The purpose of this resource is to observe budburst on selected trees at a Land Cover or Phenology Site. All students will learn about hummingbird natural history and ecology. Students will learn how to identify and age male and female Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and to observe migration and feeding behavior. Students will learn how to make connections among hummingbird behavior and weather, climate, food availability, seasonality, photoperiod (day length), and other environmental factors.

Submitted as part of the California Learning Resource Network (CLRN) Phase 3 Digital Textbook Initiative (CA DTI3), CK-12 Foundation’s high school Biology FlexBook covers cell biology, genetics, evolution, ecology, botany, zoology, and physiology. This digital textbook was reviewed for its alignment with California content standards.

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 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."

A learning activity for the "All About Earth: Our World on Stage" book in the Elementary GLOBE series. In pairs, students will create experimental conditions in terrariums in order to study what plants need to live. Variables to study include the presence or absence of soil, water, and sunlight. Students will record the growth of radish plants as well as observations of "the water cycle" in their terrariums. At the conclusion of their experiments, students will share their results with the class and discuss how water, Earth materials, and air are all necessary to support living things. The purpose of the activity is to acquaint students with the hydrosphere, geosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere more closely, to have students use microcosms to study natural phenomena, and to introduce students to the concept of a "fair test" in a scientific investigation. After completing this activity, students will know about the importance of the hydrosphere, geosphere, and atmosphere in supporting the biosphere. They will learn how to set up "fair test", record detailed observations, use drawings as scientific records, make sense of experimental results, and share them publicly.

A learning activity for the "All About Earth: Our World on Stage" book in the Elementary GLOBE series. One of the "big ideas" in Earth system science is the notion of interaction among parts of the Earth system. In the Elementary GLOBE book All About Earth: Our World on Stage, the children in Ms. Patel's class discuss instances of how the four major spheres of Earth's system interact. They symbolize these interactions by using large arrows to link the system components: air, water, soil, living things and the Sun. In this activity, students continue to explore the idea of interaction among Earth components as they identify processes in the Earth system and indicate how they illustrate an interaction between two of the Earth system components. The purpose of the activity is to help students deepen their understanding of interconnections among Earth's systems, help students to identify processes where Earth's systems are interacting, and to provide practice in the observation and recording of natural phenomena. After completing this activity, students will understand that Earth system interactions are all around them, going on all the time, and that Earth's processes are interconnected. They will learn how to make observations and identify the interactions they illustrate.

This Earth Exploration Toolbook chapter uses ArcGIS and climate data from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Climate Change Scenarios GIS Data Portal to help users learn the basics of GIS-based climate modeling. The five-part exercise involves calculating summer average temperatures for the present day and future climate modeled output, visually comparing the temperature differences for the two model runs, and creating a temperature anomaly map to highlight air temperature increases or decreases around the world.

This is a short activity for growing the slime mold Physarum polycephalum. It includes materials needed, a three-step procedure, and helpful tips. The site is part of the Turbulent Landscapes exhibit at the Exploratorium. Links to other activities and features of the exhibit are also included.

Students author a presentation to the Grounds Management Committee of their school giving their recommendation for the control of the invasive species purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) on campus.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

Coastal environments are by their nature ever-changing. This unit looks at the example of the Blackwater Estuary in Essex, England, describing how the current state of the estuary came to be. It examines the contests and conflicts that center on the estuary in terms of managing the environment for human needs and the needs of the other species who make their habitat there.

Welcome to the Teachers' Corner of Small Things Considered. In this section, we include the posts we deem most adequate for teaching purposes. We have reorganized them into subject areas geared for a typical microbiology course. To date, this material has been used for various forms of intellectual enrichment, e.g., suggested readings, class presentations, a source of topics for term papers. You can also find here our Talmudic Questions, which we characterize as those whose answers cannot be found in Google. We are told that some of these questions have been used in exams ranging from tests for undergraduate courses to qualifying/prelims for graduate students.

This course provides an introduction to the study of environmental phenomena that exhibit both organized structure and wide variability - i.e., complexity. Through focused study of a variety of physical, biological, and chemical problems in conjunction with theoretical models, we learn a series of lessons with wide applicability to understanding the structure and organization of the natural world. Students will also learn how to construct minimal mathematical, physical, and computational models that provide informative answers to precise questions.

The purpose of this resource is to observe seasonal migration patterns, feeding habits, and nesting behavior of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) in North and Central America. All students will learn about hummingbird natural history and ecology. Students will learn how to identify and age male and female Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and to observe migration and feeding behavior. Students will learn how to make connections among hummingbird behavior and weather, climate, food availability, seasonality, photoperiod (day length), and other environmental factors.

This course presents the principles of evolution, ecology, and behavior for students beginning their study of biology and of the environment. It discusses major ideas and results in a manner accessible to all Yale College undergraduates. Recent advances have energized these fields with results that have implications well beyond their boundaries: ideas, mechanisms, and processes that should form part of the toolkit of all biologists and educated citizens.

In this video segment from Nature, see the value that sharks can have on the tourism industry in an area.

This site provides fun activities for children to do and make, while they learn about space and Earth science, and the technology that enables science. The Teachers Corner on the WWW site contains curriculum supplements originally published in the ITEA (International Technology Education Association) Technology Transfer Teacher magazine.

WOW lessons are designed for infusion into the existing science curriculums for college freshmen and advanced high school students. The lessons use the aquatic environment and real lake data to explore basic science concepts through two different approaches: a directed study “Studying” and an inquiry “Investigating” approach. The directed studies allow students to apply and learn concepts through direct, guided experience. The inquiry lessons provide a more open-ended opportunity for students to discover the same concepts.
Each teacher's lesson plan provides general direction for guiding students to understand the topic through the directed study and the inquiry approach. Student lessons are organized into a thinking framework of six sequential components that are critical for improving scientific and technological literacy: knowledge base, experimental design, data collection, data management and analysis, interpretation of results, and reporting results. The teacher lesson plans follow the same format.
Lesson titles are simple and descriptive so that you may easily find useful materials. We recommend you begin by reviewing the student lessons that may be appropriate for your class. When you've found a student lesson to use, return to the menu below to review the associated teacher's lesson plan. There are tutorials to help you and your students get familiar with the site, they may be accessed from the menu below, or at the top of any 'teacher' page.