Curated OER
Life in a Log
Young scholars identify insects living in rotting logs. In this decomposition lesson, students observe pieces of a rotting log, they look at the insects that have inhabited the log and create a chart that shows their findings.
Curated OER
Organic and Inorganic Waste
Students conduct a scientific investigation about organic or inorganic waste. In this organic or inorganic waste lesson, students create a compost heap to determine the difference between inorganic and organic waste. Students record...
Curated OER
Pharaoh Mountain Hike: Investigating Adirondack Life Zones
Learners hike a local mountain and examine its life zones. They measure various components at each zone and collect leaf litter at the sites. At the mountain top, students make descriptive observations and complete a handout about the...
Curated OER
Spring
Students examine lichens in an outside field trip. Students explore the diversity of this organism and ask questions about them.
Curated OER
Life in the Crystal Palace
Marine biologists research sea ice communities. Assign some groups to construct paper models of sea ice communities in winter, and some to construct models of them in summer. The lesson plan is simplistic, but the Internet resources...
Desert Museum
Daisy Ecology
Here's a fine lesson that combines poetry with life sciences. Learners carefully listen to a poem that's all about a food chain. As the poem is read, learners name the producer, the herbivore, the carnivore, and the omnivore. Lots of...
National Park Service
Reduce Our Carbon Footprint, Let’s Compost!
Roll up your sleeves and get a little dirty with this elementary and middle school compost lesson. All you need is a large plastic container, a couple old newspapers, some organic waste, and a few hundred worms and you're ready to start...
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Understanding the Epidemiologic Triangle through Infectious Disease
Introduce infectious diseases and the epidemiologic triangle. A helpful resource describes the agent, host, and environment from the three vertices as well as the time factor, which is in the middle. Scholars complete a simple...
Curated OER
Odyssey of Life, Part II-The Unknown World
Students complete an experiment in which they observe different natural sample in which they uncover the microbial world. They complete a two part worksheet that accompanies the lesson plan.
Curated OER
Connections
Students examine the interdependence of the West Central African forest ecosystem. They draw pictures of items found in this ecosystem, discuss their interdependence, and answer discussion questions.
Curated OER
DNA the Easy Way (and "Gram Stain" Without the Mess)
Students visualize DNA from cells and explain the basis and importance of the Gram-stain reaction and to perform the KOH test equivalent.
Curated OER
March Market
Students role play a living wetland food web. They trace the food web associated with the items in their lunch.
Curated OER
The Effect of Temperature on Cricket Chirping
Learners examine the effect of temperature on how often crickets chirp. In groups, they complete the experiment and answer lab discussion questions. They create a graph of temperatures and the amount of chirps and discuss the results.
Curated OER
Cleaning Up With Decomposers
Students read and discuss decomposers and how they affect the environment. In this decomposers lesson plan, students also discuss how engineers use decomposers to help the environment.
Curated OER
Food-Borne Illnesses
Use this lesson to have your charges consider the differences between food spoilage and food-borne illnesses including the differentiation of food infections and food intoxication, including characteristics of each. Some excellent...
Curated OER
Medical Help for Microbe Attacks
Students discuss sicknesses and how medications have been designed to combat microbial illnesses. They review microbial groups and learn more about treatment of microbial illness. After viewing the lab students conclude that antibiotics...
Curated OER
Skin: The Behavior and Health Connection
Students explore how personal behavior can affect health, especially the health of your skin. They become better aware of how their personal behavior and the environment can have a considerable impact on their health in general. Students...
Curated OER
"Investigating Soil Color and Texture"
Ninth graders will identify/understand the differences between soil and dirt. They will classify soil color accurately and use Munsell notation to describe it (Munsell books provided).Students will classify soil texture using the feel...
Curated OER
Producers and Consumers
Students make lists of producers and consumers and act as consumers that eat producers in a garden. In this producers and consumers lesson plan, students demonstrate a food chain by using a piece of yarn to connect all of them together.
Curated OER
Understanding Germs
Students investigate germs. In this health lesson plan, students use "glow lotion" on their hands and look at them under a black light. Students observe the cleanliness of their hands under the black light.
Curated OER
Yeasts and Molds
Students investigate the characteristics and nature of yeast and molds help to explain how these microorganisms affect food production. They experiment with yeast in sourdough in preparing sourdough pancakes.
Curated OER
Microorganism Multiplication
Sixth graders conduct experiments with yeast to study characteristics of microorganisms. They, working is small groups, change the variables in the experiments and note the results which they later discuss as a class.
Curated OER
Microorganisms: Good Guys or Bad Guys?
Learners discover the role microorganisms play in our lives. In this decomposition lesson, students examine decaying foods and plants in order to analyze the different bacteria that grows. Learners discuss the good and bad of...
Curated OER
Yeast
Young scholars study the characteristics of yeasts. In this biology lesson, students conduct experiments to measure yeast respiration. They discuss the favorable conditions needed for growing them.