Science Topics

Use science topic words to find web sites with lesson plans and activities.

Ecosystems

1. Ecology explorers: doing science in your schoolyard
   ENC Digital Dozen Site  
   Date: 2002 Grade(s): K - 12 Cost: Free ENC#: 025158
   This World Wide Web (WWW) site offers students in grades K-12, living in the Central Phoenix Arizona metropolitan area, an opportunity to conduct schoolyard research on the interactions between the ecosystem and the urban environment. Four protocols for studying arthropods, birds, and vegetation are provided.
   (For more details, see ENC Record.)
   
   
2. Kit and curricular companions
   ENC Digital Dozen Site  
   Date: 2002 Grade(s): K - 8 Cost: Free ENC#: 026393
   This Internet site provides a connection of links to curricula resources for technology, life, Earth, and physical science teachers in grades K-8. Developed by the Keystone Science Network, the site is intended to supplement national standards-based science kits, including Science and Technology for Children (STC), FOSS, and Insights; but all teachers will be able to use the resources to support their teaching.
   (For more details, see ENC Record.)
   
   
3. Smithsonian Education science and technology lesson plans
   ENC Digital Dozen Site  
   Date: 2003 Grade(s): 3 - 8 Cost: Free ENC#: 014836
   This World Wide Web (WWW) site, maintained by the education department of the Smithsonian Institution, presents Web based lesson plans for grades 3 to 8 that offer activities in science. The lesson plans cover a variety of science topics, including the basics of mineral science, how things fly, and how plant and animal partners interact to accomplish pollination, as well as an interdisciplinary marine science in link with social studies.
   (For more details, see ENC Record.)
   
   
4. Florida's springs: protecting natures gems
   Featured in ENC Focus   ENC Digital Dozen Site  
   Date: 2002 Grade(s): K - 12 Cost: Free ENC#: 026592
   This Internet site, maintained by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, explores the structure and function of Florida's natural springs as well as the human activities that threaten this vital system. The site offers mini-tutorials on how a spring forms, the types of animals that live in spring ecosystems, and the ways that humans impact the quantity and quality of spring water.
   (For more details, see ENC Record.)
   
   
5. Education at National Geographic
   ENC Digital Dozen Site  
   Date: 2000 Grade(s): K - 12 Cost: Free ENC#: 016966
   This World Wide Web (WWW) site, maintained for grades K to 12 by the National Geographic Society (NGS), features a variety of educational resources, such as online adventures, printable maps, and lesson plans. In the online adventures section, visitors can take a virtual dive in the deepwater submersible to see a living kelp forest in the Monterey Bay Aquarium, or take a journey in the National Park in the Republic of the Congo to create a chronicle of what the Africa forest ecosystem was like before the arrival of human civilization.
   (For more details, see ENC Record.)
   
   
6. The Evergreen Project adventures
   Featured in ENC Focus  
   Date: 1999 Grade(s): K - 8 Cost: Free ENC#: 017466
   This World Wide Web (WWW) site, maintained by ASK JEEVES FOR KIDS, contains ecosystem learning experiences and materials for upper elementary and middle school teachers and students. The site is divided into separate sections for teachers and students.
   (For more details, see ENC Record.)
   
   
7. Planet Earth: a suite of interactive learning activities on ecology
   Featured in ENC Focus   ENC Digital Dozen Site  
   Date: 1998 Grade(s): 5 - 9 Cost: Free ENC#: 012554
   This Internet site, developed for grades 5 to 9, presents a series of web based ecology activities. The first activity, The Earth's Treasures is an enhanced fill in the blank quiz that presents students with brief paragraphs about environmental issues.
   (For more details, see ENC Record.)
   
   
8. The potential consequences of climate variability and change
   ENC Digital Dozen Site  
   Date: 1999 Grade(s): 1 - 12 Cost: Free ENC#: 017679
   This World Wide Web (WWW) site, maintained for grades 1 to 12 by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, presents classroom activities that are designed to examine the potential impacts of climate variability and change. The Institute's activities are developed to expand public awareness and understanding of global change issues.
   (For more details, see ENC Record.)
   
   
9. Living things
   Featured in ENC Focus  
   Date: 1997 Grade(s): K - 12 Cost: Free ENC#: 018055
   This World Wide Web (WWW) site, part of the Franklin Institute Online, contains information and activities to help students understand different aspects of living things. Its topics include anatomy and physiology; classification; ecological interactions; and the survival needs and life cycles of plants and animals.
   (For more details, see ENC Record.)
   
   
10. National Audubon Society
    ENC Digital Dozen Site  
    Date: 1997 Grade(s): Pre-K - Post-Sec. Cost: Free ENC#: 009093
    This World Wide Web (WWW) site, maintained by the National Audubon Society, focuses on birds and other wildlife, providing students and the public with information on the conservation and restoration of natural ecosystems. From the home page, users have access to information on programs and projects that promote wetland preservation, reauthorization of the Endangered Species Act, and a national population policy, as well as the protection of migratory birds and the preservation of America's endangered forests.
    (For more details, see ENC Record.)
    
    
11. Kinetic City, mission to Vearth: join the battle to save the universe!
    ENC Digital Dozen Site  
    Date: 1997 Grade(s): 2 - 7 Cost: Free ENC#: 009984
    This World Wide Web (WWW) site, maintained for grades 2 to 7 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), invites children to an adventure with the Kinetic City Super Crew, a team of six inquisitive kids and one talkative supercomputer, who travel the world on a high tech train to solve science mysteries and help friends in need. The site aims to capture the imaginations of children, while they fight the Deep Delete virus that attacks the virtual earth.
    (For more details, see ENC Record.)
    
    
12. Northwestern Hawaiian Islands multi-agency education project
    Date: 2003 Grade(s): 3 - 8 Cost: Free ENC#: 029743
    This Internet site uses the beauty of the northwestern Hawaiian Islands to teach the public to appreciate the environment. It also challenges all students to take responsibility for the stewardship and sustainability of their own environment.
    (For more details, see ENC Record.)
    
    
13. Understanding ecosystem management
    Date: 2001 Grade(s): K - 5 Cost: Free ENC#: 026006
    This web site teaches about the decision process involved in managing ecosystems for sustainable use. The resource is one of 13 activities included in the Environmental Education Teacher Resources section of the United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM) web site.
    (For more details, see ENC Record.)
    
    
14. Missouri Botanical Gardens (MBG): web activities
    Date: 2002 Grade(s): 5 - 12 Cost: Free ENC#: 025977
    This Internet site provides two related activities that students can use to learn about botany and environmental biology. The resource, developed by the Education Division of the Missouri Botanical Garden, is designed to integrate computer technology into its education programs.
    (For more details, see ENC Record.)
    
    
15. Ocean report, guide for educators
    Date: 2002 Grade(s): 4 - 8 Cost: Free ENC#: 027076
    This Internet site provides background information and hands-on activities to help students in grades 4-8 learn about the value of the ocean. The site is based on a set of radio segments from The Ocean Report, broadcast on National Public Radio and other stations.
    (For more details, see ENC Record.)
    
    
16. El Nino, making sense of the weather
    Date: 2003 Grade(s): 5 - 8 Cost: Free ENC#: 015786
    This World Wide Web (WWW) site, maintained for grades 5 to 8 by NASA, presents three weather-related science activities along with an overview of what El Nino and Southern Oscillation are. Topics of activities include wind direction and the Coriolis effect, global wind patterns, and clouds in a bottle.
    (For more details, see ENC Record.)
    
    
17. Bureau of Land Management environmental education
    Date: 2000 Grade(s): 3 - Post-Sec. Cost: Free ENC#: 017975
    This World Wide Web (WWW) site, maintained for grade 3 and up by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Environmental Education and Volunteers Group, introduces students to the concepts and principles of resource management through hands-on activities. The goal of the BLM's Environmental Education Program is to engage students and teachers in activities that enhance their understanding of the importance of sustaining healthy and productive ecosystems, and to link these activities to real world management challenges on the public lands.
    (For more details, see ENC Record.)
    
    
18. Build-a-prairie
    Date: 1999 Grade(s): 6 - 12 Cost: Free ENC#: 019970
    This World Wide Web (WWW) site, maintained by the University of Minnesota (UM) as part of the Minnesota Integrated Distance Education and Learning Systems (IDEALS) program, provides online activities that invite students to discover the plants and animals that compose the prairie ecosystem. Minnesota IDEALS is operated by the Bell Museum of Natural History at UM and develops distance learning programs designed to bring worldwide science into the classroom.
    (For more details, see ENC Record.)
    
    
19. Ecosystem matters: activity and resource guide for environmental educators
    Date: 1995 Grade(s): K - 12 Cost: Free ENC#: 025780
    This World Wide Web (WWW) site offers hands-on activities for K-12 teachers about ecosystems and ecosystem management. Each activity includes background information, assessment options, and connections to other subjects such as language arts, social studies, and geography.
    (For more details, see ENC Record.)
    
    
20. Our changing Earth: Earth science investigations for a changing educational environment
    Date: 1998 Grade(s): 2 - 5 Cost: Free ENC#: 015622
    This World Wide Web (WWW) site, developed for grades 2 to 5 and sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in collaboration with The Franklin Institute and Unisys Corporation, presents earth science teaching units on a variety of topics. Topics include the differences between El Nino and La Nina, how sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks are made, as well as how a modern city functions and grows, using the software SimCity 2000.
    (For more details, see ENC Record.)