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WALK, DON'T RUN
1. Bring two quarts of moist soil, a cake pan, a sprinkling can of water and a quart of grass clippings to class.
2. Share background material, and introduce the word "erosion."
3. Prepare a small model hill by mounding the soil in the...
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Biological Communities
Students identify consumers and producers in different communities. Students collect a variety of soil samples and record organisms found in the samples.
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Build a Prairie!
Students research the plants and animals in the prairie environment. They conduct Internet research, and follow directions to construct a simulated prairie.
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Agriculture is a Cycle
Students explore cycles in nature. In this cross curriculum agriculture lesson, students define "cycle" and research weather and planting folklore. Students make a bracelet in which individual colored beads represent the many "cycles" of...
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Mini-Ponds
For this mini pond worksheet, students create a mini-pond ecosystem with soil, water, and plant life. Students let their ecosystem sit for a day and they observe a sample the next day. Students identify all the pond water microorganisms...
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The Dirt on Worms!
Fourth graders make predictions, observe, collect and record data. They investigate several soil and worm websites. Finally, 4th graders write a letter to The President which defends earthworms by explaining their value to the United...
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Rainforest Food Chain
Students investigate a rainforest food chain. In this ecology lesson, students are shown pictures of plants and list what animals might eat the plants. Students continue to think of what other animals might eat those animals. Students...
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WORM WATCHING
Young scholars investigate how earthworms help build good soil. They examine the worms carefully to find the ringlike segments and swollen band at the front of the earthworm's body. Students take turns dampening the soil every day and...
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Teaching Kids about the Environment
Fifth graders identify the species of plants and animals found in an environment. They compare these findings to plant and animal species found in an unlike environment. Students acquire and compare soil samples from the two sites chosen.
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Unique Ecosystems
Fourth graders explain how in any particular environment, some kinds of
plants and animals survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all. They research the ecosystem of which each animal or plant is natively a part.
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Investigation 3 - Weathering
Fourth graders study 4 types of weather processes: wind, running water, plant growth, and freezing water. They explain how the processes of weathering and erosion change and move materials that become soil. They draw diagrams...
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Sedimentary Rocks
Fourth graders discuss the basic properties of rocks, the processes
involved in the formation of soils, and the needs of plants provided by soil. They write descriptions in their Science journal and identify and discuss each type of...
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Jackie Gore
Students identify the amount of heat given off by solar energy. In this solar energy lesson, students complete an experiment using soil and sand measuring the heat from solar energy.
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Who Eats Who?
Students recognize that some animals eat plants, some eat meat and some both. In this who eats who lesson, students chart animals in a food chain. Students research information from reading articles. Students chart what...
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Making a Terrarium
Students construct and maintain model of natural habitat, suggest improvements to the model of the natural habitat to make it more realistic and habitable, and demonstrate careful observation and recording of how animals survive in their...
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A Day on the Farm
First graders, with a collection of various art supplies, plant a seed to observe it growing and record specific data on a data record sheet. They create a collage from various magazines of ten different foods farm animals eat and make a...
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Ecosystem Game
Students examine the ecosystem by playing a game. In this ecosystem lesson, students are put into groups of decomposers, consumers, and producers. Students create a list of animals that fit into each group and items that represent...
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Dynamic Wetlands
Young scholars construct and observe a model of two different types of wetlands. For this wetlands lesson, students create a model of a wetland with constant drainage and a wetland that maintains a well-saturated soil. Young scholars...
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Now You See It, Now You Don't
Learners explore organic and inorganic objects. In this environmental lesson students perform a composting experiment using flowers in different soils. Learners record their observations.
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Ourselves
Students identify the main parts of the human body. They point to various parts of their own body, cut out pictures of humans and animals and sort them into the two categories, discuss the differences between animals and humans, and...
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Carrying Capacity of Ecosystems
Learners define population and carrying. In this algebra instructional activity, students explore exponential growth and decay based on animals and things that grow or decrease exponentially. They graph their findings and discuss their...
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Forest Food Chains and Webs
Students explore forest ecological systems. In this ecology lesson, students classify forest plants and animals according to their ecological roles. Students play a related vocabulary guessing game. Students choose a card on which...
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Dispose of Waste Properly
Students examine how to dispose of waste properly and discover how pollution affects plants and animals that live in streams. In this effects of waste lesson, students explore biodegradable detergents and the concept of dilution as the...
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The Formation and Value of Temperate Grasslands
Students study the Temperate Grasslands biome of North America. They explain that it is an endangered ecosystem because the rich soils have been converted to farming in most areas. They view videos imbedded in this plan, then complete...