Project Oceanography is a live television program designed for middle school science students. Each week during the school year, students can learn about a variety of ocean science topics. Some of the topics covered include: Antarctic oceanography, marine debris, tsunamis, plankton, hydrodynamic flow through seagrass beds, channel islands, kelp forests, cold seeps, pollution, and water quality. Programs ... Full description.

This lesson plan teaches students that the earth is a complex sphere composed of a variety of interdependent systems which can be placed in the following order of increasing complexity: organism, species, population, community, ecosystem, biome, and biosphere. The lesson plan provides objectives, skills, time needed, a content outline, materials, significant terms, a glossary, resources, questions ... Full description.

This lesson plan teaches students that populations are dynamic with identifiable characteristics and measurable growth patterns. Factors of population survival that are taught include immigration and emigration, environmental resistance, carrying capacity, and homeostasis. The lesson plan provides objectives, skills, time needed, a content outline, materials, and significant terms. The overarching ... Full description.

Students will study the following concepts based on this lesson plan: the area an organism lives in must provide it with its basic life requirements and the ability of the habitat to do so is affected by abiotic and biotic factors. Abiotic factors in the environment are explained in terms of light, temperature, precipitation, and the process of soil formation. The types of biotic organization covered ... Full description.

This lesson plan addresses the following concept: the earth is a complex sphere composed of a variety of interdependent systems. Students will learn about factors that cause ecosystems to be different by studying the basic components of aquatic ecosystems. Field activities where students examine a nearby ecosystem include finding living things in the soil, separating soil into its parts, measuring ... Full description.

The objectives of this lesson plan are twofold: to have students understand the benefits and problems associated with fire and to understand the role that fire plays in maintaining healthy ecosystems. Emphasis throughout the lesson plan is placed on manager-ignited prescribed burns and natural fires, and their relevance and importance to various types of fire-adapted ecosystems such as chaparral, ... Full description.

This on-line project is part of the Center for Improved Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) program, which has developed internet activities for the elementary, middle, and high school level student. This series of activities explores the mathematical and environmental aspects of population growth. Using archived census and demographic data as well as up-to-the-minute population estimates from ... Full description.

This website integrates video footage and information with lesson plans and activities to teach students about the Temperate Grasslands (Prairie) biome of North America. The activities in this unit are designed to give students an overview of the climate and organisms of this biome in order to better understand this endangered ecosystem. There are lesson plans, instruction sheets, and links for additional ... Full description.

This lesson plan is part of the DiscoverySchool.com lesson plan library for grades 6-8. Using research on environmental conditions of the prairie ecosystem (strong winds, hot and dry summers, cold winters, and plants and animals), students will design an imaginary animal, detailing how its physical and behavioral characteristics make it well adapted to the prairie. They will illustrate their animals ... Full description.

This lesson plan is part of the DiscoverySchool.com lesson plan library for grades 9-12. It is designed to introduce various publications that have had a profound influence on our attitudes toward environmental issues. Students write a brief essay explaining the effects these books might have had on science or society as well as their own personal reactions to what they've read. Included are objectives, ... Full description.