ranges differ among geographic locations, even those relatively close...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Teacher's Guide For: Water Temperature and Salinity Experiment

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students experiment with water density, temperature and salinity. For this water lesson, students observe how the coldest water sinks to the bottom of a test tube, and how saltwater sinks in comparison to freshwater.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

New Jersey Estuaries

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Students experiment to discover that salt water is denser than fresh water by creating color coded solutions. They examine how heavy rainstorms and high tides develop layers of different degrees of density.