This activity is a field investigation where students will observe three areas …
This activity is a field investigation where students will observe three areas with high sensitivity to pollution, and test water quality in two of the locations.
This resource has students role-play an Indigenous climate summit. It includes handouts …
This resource has students role-play an Indigenous climate summit. It includes handouts about each Indigenous group and their concerns about climate change.
In this video, scientist Dr. Susan Prichard discusses the impact of pine …
In this video, scientist Dr. Susan Prichard discusses the impact of pine bark beetles on western forests. She explains how climate change, specifically rising temperatures, is exacerbating the problem.
This movie provides an 18-minute introduction to how NASA is observing our …
This movie provides an 18-minute introduction to how NASA is observing our ever-changing planet. On the The Dynamic Earth DVD Web page you can download the video as an iPod or iPhone version, as well as an AppleTV/Full resolution version, and access a glossary and links to related Web sites.
This highly informative site explores five different ecosystems and the public health …
This highly informative site explores five different ecosystems and the public health issues that have arisen in each. Students can explore the different ways that ecosystem services that address air quality, heat hazard mitigation, recreation and physical activity, water hazard mitigation, and water quality impact many health conditions.
This lesson is about the flow of energy in ecosystems. The setting …
This lesson is about the flow of energy in ecosystems. The setting is Plimoth Plantation, a living history museum in Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA, where students will learn about the first Thanksgiving meal in America, celebrated in 1621 by early American settlers and Wampanoag Indians. By examining this meal and comparing it to a modern day Thanksgiving celebration, students will be able to explore the way in which food energy moves and is transformed in an ecosystem. The learning goals focus on the movement of energy from one feeding level to the next within a food web, the way in which energy changes form, and the inefficiency of energy transfer, which in turn affects the availability of food energy for organisms at the highest feeding level. The lesson is directed at high school level biology students. Students should be familiar already with food webs, food chains, and trophic (feeding) levels. They should also be familiar with the general equations for photosynthesis (CO2 + H2O => C6H12O6) and cell respiration (C6H12O6 => CO2 + H2O), and understand the basic purpose of these processes in nature. This lesson can be completed during one long classroom period, or can be divided over two or more class meetings. The duration of the lesson will depend on prior knowledge of the students and on the amount of time allotted for student discussion. There are no supplies required for this lesson other than the downloadable worksheets (accessed on this BLOSSOMS site), paper and some glue or tape.
The major goal of this lesson is to provide students with some …
The major goal of this lesson is to provide students with some of the tools they will need to analyze and solve the many complex problems they will face during their lifetimes. In the lesson, students learn to use Flow Charts and Feedback Diagrams to analyze a very complex problem of ecological sustainability. The lesson looks at a specific case study—from my home town in the Philippines—of the Live Reef Fish Trade now threatening survival of the Coral Reef Triangle of Southeast Asia. Live reef fish have long been traded around Southeast Asia as a luxury food item, but in recent decades trade in fish captured on coral reefs has expanded rapidly. Although the trade has provided communities with additional income, these benefits are unsustainable and have come at considerable cost to the environment. This lesson begins by having students analyze a familiar or personal problem, using Flow Charts and Feedback Diagrams, and then moves on to the application of those tools to a complex environmental problem. The lesson could be completed in a 50-minute class session, but using it over two class sessions would be preferable. Everything needed for the lesson is downloadable from the BLOSSOMS website, including blank Flow Charts and Feedback Diagrams, as well as articles on the Philippines case study from the World Wildlife Fund and the United States Agency for International Development.
This short lesson was designed in collaboration with a 7th grade Life …
This short lesson was designed in collaboration with a 7th grade Life Science teacher (Paul Jeffery). The idea behind the lesson is to help students better understand ecological and geographical classifications by teaching them at the same time in their Life Science class and their Geography class. Teaching the two classifications together will help reinforce the idea of classification. While this lesson would best be taught outdoors it can also be adapted to the indoors.
This course provides a review of physical, chemical, ecological, and economic principles …
This course provides a review of physical, chemical, ecological, and economic principles used to examine interactions between humans and the natural environment. Mass balance concepts are applied to ecology, chemical kinetics, hydrology, and transportation; energy balance concepts are applied to building design, ecology, and climate change; and economic and life cycle concepts are applied to resource evaluation and engineering design. Numerical models are used to integrate concepts and to assess environmental impacts of human activities. Problem sets involve development of MATLABĺ¨ models for particular engineering applications. Some experience with computer programming is helpful but not essential.
" We will cover fundamentals of ecology, considering Earth as an integrated …
" We will cover fundamentals of ecology, considering Earth as an integrated dynamic system. Topics include coevolution of the biosphere, geosphere, atmosphere and oceans; photosynthesis and respiration; the hydrologic, carbon and nitrogen cycles. We will examine the flow of energy and materials through ecosystems; regulation of the distribution and abundance of organisms; structure and function of ecosystems, including evolution and natural selection; metabolic diversity; productivity; trophic dynamics; models of population growth, competition, mutualism and predation. This course is designated as Communication-Intensive; instruction and practice in oral and written communication provided. Biology is a recommended prerequisite."
This video focuses on the conifer forest in Alaska to explore the …
This video focuses on the conifer forest in Alaska to explore the carbon cycle and how the forest responds to rising atmospheric carbon dioxide. Topics addressed in the video include wildfires, reflectivity, and the role of permafrost in the global carbon cycle.
This activity is an open-ended inquiry investigation in which students analyze and …
This activity is an open-ended inquiry investigation in which students analyze and predict how an environmental change will affect the visitation rates of insects. Students will ask a question, develop multiple hypotheses, run a scientific investigation, and report their findings to their "colleagues".
Students will explore and create a healthy ecosystem, once established they will …
Students will explore and create a healthy ecosystem, once established they will then introduce additional variables which may harm the ecosystem and determine which hazards should be avoided.
Are all coral reefs the same? Each regional ecosystem has its own …
Are all coral reefs the same? Each regional ecosystem has its own assemblage of species and each contributes uniquely to global biodiversity. Explore why ecosystem diversity is important for conservation decisions. Video by California Academy of Sciences.
Flow of energy and matter through ecosystems. What happens if an ecosystem …
Flow of energy and matter through ecosystems. What happens if an ecosystem is disrupted. Video by California Academy of Sciences. Created by California Academy of Sciences.
Students are charged with thinking about what it takes to 'do science'. …
Students are charged with thinking about what it takes to 'do science'. They are introduced to the science of dendrochronology and learn how tree-ring science is executed.
Each student will keep a science journal during each of the four …
Each student will keep a science journal during each of the four seasons. Students will record observations of the general outdoor environment they visit and then will make observations of one specific item from the habitat in each season. At the end of the school year, students will make comparisons of their seasonal drawings and share the results with the class. The purpose of the activity is to introduce students to the concept of using a science journal to record information, to have students use science tools to make scientific observations and to make observational drawings in nature and compare the results throughout the seasons. After completing this activity, students will know about seasonal changes in a particular habitat. They will learn how to make detailed observations, record their results, make comparisons, and share information using a standard format.
A learning activity for the "Do You Know That Clouds Have Names?" …
A learning activity for the "Do You Know That Clouds Have Names?" book in the Elementary GLOBE series. Using information from the book and their observations, students construct a sky scene with trees and buildings as reference points on the ground and cloud types ordered by altitude in the sky. Students will describe clouds using their own vocabulary and will then correlate their descriptions with the standard classifications of cloud types used by the GLOBE Program. The purpose of the activity is to help students identify some of the characteristics of clouds and to enable students to observe clouds, describe them in a common vocabulary, and compare their descriptions with the official cloud names. Students will be able to identify cloud types using standard cloud classification names. They will know that the names used for the clouds are based on three factors: their shapes, the altitude at which they occur, and whether they are producing precipitation.
No restrictions on your remixing, redistributing, or making derivative works. Give credit to the author, as required.
Your remixing, redistributing, or making derivatives works comes with some restrictions, including how it is shared.
Your redistributing comes with some restrictions. Do not remix or make derivative works.
Most restrictive license type. Prohibits most uses, sharing, and any changes.
Copyrighted materials, available under Fair Use and the TEACH Act for US-based educators, or other custom arrangements. Go to the resource provider to see their individual restrictions.
