This printable PDF map of the museum's Hall of Biodiversity identifies the eight key stops to hit during your visit, including a photograph of each.

This treasure-hunt activity is designed to be completed during a trip to the museum's Hall of Biodiversity. The printable one-page PDF challenges students to find 31 animals and plants in the Hall's diorama. Photographs of 21 of these specimens are included.

This article highlights hands-on or multimedia lesson plans about oceans. Science lessons are paired with suggested literacy lesson plans. All lessons are aligned to national standards.

In this 2-part inquiry-based lesson, students conduct a literature search to determine the characteristics of the atmospheres of different planets (Venus, Mercury, Mars and Earth). After collecting and analyzing data, student teams design and conduct a controlled physical experiment using a lab apparatus to learn about the interaction of becomes CO², air, and temperature. The resource includes student worksheets, a design proposal, and student questions. Connections to contemporary climate change are addressed. This lesson is the first of four in Topic 4, "How do Atmospheres Affect Planetary Temperatures?" within the resource, Earth Climate Course: What Determines a Planet's Climate?

In this kinesthetic activity, the concept of energy budget is strengthened as students conduct three simulations using play money as units of energy, and students serve as parts of a planetary radiation balance model. Students will determine the energy budget of a planet by manipulating gas concentrations, energy inputs and outputs in the system in this lesson that supports the study of climate on Mars, Mercury, Venus and Earth. The lesson supports understanding of the real-world problem of contemporary climate change. The resource includes a teacher's guide and several student worksheets. This is the second of four activities in the lesson, How do Atmospheres affect planetary temperatures?, within Earth Climate Course: What Determines a Planet's Climate? The resource aims to help students to develop an understanding of our environment as a system of human and natural processes that result in changes that occur over various space and time scales.

In this activity, students simulate the interaction of variables, including carbon dioxide, in a radiation balance exercise using a spreadsheet-based radiation balance model. Through a series of experiments, students attempt to mimic the surface temperatures of Earth, Mercury, Venus and Mars, and account for the influence of greenhouse gases in atmospheric temperatures. The activity supports inquiry into the real-world problem of contemporary climate change. Student-collected data is needed from activity A in the same module, "How do atmospheres interact with solar energy?" to complete this activity. Included in the resource are several student data sheets and a teacher's guide. This activity is part of module 4, "How do Atmospheres Affect Planetary Temperatures?" in Earth Climate Course: What Determines a Planet's Climate? The course aims to help students to develop an understanding of our environment as a system of human and natural processes that result in changes that occur over various space and time scales.

The Ecology Student Edition book is one of ten volumes making up the Human Biology curriculum, an interdisciplinary and inquiry-based approach to the study of life science.

Ecology is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment; it seeks to understand the vital connections between plants and animals and the world around them. Ecology also provides information about the benefits of ecosystems and how we can use Earth’s resources in ways that leave the environment healthy for future generations. The many specialties within ecology provide us with information to better understand the world around us. This information also can help us improve our environment, manage our natural resources, and protect human health.

This unit investigates the delicate balance of an ecosystem through the disruptive effects of an invasive species.  Students look at various case studies of different invasives, most of which affect ecosystems in Michigan.  The great Lakes provide a backdrop for an exploration of food webs, predator-prey interactions, and trophic levels through the lens of the changes caused by the introduction of an invasive species.

This article highlights resources that can be used to supplement lessons on extreme weather, including games and video clips. The article appears in the free, online magazine for K-Grade 5 teachers Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle. The magazine focuses on the essential principles of climate science.

The purpose of this resource is to develop a classification system for a set of objects and learn about hierarchical classification systems. Any set of objects, such as insects or rocks, may be used as well.

This online, interactive "Chutes and Ladders" type of game is for ages 7-9 and can be played with a friend or against the computer. As players land on squares, depending on the described action, they either "leap" frog ahead if they help the environment or butterfly "flutter" back if they do not. The website includes a short explanation of why we should care about frogs and butterflies, as well as some facts about some of the activities on the game board and why they are good or not good for the environment. A printable version of the board game is also available.

Learning about Antarctica's past can give K-Grade 5 teachers and students lessons in geology, climate, and ecology along with literacy experiences in sequencing and time lines. The author identifies online resources for both adults and younger learners. A three-section unit plan begins with sequencing events and follows with earth's history over billions of years and the records found in rocks and fossils. The article appears in the free, online magazine Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears.

Project Learning Tree lessons based on the Lorax story including Land Use and Forest Management Planning

This article highlights lessons that help K-grade 5 students understand that animals and plants can only survive in certain environments.The lessons support the theme of an issue of the free online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle. The theme is "We Depend on Earth's Climate."

This article includes lessons that elementary teachers can use to build the foundations of climate literacy while meeting elementary science standards. Lessons are paired with literacy activities as well.

This fun Web site is part of OLogy, where kids can collect virtual trading cards and create projects with them. Here, they take a close-up look at biodiversity in a city park. The site opens by telling kids that, despite appearances, a great deal of biodiversity exists in cities. From tiny mites to mighty trees, thousands of species thrive there. It then takes them to a slice of life from a thriving city park, where they are asked to find 10 hidden critters living alongside the trees, plants, and insects. Each time they locate one of the tiny critters, they are rewarded with a quick look at its importance to the habitat.

This article discuss basic ecological concepts such as food chains and webs within the context of the tundra.

This article describes a number of creative projects that incorporate art and literacy skills into a science unit on biomes and ecosystems.

In this activity, students pose several hypotheses for what will happen if you continue heating or supplying energy to the hot and cold planet models (Mercury, Mars, Venus, and Earth) and then test their hypotheses using a spreadsheet based radiation balance model. The activity supports investigation of a real world challenge, experimenting with life support conditions for Mars at an Arctic outpost. The interactive model runs are conducted using a Java applet. This resource includes student worksheets, assessment questions and a teacher's guide. This is Activity B in module 2, Modeling hot and cold planets, of the resource, Earth Climate Course: What Determines a Planet's Climate? The course aims to help students to develop an understanding of our environment as a system of human and natural processes that result in changes that occur over various space and time scales.