Beyond Benign
Evaluating Sustainability and Lifecycle
What makes one product greener than another? Ecology scholars analyze sustainability and lifecycle through a thought-provoking activity. Individuals pick a product, then examine its components to determine its overall impact on the world...
Beyond Benign
Decision Graphic Introduction
E is for economics, environment, and social equity. The fifth installment of a 15-part series has scholars first considering ecological impacts, such as determining how much water it takes to produce a can of soda. They then use decision...
Curated OER
Ecology
Learners gain an understanding of necessary components required within a healthy, sustainable environment and ways human actions can impact that balance while discovering how to recognize and analyze explanations and models used in...
Curated OER
Ecology
Students personify ecology vocabulary and write a one-act play using their knowledge of ecology as the basis for characters, conflict, setting and plot.
Curated OER
Ecological Relationships
Middle schoolers identify ecological elements and their factors on species, populations and food webs. They analyze ecosystems for these elements and research how these factors influence species survival rate. Predictions on conditions...
Curated OER
Folktales and Ecology: Animals and Humans in Cooperation and Conflict
Story elements such as conflict, character analysis, resolution, and moral are discussed and charted as elementary children read folktales involving animals. An element of science is also introduced as learners discover what a keystone...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
What is My Carbon Footprint?
Here is a lesson that walks youth through an online carbon footprint calculator produced by the University of California, Berkeley. Once learners finish inputting information, they compete a worksheet with the results. This is simple,...
Polar Trec
Calorimetry Lab
Young people between the ages of 11–13 need on average about 2,000 calories per day. Within the lab, groups learn about calorimetry and respiration. They explore how it pertains to humans and animals living the Arctic where cold...
Curated OER
Natural Resources: Getting a Fair Share?
Students explore the impact of human behavior on key components of the environment, examine how theirn own personal decisions have added to the problem, and explore possible solutions to the current ecological crisis.
Curated OER
Tortoise Tales
Students read journal entry from a Gal??pagos field researcher, find examples of five ecological relationships (competition, predation, parasitism, mutualism, and commensalism) and take notes on the details they find in the entry using a...
Curated OER
Cypress/Tupelo Swamps
Young scholars study the geologic history of terrain, soils, and drainage patterns. They recognize ecological processes that determine the dynamic nature of habitats. They investigate the influence of human activity on the landscape.
Curated OER
Pond Life Identification Kit
Young scholars explore ecology and biodiversty. They use the wet-mount procedure to make several slides to view using the microscope and draw what they see.
Curated OER
Home, Home on the River
Students examine the complex issues that result from human use of ecologically sensitive areas. They investigate these issues from the point of view of their major/career path.
Curated OER
Have You Seen Me? An Introductory Lesson on the Loss of Biodiversity
Students investigate environmental law and policies involving endangered species as well as discuss human impact on biodiversity through an Internet research project. Students create a milk carton of their "missing" endangered species.
Curated OER
Ecosystem Organization
Learners examine the structure of ecosystems. In this ecology lesson, students listen to a lecture on relationships among organisms and biomes. Learners use the information to create ecosystem organization pyramids.
Curated OER
Impacts to the Open Ocean
Students investigate how human beings impact ocean ecosystems. In this ocean ecosystem lesson plan, students explore how marine debris affects marine life. Internet resources are provided.
Curated OER
In the Wild
Third graders examine the concept of ecology and how animals are suited to their habitats. In this animal adaptation lesson, 3rd graders identify a variety of plants and animal species that live in a Beech forest.Students create a food...
Curated OER
Aquatic Habitat Water Quality Experiment
Fifth graders discuss the importance of water quality for humans and fish and make predictions about what happens to water that is polluted. In small groups, they conduct experiments to compare and contrast water that is unpolluted and...
Curated OER
Urban Ecosystems 2: Why are There Cities? A Historical Perspective
Second in a series of five lessons, this lesson encourages preteens to consider cities as urban ecosystems. First, they keep a food diary for a few days. They visit the Natrional Agricultural Statistics Service website for current data...
Curated OER
Composting
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...
Curated OER
Beaver Ecology
Learners explore the lives of bgeahvers. They identify the physical and behavioral adaptations that help beavers survive in their environment. Students compare and contrast how beavers influence the ecology of both forest and aquatic...
Curated OER
Ecological Succession
Pupils examine succession in different communities. For this investigative lesson students study ecological succession and complete several assignments.
Curated OER
Macroinvertebrate Sampling
Students identify macroinvertebrate species to investigate ecological systems and the relationship between humans and the environment.
Curated OER
An Interdisciplinary Deer and Human Population Study
Students answer the question, "What environmental problems arise due to animal and human overpopulation and what might need to be done to combat these problems?" They play games, graph data and write proposals about the question.