University of South Carolina
Home Sweet Home
Fifth graders will research a biome (land or aquatic) and create a project (diorama, model or another idea of the student's choosing) which includes the geographic features of that biome as well as plants and animals found there and...
Curated OER
Pond and Pond Organisms
Students explore pond ecosystems. In this pond organism activity, students will use pond water and a plastic bad in order to locate and identify freshwater organisms. The activity is designed for younger grades, but includes an...
Curated OER
Plants And Animals in the Local Environment
Pupils observe the various living things they can find outside their playground making sure to look both on the ground and in the air. They develop a large poster Venn digram, as a class, of plants and animals that live in the air, on...
NOAA
What's New?
Biodiversity in some areas is more diverse than one might think. Using a two-day lesson plan, pupils consider the biodiversity of the Hudson Canyon and the characteristics of one organism. They begin with an analysis of the common...
Curated OER
Forest Life- Wood Bug Study
Examine wood bugs and their habitat. Learners gather wood bugs and examine their bodies. Then discuss their body parts and how they help them survive. They also predict where they think wood bugs live to then graph the class results.
University of Southern California
Wave Erosion Lab
Using a stream table, erosion enthusiasts examine how the density of sediment and how the slope of land contribute to the amount moved by waves. You will not be able to use this entire resource as is; there are teachers' names and...
Curated OER
All Hands on Deck: A Harbor Education Program
Pupils build a model of an estuary. In this wetland instructional activity, students build a model estuary with a paint tray and modeling clay. They use the model to illustrate the impact of non-point pollution on the watershed.
Curated OER
Martian Earth Tours
Students study a variety of global wetland habitats, their similarities and differences. They examine the variety of life that such wetlands support and determine that many animals and plants are adapted to life in wetlands, that...
Curated OER
Roaming Biomes
Students use the Internet to research the capabilities of earth-observation satellites. Using the information, they write a report on how remote-sensing technology is used to measure the impact of climate change. They identify the...
Curated OER
Estuaries, Estuarine Habitats, and Adaptations
Middle schoolers conduct research on estuaries. They design and construct an estuary, describe the physical characteristics of an estuary, and create a diagram illustrating an estuarine food web.
Curated OER
Is There Room for Everybody?
Third graders examine the capacity of animals able to live in one habitat. In this habitat lesson, 3rd graders play a game that shows the food chain and the interactions between animals in an area. Students discover that food is a major...
Curated OER
Endangered Spaces = Endangered Species!
Sixth graders discuss the crowding, loss of personal space, loss of home, loss of food, etc. that might occur at a developmental site. They witness, through an in-class demonstration, what happens when land is taken for development. They...
Curated OER
Community Improvement
Young scholars examine a local body of water to determinet the health of its ecosystem and monitor it during the year. If needed they write a report on any conditions that need improvement including photographs and relevant data.
Curated OER
Dynamic Wetlands
Students construct and observe a model of two different types of wetlands. In this wetlands lesson, students create a model of a wetland with constant drainage and a wetland that maintains a well-saturated soil. Students observe and...
Curated OER
Aquatic Ecosystems
Students study the diversity of marine life and their habitats. In this aquatic ecosystems lesson students complete a lab activity and experiment.
Curated OER
Science: Where the Worms Live
Students build mine-earthworm habitats to discover their niche in them. They make predictions about what the niche looks like in a week and draw a picture of it. Students notice the tunnels in the soil and how the sand and dirt are now...
Curated OER
Beyond the Tap
Students explain the basic properties of a watershed including how water flows from higher to lower elevations and how watersheds are interconnected. They comprehend how the placement of buildings, roads, and parking lots can be...
Forest Foundation
Fire - How Does it Relate to You?
Forest fires can be a necessary step in keeping a forest healthy, but what happens when they get out of control? Learners investigate the causes and effects of forest fires in two specific areas, culminating in a report about the ways...
Curated OER
Habitat Is Home
Young scholars are introduced to the concept and components of a habitat. They discuss the key components of a habitat and describe how certain factors can cause disturbances in a habitat and change its population. Activities are leveled...
Curated OER
Global Change — Change and Cycles Where Land, Air and Water Meet
Students participate in an experiment to define a parts-per-billion solution. For this ecology lesson, students select a second substance to create a parts-per-billion solution and observe and record their results. Students work in...
Curated OER
Bermuda: Search for Deep Water Caves 2009: Out of Darkness
Students analyze the three models on the origin of troglobitic fauna. In this life science lesson, students also consider how the Zonation model explains the fauna's origin. They also use the Internet to research solutional and volcanic...
Curated OER
"Julie of the Wolves"
Fifth graders research life in Alaska and compare life there to their lives in this instructional activity. They read "Julie of the Wolves." They research through the novel and other reference books facts about the Alaskan climate and...
Curated OER
Is Urban Sprawl Causing Us To Lose More Than Ground?
Students map the changes that occur in the land as a result of urban sprawl. They explore the problems that paving and building have on the watershed and the habitats on the Northshore.
Curated OER
Making Connections, Linking Population and the Environment
Learners find out that all habitats have a carrying capacity. They explore how the world's human population has grown markedly in the 20th century, and that humans impact environmental health. Students investigate that people can and...